In the Grip
my first demi-sonnet
—with thanks to erin murphy for inventing the form
and to alex dawson for the opening six words here
the monster isn’t under my bed isn’t behind the shower
curtain isn’t in the closet at my back as i write.
i looked.
the monster is the story i tell myself
when given a prompt in class with the offer
of 12 minutes to begin a poem just now:
can’t. not enough time. no ideas. how?
—dotty seiter
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7 x 7.25″; ink and water on paper
floral
2026
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Notes about poem and art:
• “my first demi-sonnet” is just that. I didn’t become acquainted with demi-sonnets until a few weeks ago. Guidelines: exactly 7 lines in length; no set meter or syllable count; full or slant rhyme encouraged for ending; and a compact, pithy insight or observation that gestures toward a much larger, resonant theme. I had fun with this!
• I Take Shape embodies two backstories—1. It is the first new piece I created after breaking free of being in the painful grip of having lost my spunk for playing freely and experimenting recently. 2. Ironically, getting an image of this piece from sketchbook to blog involved literal HOURS of dealing with printer/scanner software and other computer-related nonsense that would not let me out of its grip. In the end—ta da!—I broke free of those shackles also.
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12 responses to “In the Grip”
I wrote this demi-sonnet probably two months ago, just now posting it. Bumping into it again has led me to write a new demi-sonnet today; I like the form—the prescribed seven lines offer enough room to do some exploring while staying compact nonetheless, the free-verse openness with the one little limit of an ending couplet with some sort of rhyme is very appealing. Twelve minutes is what my classmates and I were offered in the workshop, and by hook or by crook I got a rough draft in place, but I spent WAY more than twelve minutes to bring my demi-sonnet to completion.
Thanks for your feedback on the visual language of my dancing flowers piece. It was great fun to create.
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Anything on demand in just 12 minutes is a nightmare for me. Took me back to thinking about “things” under my bed growing up….and timed Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) in grade school. (I was…and am probably still am learning disabled…and that is what made me a better special education teacher.)Well done on your first demi-sonnet!
I love everything about this whimsical ink sketch….the loose smudgy parts…the ultra fine lines and variety of playful dots in all the right places.Yay on breaking out of your shackles! Nothing to be afraid of here!
I get tight and nervous with on-demand each and every time! Hence, the freezing up as my monster. But my freezing up in conjunction with the idea to play with a demi-sonnet turned out to be just the ticket to get myself underway with this poem. Whew!
I Take Shape was so much fun to play with and create! Thank you for your nods to the whimsy, the smudgy, the playful, and the shackles-free energy, MaryAnn.
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A demi-sonnet! With these wise words: can’t. not enough time. no ideas. how?
Which are the words I tell myself often when I should be using the Dotty words of and this too.
I love that you broke free, and that it required such effort to do so! A hurdle overcome, well-earned. Love this beautiful piece you created and adorned with perfect poetry. xoxoxo
I’m very glad to have explored the new-to-me form of a demi-sonnet. It gave me the answer to this metapoem’s desperate cry of a final word! It let me move past my panicky can’t. not enough time. no ideas. It let me see panic, and then this too: a demi-sonnet!
Many hurdles jumped in this post. Thanks for noticing and affirming, Lola xoxo
Congratulations on your fabulous first, Dotty! I love it. 🎉👏
So it’s not too silly that I still have to sleep with the closet door closed. And I still sometimes flick the shower curtain back, to be sure it is empty back there. And I know there is nothing under the bed. I don’t have a bed skirt, so I can see that it’s “clear”.
But then again. You never know. 🤔😄
Sheila, totally love your response to a poem that alludes to monsters in hiding. We had a finisihed basement in one home I lived in, one side of which was actually at ground level. Walking upstairs alone from that basement sometimes gave me a creepy feeling in my back that I was being followed : )
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right??! HAHAHAHA.
Thx for chuckling with me, Bo!
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