Acrostics, Mesostics, and Double Acrostics
An acrostic poem has a word, phrase or name spelled out vertically down one of the edges; usually the left edge. A double acrostic has one word down the left edge and another word down the right edge. A mesostic has a word or phrase down a central spine. The word is usually indicated by using upper case letters.
Ok. So you got your basic acrostic and it looks like this:
POETRY
Poets often write prose
Or they will write a sonnet
Else they oft just sit and think
To find the missing muse
Really it does not matter
Your average poet just likes to write
Then you get your fancy double acrostic and it might look like this:
HARD WORK
Heavy breathing is hoW
Animals try to say nO
Rest makes it hardeR
Despite the long road bacK
And then you have your basic mesostic, and it can look like this:
EASY ONE
a mEsostic work
is An interesting text
to See on the page
whY one would write one
is nOt easy to say
it's Not impossible
whEn you think about it
Now if you feel like getting fancy, you can try writing your mesostic poems just like the great composer and theorist John Cage did. He invented extra rules for his mesostics which make them harder to write, and also very interesting. If you decide that you want to do that you can learn a bit more about mesostic poetry from the two blog posts below.
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