Sidlack: A New Format I Stumbled On & Fall in Love–Instantly & Insanely

Yesterday: Found, Used & A Proposal of Collaboration 

Last day, I was just lazily skimming through the blog radhikasreflection. She had liked one of my recent poems then. Suddenly a poem caught my attention. Actually, the title. It was titled Sidlak #3- Clouds. The word “Sidlak” grabbed my attention. I read, I like the poem and then I read the rules. I find it interesting and started thinking to write a poem on this hidden (or lost) format. It’s become my zeal to write a poem using this format.

Then, at evening, Daily Prompt from The Daily Post was declared. It was Filter. I wrote a haiku on it. Then I started writing another in big form. Suddenly, an idea struck me. Why not try the format that was haunting from the noon. I read the rule again and started writing it.

After an hour or so, after lots of hustle and bustle, backspace and re-going through the rules–I was struck at last line syllables count–completed  Two: Aide & Portrait. “Aide” was the haiku and “Portrait” was the sidlak. I left a note, after discussing the rules and liberty I had taken  (both I’ve discussed them later here in the article) ), which goes like this:

”Hope, if she or anyone know this format well will accept my liberties I had taken. And will feel free to comment on these steps.”

Later, I had a discussion with Theresa (Barker) Ma’am regarding this format. We have been discussing a collaboration to roll out a challenge on Sidlack after the Cinderella Project (I’ll talk on this some other day) wrapped up in February 2017.

Today: Adding & Rewriting the Rules

I was still thinking how to use this format more and more, today (01/28/2016) when Daily Prompt from Daily Post declared; it is Automatic. I thought why not use sidlack in a re-discover manner. So I sat down and after an hour I wrote my second sidlak. This one was ten lines following the same rule in a varied way. I named this format of mine Long Sidlak.

The Rules: The New & The Established One

Sidlak is actually a structured poem which follows the following 3 basic rules:

1. Consisting of 5 lines
2. 3-5-7-9-any number of syllables
3. The last line must be a COLOR that describes the whole poem or the feelings of the writer.

I took a couple of liberty in the last line of Two: Aide & Portrait. First, the number of syllables not mentioned. So, I used +2 from the last line, as the pattern goes. So it’s 11. Secondly, used the COLOR norm as feelings of the subject, not following any of the set rules.

Radhika Ma’am, later, clarified that the last line must be written without any restriction on syllables count and it should focus on the COLOR norm.

So, this is what Sidlack is. Now, let’s talk on the Long Sidlak I developed.

First of all, a Long Sidlak will be of 10 lines. The five lines that will be augmented, to write using this format, will also have the same format (3-5-7-9-any number of syllables). Besides this, the COLOR norm will be needed to maintain at 5th and 10th line.

The First Long Sidlak Poem

To read the first Long Sidlak please read my response to today’s (01/28/2017) Daily Prompt. The prompt is Automatic and my response-poem name is The Silver Box with Red Eyes: A Long Sidlak on Microwave.

Last Few Words:

I will like to thanks,  radhikasreflection  to introducing me to this new format.Followed by Theresa (Barker) Ma’am who like the Original Short Sidlak and thinking on the collaboration already; Meenakshi (Sethi) Ma’am who encouraged to write more using this format. It’s for your–all of you three–applaud and encouragement, I’m able in taking this steps.Will wait for your next poems following this newly developed format.

I hope everyone who is reading this post and will later read my poem will try to attempt this format and will share the link to their post in my comment box. Waiting for all of yours response. And, please, don’t forget to pass this on to other blogger friends of yours. Waiting for your responses blogger-verses.