The pyramid of clarity
The Pyramid of Clarity is a recently created short poetry form. Like most short forms, the key to success is choosing your words wisely. Because of this, it is an excellent option for you to practice word choice techniques.
The first line is the cornerstone of the entire poem. All other lines exist to further support and define this word. In other words, they clear out this word for the reader.
BRIEF HISTORY
Jerry P. Quinn, poet and financial strategist, is the architect of the Pyramid of Clarity. He built the poetry form in 2002.
SHOULD HAVE
— Three stanzas that are made up of two triplets and a final clarifying line.
— The base of the clarity pyramid is the first line, which is a single syllable word.
— The first line must be in uppercase.
— Each successive line increases the syllabic count by one, except the fourth line, which increases by two.
Form structure:
1 syllable
2 syllables
3 syllables
5 syllables
6 syllables
7 syllables
“8 syllables”
— There are also criteria in the construction of each line.
Remember, the first line must be a single syllable word and must also be capitalized. This line has the added function of being the title of the poem. This is what you need to keep in mind when building the rest of the lines.
Line two and line three must clarify or be synonymous with the word in the first line. All lines in the second stanza must describe a life event linked to the word in the first line. The eighth and last line should be enclosed in quotation marks and describe the first line in more detail.
That particular rule annoys me and would be one of the first rules I would break with my poetry contractor license. I don’t like to use quotes unless I’m … well, quoting someone or using them to show dialogue.
COULD HAVE or what is the poet’s choice in all of this?
— You can choose to center the alignment of the poem or not. Many poets choose the central alignment to create a visual pyramid, but it is not a requirement.
— The use of rhyme and meter, although I would not recommend it for this short form either.
— What language is your first word in. Actually, what language is your whole poem in, but since I’m an English-speaking poet, I’ll speak from this perspective.
NEW VARIATION 1: I love words and I thought it would be interesting to take a word in another language for the first word and then use the rest of the poem to “clarify” it in English. (This could also be a good opportunity for non-native English speakers to pick up an English word and use the rest of the poem to “clarify” it in their mother tongue.) It might be time to take the pyramid of clarity to the next level. and create another new variation (see below).
NEW VARIATION 2: Follow the established rules, but change the syllabic count to the word count.
OF NOTE
Jerry P. Quinn has won several poetry contests and has published many of his poems.
