Make it happen, or: Happen to make it?

Posted on by ben Alexander

A Copla Real with chiasmus

No one jus' happens to make it;
You gotta go make it happen!
When down, you gotta recommit.
What- you 'bout to give up again?
Stiffen your lip 'n don't submit!

Life really hard, I mus' admit;
But when it hardest, that jus' when-
When you jus' mad enough to spit-
You get up- you get right back in-
Cuz losers- they the ones that quit!

W3 poetry prompt

This ‘copla real’ was written for Larry Trasciatti’s W3 poetry prompt, which was to incorporate chiasmus in a poem.

Copla real?

  • Rhymed: A ten line poem made up of two Quintillas (eight syllable line quintains turned on only two rhymes of any combination other than never ending with a rhymed couplet)
    • The rhyme scheme established in the first quintain is repeated in the second Quintilla.
    • Choice of rhyme schemes: ababa, abbab, abaab, aabab, or aabba
  • Syllabic: all lines are 8 syllables

Chiasmus?

  • Chiasmus: In simple terms, chiasmus happens when the writer says one thing and then says something very similar in the next line, but the grammatical structure has been reversed.
  • Examples of Chiasmus:
    1. Live simply so that others might simply live.
    2. In the pre-capitalist stages of society, commerce rules industry. In capitalist society, industry rules commerce.
    3. Love as if you would one day hate, and hate as if you would one day love.
    4. Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.
    5. All for one and one for all!

Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

28 thoughts on “Make it happen, or: Happen to make it?”

  1. This is a wonderful rap! I love it โค๏ธ
    Full of sound advice too in the first two lines
    โ€œNo one jusโ€™ happens to make it;
    You gotta go make it happen!โ€

    I can also relate to the last two lines,
    โ€œYou get up- you get right back in-
    Cuz losers- they the ones that quit!โ€

    but sadly, my get up and go, has got up and gone! ๐Ÿ˜

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