Sympoe

From Greek sym (together) + poiein (to create), the sympoe is a poetic form which was first used by Joshua Gray, a contemporary American poet.

Two metrically linked stanzas of unlimited length rhyme A1bbccdd...A2A1 in the first verse and A2xxyyzz...A1A2 in the second, where A1 and A2 are full repeating lines and link to the other stanza.

Both stanzas must describe two distinct events but with similar qualities.

For an example, see "Loss" , where both stanzas are about an estranged family member of two separate families. In the first stanza the character is not the estranged; in the second it is.

Although a stanza can be of any length, the length of the entire poem is tricky. If it is too long, the poem may lose the coherence of the linking lines; if the stanza is too short, the poem risks a stanza that is abrupt and choppy. The conclusion of the poem can include one couplet (or three lines), but never in the narrative.

References
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Gray, Joshua Loss Pralaton, January 2007, p. 15

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