Day 13: National Poetry Month
Quadrille Quaiku
My friend, the poet and photographer David Hoffman, invented a new poetry form, the Quadrille Quaiku. The rules are deceptively simple. According to David:
The Quadrille Quaiku consists of four linked haiku or senryu. The four linked poems form a single poem. Each of the four stanzas is a Quarter Quadrille Quaiku [which David previously invented].
Each of the four poems meets the following format:
- Each stanza may be either a haiku or a senryu
- 3 lines per stanza
- 5/7/5 syllable count
- The total word count for each stanza is 11 words
- The four stanzas combined total 44 words.
I thought this sounded diabolical, but of course I had to try it. I didn’t realize I beat him to the punch! The following is, apparently, the first-ever Quadrille Quaiku, but David quickly responded to mine with one of his own.
Mine
sesquipedalian
forms on tiny feet, each beat
kicks my ample ass
poetry puzzles
plink, plunk, words fall into place
silent, gracelessly
senryu’s a sin,
but worse to mangle haiku —
unnatural crime
shun me, lock me up
let me return to sonnets
pentametrically.
David’s Response (“SENRYU 0494”)
call me a sinner—
a sweet senryu lover—
syllables swoon me
I did not sonnet
now innumerable bees
still plague her bonnet
cultured poets write
words I have not even heard—
syllables swooning
unnatural crime
to shun me— then lock me up
senryu swooning
© Copyright David Hoffmann 2026 – All Rights Reserved
Other National Poetry Month Posts
- National Poetry Month, Texas Style!
- Apricots: a Tanka Encompassing Three Prompts
- Bee Sting: Day 2 of National Poetry Month
- Cacophony and CBD: Day 3 in Nonsense Verse and Found Poetry
- Technically, a Writer: Day 3 of National Poetry Month
- Dive: Day 4 of National Poetry Month
- Storm Front: Day 4 of National Poetry Month
- Energized: Day 5 of National Poetry Month
- Grump: Day 5 ½ of National Poetry Month
- Future Frittered Away: Day 6 of National Poetry Month
- Hell, Hell, Hell: Day 7 (More or Less) of National Poetry Month
- Insomnia: Day 8 of National Poetry Month
- Juxtaposition: Day 9 of National Poetry Month
- Knife Edge: Day 10 of National Poetry Month
- Lost a Day: Day 11 of National Poetry Month
- Many Definitions: Day 12 of National Poetry Month
- New Form – Quadrille Quaiku: Day 13 of National Poetry Month
- Ode to Imagination: Day 14 of National Poetry Month
- Pixellated People: Day 15 of National Poetry Month
Your Turn!
Can you resist a silly challenge when a gauntlet’s thrown at your virtual feet?
A tree branch reaching
To the ice sun, dark and white
Wearing winter’s coat.
A tree branch shaking
In the surprise rain, blooming
Pink petals tumbling.
A tree branch gossiping
With busy breeze ‘midst green leaves
Summertime slander.
A tree branch drooping,
To gravity’s demand, fruit
Within easy reach.
DRAT – forgot the 11 word rule. Need to retry.