April Open Mic 2025

🎉📚 We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming Poetry-Focused Open Mic Night happening the 3rd Thursday of the month! 🌟🎶

Whether you’re a seasoned wordsmith or just getting started, come on down and share your beautiful verses or simply soak up the magic of spoken word. 📖🎙️

This event is all about celebrating the beauty of poetry in all its forms. So, grab your friends, your favorite poems, and join us for a night filled with heartfelt expressions and poetic vibes. 🎤📜

The event will take place on Zoom and saved to YouTube. Be aware that your poem that is read during the Open Mic will be broadcast on our YouTube channel.

Let your metaphors bloom and your emotions shine through the power of poetry. We can’t wait to see you there!

Date: April 17th

Time: 7 PM

Location: Zoom Registration – https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/AP7V9sQpSwu2EzthChk_Kw

This open Mic will focus on the Villanelle style poem. We can’t wait to see what you create!

Villanelle
A nineteen-line poem—ten syllables per line, with an (aba aba aba aba aba aba aba aba aba abaa) rhyming scheme. Repetitive lines are part of the form; the first and the third lines in the first stanza are repeated in alternating order throughout the poem and appear together in the last couplet.

English Sonnet
Fourteen lines, with an (abab cdcd efef gg) rhyming scheme, with 10 syllables per line.

Explanation:

Villanelle

A villanelle is a highly structured form of poetry with:

• 19 lines total.

• Five tercets (3-line stanzas) followed by a final quatrain (4-line stanza).

• The rhyme scheme follows a repeating aba pattern.

• Two refrains (repeating lines) are used:

  • The 1st line of the poem becomes the refrain that ends the 2nd and 4th tercets, and also appears as the penultimate line of the poem.

  • The 3rd line of the poem ends the 3rd and 5th tercets, and becomes the last line of the poem.

• The last stanza (quatrain) contains both refrains as the final two lines.

The villanelle creates a musical and circular feeling—great for themes of obsession, nature, or time.

English Sonnet (Shakespearean Sonnet)

An English Sonnet is:

• 14 lines long.

• Written in iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line, unstressed-stressed pattern).

• Rhymed abab cdcd efef gg, meaning:

  • 3 quatrains (4-line stanzas) with alternating rhymes.

  • Followed by a couplet (2 rhyming lines) at the end, often delivering a twist or conclusion.

Sample Villanelle poem from

April by Emile J. Pinet

Ushering in the first warm days of spring
subservient to Mother Nature’s call,
April starts the season; sweet songbirds sing.

Flowers await rains April showers bring,
from a light drizzle to a tempest squall,
ushering in the first warm days of spring.

As migrating birds once again take wing
sufficiently prepared for the long haul,
April starts the season; sweet songbirds sing.

April melts away icicles that cling
and snowdrifts covering colors of Fall,
ushering in the first warm days of spring.

Being born in April, I’ve felt Her sting,
but even though She sometimes plays hardball,
April starts the season; sweet songbirds sing.

As winter wains, April is everything,
wearing misty drops as Her morning shawl.
Ushering in the gentle warmth of spring,
April starts the season; sweet songbirds sing.

(Villanelle)