When Lightning Strikes (A Luc Bat) Poem by Dawn Slanker

The luc bat is a Vietnamese form of poetry. It means simply 'six eight' due to its pattern of syllables per line: 6,8,6,8,6,8, etc. It can be as long or as short as you'd like, but what really makes this form interesting is the rhyming structure in which the sixth syllable of every eight-syllable line rhymes with the last syllable of the six-syllable line before it, which in turn rhymes with the eighth syllable of the eight-syllable line before it. When the end of the poem is reached, the last line jumps back and rhymes with the first. In other words, the syllables go like this:

* * * * * a
* * * * * a * b
* * * * * b
* * * * * b * c
* * * * * c
* * * * * c * d
* * * * * d
* * * * * d * a


When Lightning Strikes

Fierce, the blackened clouds blow
and roll like waves below a squall
as nature's captive thrall.
Heed, you, the warning bawl and roar
loosed by the mighty Thor
whose hammer falls, wherefore, brings fear
to those afar and near.
A tempest so severe and dire...
sodden sky ripe with ire...
sends torrent winds afire with light
streaking through the black night.
A silver bolt in flight is seen
to cleave the clouds between
and set the scene of Earth aglow.

©2008 Dawn Slanker