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: <br /> <br />* * * * * a <br />* * * * * a * b <br />* * * * * b <br />* * * * * b * c <br />* * * * * c <br />* * * * * c * d <br />* * * * * d <br />* * * * * d * a <br /> <br /> <br />When Lightning Strikes <br /> <br />Fierce, the blackened clouds blow <br />and roll like waves below a squall <br />as nature's captive thrall. <br />Heed, you, the warning bawl and roar <br />loosed by the mighty Thor <br />whose hammer falls, wherefore, brings fear <br />to those afar and near. <br />A tempest so severe and dire... <br />sodden sky ripe with ire... <br />sends torrent winds afire with light <br />streaking through the black night. <br />A silver bolt in flight is seen <br />to cleave the clouds between <br />and set the scene of Earth aglow. <br /> <br />©2008 Dawn Slanker<br /><br />Dawn Slanker<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-lightning-strikes-a-luc-bat/
