Mark under “Today I learned;” turns out a ballad isn’t just a story set to rhyme and music. Traditional ballads actually have rules though the examples I’ve seen do break one or most of said rules. But I’m going to try to follow them as set out in poemanalysis.com and follow the following rules of a ballad:
-Four stanzas, three of eight lines and one of four.
-Consistent meter and ABABBCBC rhyme scheme (except for the final which is BCBC)
-The final C line in each stanza is a repeated refrain.
It says “consistent meter” but not what that meter is; I guess that’s up to me.
A further note: What I’ve described seems to be a “ballade” not a “ballad” which they say are different things but I’m having difficulty figuring out what the “ballad” form is. As far as I can tell, a story in poem/song with no set scheme is actually a ballad. Probably I’m doing a ballade here, then.
Obviously with ballades like Tam Lin and Robin Hood, this lends itself well to fantasy stories, and I already did a sci-fi poem yesterday so…
So let’s buck convention and do a sci-fi anyway.
Today’s Inktober is “inferno” but I did that yesterday. What other inspirations can I get? …why is this always the hardest part? Uggh, what happens in science fiction? Flying cars, spaceships, big tall buildings defying physics, laser guns, aliens… come on brain, I’m running low on time.
A Simple Heist
The plan was simple; ‘port right in
And steal the reactor core.
Qatus-Qatus had the pin
To open up the door.
And if Tellin hadn’t wanted more,
It wouldn’t have been fraught;
But no, they opened up a drawer,
Their greed will get us caught.
The laser grid at once cut in,
And froze us on the floor,
The core in hand, we would have been
Gone if they’d not explored.
There was no time to shout him sore,
Escape was now our lot;
Until we’re out, no teleporter;
Their greed will get us caught.
Qatus left, to my chagrin,
Me alone with the core
As they dissolved and called their twin
To help dull the uproar.
I held the core, I’d not pay for
The greed Tellin had brought,
And danced through lasers, dodging more;
Their greed will get us caught.
We made it out before the corps
Of guards came at a trot,
Then dealt with Tellin so no more
Their greed would get us caught.
Intellectual Property of Elizabeth Doman
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