On Poetic Forms, Nr.01 (Quaterns: Theory & Practice)

          
QUATERNS - THE THEORY            
            
1.(A)     The first line of a quatern marks a start                
2.(b)     begins to fix a course the poem takes                
3.(a)     determining a complicated art                
4.(b)     with meaning staked beneath its subtle wake;                
                
5.(c)     inserting clues the next lines clearly note                
6.(A)     the first line of a quatern marks a start                
7.(c)     as flow entices readers cast their vote                
8.(a)     on how emerging lines will play their part;                
                 
9.(a)     it’s not a case of trying to be smart -                
10.(d)   a quatern has some movement to express,                
11.(A)   the first line of a quatern marks a start                
12.(d)   to which the lines that follow owe success;                
                 
13.(e)   completion of the cycle must comply                
14.(a)   with alphas and omegas of the heart                
15.(e)   where satisfying closure answers why                
16.(A)   the first line of a quatern marks a start.              
         
         
             
QUATERNS - THE PRACTICE          
   
Marching Off To  
   
The men go marching off to war      
conscripted 'gainst their will, no doubt      
though many people are unsure      
about the reasons touted out      
     
as media moguls wave the flags      
the men go marching off to war      
they soon come back in body-bags  -      
increasing voices ask "what for?"      
     
but hidden forces at the core      
manipulate with vicious might      
so men go marching off to war      
and try their best to prove them right      
     
conclude at last the money-boys      
can profit much from all the gore      
yet mesmerised by weapon-toys      
the men go marching off to war.