In September, I studied the ballad with the goal of writing one. A ballad is a form of poetry that resembles a song or poem, while telling a story based on a structured rhythm and rhyme. The stories usually concern heroes, adventures, love, or tragedies. Ballads are written in four-line stanzas, called quatrains. They usually follow a rhyme scheme of ABCB or ABAB and have alternating lines made up of tetrameters or tri-meters. They also usually contain a refrain or chorus that repeats, which makes them easier to remember.
Ballads can be categorized as traditional folk, literary, pop, or power ballads. Traditional ballads are stories passed down by mouth through generations and are thus attributed to no author. Literary ballads are written by published poets who replicate familiar folk styles. Pop and power ballads are designed to be sung and are composed of a narrative in rhythmic verse. Ballads tend to be slow, sentimental, or romantic. Ballads may also be called anthems, hymns, lullabies, lyrics, songs, or vocals. Interestingly, the noun has an accompanying adjective, as in “her song was balladic.”
My Writing Goals for 2026
Continue to develop my poetry and connections with other poets:
Cannon Mine Poets Group: Did not attend in September.
Columbine Poets: I attended the Columbine Poet Fest at Desiderata Ranch. The featured speaker, Scott Wiggerman, presented a workshop on writing ghazals. During the open mike, I read my personal ghazal, “A Lonely Mourning Dove,” that I had written for my March 2026 blog. I also attended the workshop in Lafayette presented by JoAnne Rowley on Contemporary American Nature Poetry and wrote the following short poem:
Give me a landscape green and wide—
A wide river flowing at its center
Soft green hills surrounding the valley.
The endless blue sky calls me to return to heaven.
On October 3, I attended Columbine’s helpful online poetry critique group.
Colorado Poetry Center: I attended the poetry presentations at the Boulder Bookstore. Readers for the evening included Natalie Giarratano, who authored Big Thicket Blues (Sundress Publications, 2017) and Leaving Clean, winner of the 2013 Liam Rector First Book Prize in Poetry; and Carol Guerrero-Murphy who wrote Inside Passage, Tablewalking at Nighthawk, Chained Dog Dreams; and Bright Path Dark River.
Continue to make progress on my draft novels: No progress.
Continue to develop a network of kindred spirits in the world of writing and publishing: I enjoyed meeting some new poets and reconnecting with some familiar ones at the Columbine Poets Fest.
Document my writing progress through my blog and post it on the seventh day of each month, one blog per month in 2026:
Today is October 7, 2026. I am posting my tenth blog for 2026. I will study the haiku in October, the rondeau in November, and the cinquain in December. My goal for October was to study the ballad form and write a ballad. My first attempt at writing a ballad (a short one) follows:
A Ballad for Rusty
A cowboy dressed in tan and brown
Rode his bay horse into the town
He waved his hand at those he knew
He stopped to chat with just a few
The El Rancho served tasty steaks
The locals enjoyed their luncheon breaks
They shot the breeze and laughed a lot
They always argued, but never fought
At the annual rodeo
The ranchers competed row by row
They twirled their lassos and caught their steers
Winners won prizes, losers shed tears
Multiple myeloma cut short his life
Cancer cells attacked his bone
His death was a profound loss for all
His spirit comforts me when I’m alone.
