Minute Poetry
Minute Poetry, often called the Minute Poem, is a short rhymed syllabic form of exactly sixty syllables, one syllable for each second in a minute. It is usually written in three quatrains, or twelve total lines. Each stanza follows the syllable pattern 8, 4, 4, 4. The rhyme scheme is aabb ccdd eeff. The form is often written in iambic meter and is suited to a brief event, quick story, comic turn, or small completed moment.

A Minute Poem often includes: twelve lines, three four-line stanzas, sixty total syllables, short rhymed couplets, quick movement, and a sense that something has happened and finished. Because the lines are short, the poem should move cleanly and avoid padding.

To write a Minute Poem, choose a brief event. Divide the poem into three quatrains. Make the first line of each stanza eight syllables and the next three lines four syllables each. Rhyme the lines in pairs. Keep the language swift and clear.

One-Minute Storm

The dark cloud broke above the lane,
with sudden rain.
The hens ran fast;
the children passed.

The porch light flickered in the gale,
then flickered pale.
The old door cried;
I stayed inside.

The storm was gone before I prayed,
the drenched road stayed.
One robin came
and sang my name.

“One-Minute Storm” follows the Minute Poem form by using twelve lines divided into three quatrains. Each stanza follows the 8, 4, 4, 4 syllable pattern. The rhyme scheme is aabb ccdd eeff: lane/rain, fast/passed, gale/pale, cried/inside, prayed/stayed, came/name. The poem also describes a brief event that begins and ends quickly.

Minute Poetry is a modern invented form. A stricter Minute Poem keeps the syllable count, rhyme scheme, and iambic movement. A looser WoPoLian version may allow slant rhyme or a less exact meter, but the sixty-syllable structure should remain recognizable.