The Delighful Diamante

Diamante, from the French for diamond, is a poem shaped like a lozenge or diamond.  The form was introduced by Iris Tiedt in 1969 in A New Poetry Form:  The Diamante.  The diamante can be the focus of two opposite subjects, like war and peace, or two synonyms, like bike and car.  It is seven lines in length and follows the following pattern:

Line 1:  subject (noun)
Line 2:  two words describing line 1 (adjectives)
Line 3:  three words describing line 1 (verbs)
Line 4:  a short phrase about line 1; a short phrase about line 7 (nouns)
Line 5:  three words re line 7 (verbs)
Line 6:  two words describing line 7 (adjectives)
Line 7:  end subject (noun)

Here is an example from the website https://www.youngwriters.co.uk/types-diamante-poem:

Bike

Shiny, quiet,

Pedalling, spinning, weaving

Whizzing round corners, zooming along roads

Racing, roaring, speeding

Fast, loud

Car

http://www.nats-umi.com/2012/05/28/spreading-amsterdams-bike-culture/

The following example, War and Peace, contains antonyms rather than synonyms at http://www.poetrysoup.com/poems/best/diamante:

war

violent, deadly

confusing, damaging, suffering

armament, strategy, dialogue, harmony

forgiving, respecting, understanding

mental, spiritual

peace

http://youthvoices.net/discussion/does-war-create-peace

This example, Orphaned, is near and dear to my heart:

Orphaned

Abandoned, Afraid

Losing, Longing, Lacking

Always Alone, Forever Home

Lasting, Loving, Lavishing

Chosen, Secure

Adopted

http://mikemorrell.org/2012/10/born-twice-my-adoption-story/

Glenna's Goal Book

"Ask and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door shall be open." 

(Matthew 7:7)

In 1977, Glenna Salsbury was a single mom with three daughters, a car payment and a house payment.  She also had big dreams.  She attended a seminar about goal setting where the speaker talked about a principle called I x V + Reality (Imagination x Vividness = Reality).  Glenna put the theory to the test.  Knowing that the brain works in images rather than words, she decided to make a goal picture book.  She bought a scrapbook and filled it with pictures from old magazines which represented her dreams, including:

1.  a good looking man
2.  a woman in a wedding gown & a man in a tuxedo
3.  a bouquet of flowers
4.  a diamond
5.  a Caribbean Island
6.  a lovely new home
7.  new furniture
8.  a Vice President of a corporation

She studied her goal book regularly, imprinting the images on her brain.  Eight weeks later, a good looking man pulled up beside her in his sports car.  He asked her out on a date, where he presented her with a bouquet of flowers.  Within a year, he presented her with a diamond ring.  After two years of dating, they married in California.  They honeymooned on St. John's Island in the Caribbean.  A year later, they moved into their lovely home filled with new furniture.  At that point, Glenna showed her husband her goal book.  At the same time, she became vice president of human resources at her company.  Never give up on your dreams!  Glenna is living proof.

Source:  "Glenna's Goal Book", Chicken Soup for the Soul (1993) at http://www.chickensoup.com/book-story/36234/glennas-goal-book.

Click here to read about one woman's attempt to make a goal book:
http://thatprecariousgait.com/2011/04/24/you-cant-get-it-if-you-dont-ask-for-it/.

bowmanfamilyservices.com