The Magic Nine

This is a relatively new form, attributed to Divena Collins. It’s a nine-line poem and doesn’t have many rules, other than you need to follow a strict rhyme scheme. There is no set line length, syllable count, or meter. There is no particular subject matter required.

Rumour has it that the rhyme scheme came about when someone rushed the spelling of the word ‘Abracadabra’ and left out the r’s. This gives it a rhyme scheme of a-b-a-c-a-d-a-b-a.

As you can see, lines 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 rhyme with each other, lines 2 and 8 rhyme, and lines 4 and 6 are stand alone. This is what makes this poem tricky, because the ‘a’ rhyme is used so many times, so you have to choose that first end word carefully.

Using the random number six for a syllable count, here’s a schematic:

xxxxxa
xxxxxb
xxxxxa
xxxxxc
xxxxxa
xxxxxd
xxxxxa
xxxxxb
xxxxxa

I had a hard time getting a rhythm going, thanks to the strange rhyme scheme. And I found it interesting that the ‘a’ rhyme lines were just naturally longer than the others, just like most of the examples I read by other poets.


Don’t stare into the sun too long,
my mother used to say,
your eyes won’t like the light so strong –
think of the damage to them.
I wonder, was my mother wrong
to give me this advice?
And still, I always played along
even to this day.
My mother’s advice lives lifelong.