How To 10

What is The Way of 10 all about?

The simple answer: The Way of 10 is a practice–invented by Rachel Bagby–for creating a new form of short poetry comprised precisely of 10 syllables.

This is a 10 poem:

Photo by Jeff Daly

fingers
and toes each
have nine kin helping
~rachel bagby

This poem exemplifies the essence and the process of creating 10 poetry. As you compose your first 10 poem, think of one syllable for each finger or each toe. It’s that easy.

There is also more to the definition of the form: 10 poetry takes its name from the sum of its syllables—two in the first line, three in the second, five in the third.

Here are a few more characteristics of 10 poetry:
• Must be spoken aloud. To be complete, each 10 poem must be spoken aloud, if only to yourself or to a nearby elm tree or cloud. Speaking a 10 out loud increases your engagement with the form.

• Implies interrelationships of life’s different forms. Similar to classic haiku’s convention of implying season 10 poetry implies human interrelationships with the rest of life. These tiny yet powerful poems have the potential to revitalize your sense of restorative “animacy:” conscious intimacy with all that animates life.

• A practice with many applications. The writing of 10 poetry is meant to be a practice with many applications, including but not limited to: a spiritual discipline; a tool for leadership and team building; an aid for teachers to introduce poetry and language skills to students of all ages; a process to enhance communication and community resilience; and of course, a new form for writers to explore.

• Informed by a heritage of proverbial wisdom. 10 poetry, simultaneously evocative of proverbs and haiku, claim both an African and contemplative lineage. While most cultures have a heritage of proverbial wisdom, 10s poetry echoes the continuing African imperative of orality in their creation and publishing. They are contemplative in the silences and states of awareness from which they emerge.

• Link stanzas for longer poems. Longer poems can easily be built by stitching together a series of 10s, each one being a stanza.

You already have at hand all you need for this practice: fingers, senses, several bodies of mind. You have your heart, no matter how open or closed it feels. You breathe with all that is breathing. Why not use what you have to create your first 10 poem now?