The Perplexing Grain

The Perplexing Grain is a poetic form, originating in The Zombie of Swarming. The form guides poets during improvised performances. The poem is divided into numerous series of ten-line stanzas and numerous series of quatrains. Use of alliteration and simile is characteristic of the form.

• The first part is intended to express grief over the subject of the poem. The seventh line of each stanza must expand the idea of the second line. It has lines with five feet with a syllable weight pattern of long-short-short (quantitative dactylic pentameter). The refrain occurs as line one.
• The second part is intended to console the audience. The fourth line of each quatrain must expand the idea of the third line. It has lines with three feet with a syllable weight pattern of long-short-short (quantitative dactylic trimeter). The refrain occurs as line one.

Events