I had this poem published a long, long time ago in a journal called Iambs & Trochees, edited by William F. Carlson. I read that Mr. Carlson had died about a year after putting out this issue. Of the short contributor biographies at the back of the issue, my favorite reads, “Joseph Barker is a prison inmate who fills his void by writing poetry.”

Here’s the text typed out for all the spiders:

In every line are five iambic feet,
Which pair a stressed with every unstressed bit.
In every other line will two rhymes meet,
To give each couple interlocking fit.
The octave is the poem’s initial part,
Wherein the poet tries his wordy hand.
He may address what’s closest to his heart,
Or tackle what his mind can’t understand.
The sestet shows its face in number nine.
Its body turns the sonnet on its head.
The purpose here is purely by design:
To clarify, by contrast, what’s been said.
The couplet’s last, and serves to summarize
The rest, or give conclusion otherwise.