Terry,
Lots of variation...formal and more informal...I use the informal below...here is a link to learn more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CinquainCinquain also has a more specialized meaning. Under the influence of Japanese poetry, the American poet Adelaide Crapsey developed a poetic form she also called a "cinquain." Hers is a short, unrhymed poem of twenty-two syllables, five lines of 2, 4, 6, 8, 2 syllables respectively
:) brenda