Perpetual Ruminations

Watsa Pome?

Why am I writing some of my thoughts on what poetry is, because Grumpy wants to be edjumacated (his words). See: "Grumpy's Short-Lived Poetry Contest" 

Poetry is an art form, or should be, much like a song without the music. However, like music and song, there are many various styles (too many to list here).  Some are easy, some more difficult, and some down right difficult.

I believe poetry should be fun, both to read and to write. However, reading poetry can be a bit difficult because the reader doesn't know the pauses and flow the writer intended. With music and song, we have the notes and pauses provided (if a person knows how to read music), but with poetry, all we have is punctuation (not always) to show pauses, stops, and flow.

When I was in school, I disliked writing poetry simply because of the rules we had to follow. Looking back, I now understand it was to teach us how to write various forms of poetry, but at the time it was a difficult task for a child to do. Trying to understand things like line count, couplets, various types of rhyme (is it abab, is it aabb, etc...), meter, and flow seemed like a lot; it still does and often I have to research to write a poem correctly.

Most often, I just focus on rhyme and flow. I enjoy poetry that rhymes and has a smooth flow, both to read and to write. I often don't look at meter at all, as long as it flows smoothly. Some poems don't even need to rhyme, think freestyle.

For example:

It's winter now and cold outside
the ground covered with snow.
I like the spring and fall the best,
summers too hot and winters too cold.
But where can I find a place to live
that's always spring and fall?
I'd have to migrate like a bird
across the entire globe!

To me, this isn't poetry, it's a statement. To some, however, it's both poetry and their preferred way of writing. Similarly, much of my poetry doesn't incorporate meter, so to others, it's not correct. In other words, poetry is different to different people; there are many forms to fit different tastes.

As I stated, I usually just focus on a nice flow with catchy rhyme, but I can write poetry that follows various rules, such as limericks, acrostic, and tanka (you can find some in my port). I can also write a poem that has correct rhyme and meter, such as the one I did for Grumpy, over at, "Grumpy's Short-Lived Poetry Contest"  called, "She Don't Like Roses" . Although a bit more difficult, the challenge is good, and I believe adds more delight to this poem.

In summary, poetry is an art form of expression and can include rigid rules and format, it can be expressed freestyle, or it can be a bunch of gobbledygook. It can be serious or silly, sharing emotions or just for a laugh; poetry, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder.