Olde Style

A tongue in cheek comment on poetic style

                   Olde Style


         Poets old fashioned made rhymes with passion,
         we’re ever more clever today.
         The meter’s not running on poets so cunning
         that structure can't stand in their way.

         The modern-day rule makes everything cool,
         our poems now free of convention.
         Verses so vague, like chicken or egg,
         inspire the reader’s intension.

         Consciousness streams like fever fed dreams
         where everything comes into play.
         And anything goes when nobody knows
         that meaning is not what you say.

         Dealing in rhyme now feels like a crime
         abetted by metric pretention.
         So now I decline to make rhyming lines
         and meter I won’t even mention.

         Oops!


Author's note ▶︎

First, let me apologize if I've offended any fans of free verse. This is just a silly comment on my own inability to compose without meter & rhyme. We all have to express ourselves in the way that we find most satisfying.

Also, don't bother to spell check line 8. While writing this poem, I came across the word intension and used it intentionally. It's a term used in logic and linguistics to refer to the concept that a word evokes. It seemed somehow appropriate to use a very strictly defined word to create a sense of ambiguity. I do welcome your opinion on my use of the word and whether you think it works here.