Metric Apologetic

Perhaps I ought to publish my position
(as if there's anyone disposed to care!):
I'm not convinced that open competition

is profitable.  Poets, self-aware,
and full of self-esteem (as many are!)
increasingly seem disinclined to share

the fruits of midnight labour.  From afar
(and I do not possess a crystal ball)
I think that I perceive a lowered bar:

requirements (this is just my judgement call)
to dress one's thoughts in rhythm or in rhyme
do not delight our writers.  They appal.

We need not think of strictures as a crime.
Does discipline torpedo erudition,
or might it help us grasp at the sublime?
Copyright © | Year Posted 2022

Poem

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Delaney Avatar
October 1, 2022 at 1:39 PM
Hi Michael: I agree on the discipline of forms and how they work, especially for different stories. I think Haas wrote the best description explaining how Form Vs Free Verse works and after I read that I could see it working for me. I will post here if it will fit. SuZ. “ Robert Hass in comparing metered poems with Free Verse states: ‘……the metrical poem begins with an assumption of human life which takes place in a pattern of orderly recurrence with which the poet must come to terms- Meter organizes accents into an overall pattern and more or less evenly times the lines bringing an organizing influence that allows the story to unfold. The Free verse poem…begins with an assumption of openness or chaos in which an order must be discovered. The basic fact of free verse: each poem is shaped from within. You’ll often hear a poet say they didn’t know where the poem would end when they began writing it but that it comes to them as a natural act of writing."
Coy Avatar
October 1, 2022 at 3:19 PM
Fascinating. Thank you for giving me something so intellectually engaging.
Fowler Avatar
July 18, 2022 at 7:34 AM
Nicely penned Michael. A little discipline goes a long way. I do like trying new forms. :) Linda
Coy Avatar
July 19, 2022 at 2:18 AM
Thank you, Linda, for an intelligent comment. Michael
Kyser Avatar
July 15, 2022 at 3:20 AM
Good one, Michael - a challenging form to me.
Coy Avatar
July 15, 2022 at 3:25 AM
You're very generous. Thank you.
Get a Premium Membership
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace