Versifying is an art.
One’s course of thoughts, it can chart.
Sing loud your heart’s sweet refrain,
And harness some fruitful gain.
What you hold silent in heart,
Spill out, it may hit like dart.
If you put apt words in rhyme,
The outcome will be sublime.
This is not a poem; this is a piece of my soul.--by writer
Yes, I string words into poems--
At least that’s what I think they are,
In this language I was not born with but acquired.
Every word and phrase is a labor on my part.
You may say I’m too ambitious
To dabble in versification when I don’t even know rhyme.
Forgive me--I just enjoy seeing pieces of my soul
Inked on a page. Thus, if you find any imperfection
Know that they are just as I am;
And just as I am, they
Are all I have to offer. So when you read
A poem of mine you are actually partaking of myself--
My innermost thoughts, my most guarded
Emotions, my dreams--all displayed at your mercy.
8th Place
My Truths Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Constance La France
VERSIFICATION VANDALS
they try
A. I.
In the manner of President John Quincy Adams
My inmost soul will serve my God.
He is my sure defense.
He's my salvation and my rock.
I'll not be greatly moved.
Those men who plot for my demise
Are like a leaning wall.
They tumble as a tott'ring fence.
My God will slay them all.
Some men conspire to overthrow;
No words they say are true.
They bless me, speaking to my face,
But in their hearts, they curse.
My inmost soul will serve my God,
My future is with Him.
My savior, rock and sure defense,
I'll not be greatly moved.
(Can be sung to the tune AMAZING GRACE or AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL.)
Lift up your voice and shout it out,
Declare my people’s sin.
Tell Israel her doom is near;
Soon judgment shall begin.
You think that I will see your works,
I see the heart instead.
In arrogant self-righteousness
Its offerings are dead.
But this is what I choose for you:
To comfort those distressed,
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
And free all those oppressed.
Give them your hands; give me your heart,
Sincere in all you do.
Then you shall take delight in me
And I delight in you.
O Lord, you search me and you know
Whene’er I stay or go,
Perceive my thoughts from far away
And guard me every day.
Before I plan to say a word,
You know it all, O Lord,
For all my days you planned for me,
Before one came to be.
If I could rise on wings of dawn,
Or hide where no man’s gone,
Yet even there your hand would be,
To guide and comfort me.
If I say, “darkness covers me,
And nothing God can see,”
Yet even dark is light to you,
And hides not what I do.
My God, O search and know my heart,
Cleanse every sinful part,
And lead me closer every day
To you, the only Way.
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.