Thursday, March 1, 2012

My Apolgy to my Writer's Group

I have discovered for the ump-teenth time
There is really no home for the poet of rhyme
And while I admit I have much to learn
There is a barred pasture for which I yearn
Where Tennyson, Long-fellow and Blake recline
Among all the great masters of rhythm and rhyme

My admiration runs deep for the artist of prose
The skill of their quill; the metaphorical rose
I strive to be brave enough to venture among
The haiku, cinquain, nonet, tanka song
But when I have wandered their courtyards sublime
I return once again to the pastures of rhyme

Beauty is in the eye of beholder, its true
I have understood as I beheld the senyru
And marveled at the tools of simplicity
Creating pure, breath-taking imagery
I bow my head, the truth now I know it
Dare I to call myself a poet?

Yet happily I gather words in my thought
Dither about for the elusive jot
I care not so much about status or title
The lure of words cannot keep my thought idle
Am I a poet or merely a shadow
Drifting in bliss through a wide open meadow?

So while some may gag at rhyme’s stringent plot
I have not learned how to un-rhyme my thought
Over and over I am lured by its dance
Yet drawn simultaneously by free-verse romance
So quietly I sit at the back of the room
Happy to observe poet’s in full bloom

© Janet Martin

I am blessed to be in a wonderful Writer's Group!

Glynis, I am not afraid of rejection
but I have not the slightest sense of direction.

Most publishers prefer the free verse, not rhyme
I think I was born in the wrong frame of time
So I must study prose's secret ingredient
For I have no free verse I consider expedient
to offer up to a publisher at this time.
You see, I tend to be a poet of rhyme:)
I'm posting this selfishly to ease my injured pride
before I see you tomorrow night...

sigh, I think sometimes
I think in rhymes...


8 comments:

  1. I just have to say that I have always admired your ability to rhyme. Your words just seem to flow so rhythmically. Some people who 'rhyme' seem to force rhymes, but you are not one of those poets. Rhyme on happily!

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  2. Oh Mary, I love you! Thank-you so much.

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  3. That's a complete mystery to me: why would rhyme be rejected? Although I do admire free verse, I see it more as poetic prose. I found out about free verse only recently, to me a poem is still a piece with rhythm and rhyme.
    Love your poems, Janet, don't go changing! :-)

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  4. I'm not sure why it is rejected,...but it is. Happy A, you know I love you too.Your words and Mary's have been such an encouragement! and I don't think I can change even if I want to!:))

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  5. I think rhyming will enjoy a comeback. Rejected officially or not, poetry like yours will always have readers. :-)

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  6. I would love to see rhyme make a comeback, but if it doesn't that's okay. There is so much beautiful poetry both free verse and rhyme, available to us via the internet I don't believe we shall be in want. I can look up ANY oldie-goldie and find it! I really appreciate your kind words.:)

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  7. I can't really understand why anyone who reject poems that rhyme anymore than anyone would reject free verse or blank verse or Haiku or prose poems. It seems very narrow minded / judgmental to me to declare one kind of poem unworthy. There is room for all.

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  8. I'm sure there are markets that accept rhyme, but of the sites I tried most were not 'accepting' rhyme at this time...or if they 'welcomed' all styles they are not currently accepting submissions etc.
    I'm not really looking to be published, but our assignment was to find a potential publisher for something we have written. I simply chose poetry because that is my passion. Right now I am in the process of writing a devotional for The Upper Room as my homework assignment so I do not show up empty-handed.WOW! I have a new appreciation for those who write the 250 word devotions! It is harder than I thought it would be....life experience to biblical application with scripture. It is sort of fun to try it though.
    thank-you Mary for your thoughts.

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I hope you enjoyed your pause on this porch and thank-you for your visit!