Poetry has many recognized forms but currently, free verse seems to be favored. Although I write many free verse poems, I like to build in subtle structure. There must be something odd about me that insists on using poetry "keys" otherwise it just isn't "right." For my family, poetry still needs to be rhymed and metered. At least I don't go that far, but for the most part, if you look closely at what I write, you will be able to discover little things that make it more valid . . . even if just for me. Here is an example that I wrote two months ago:

Vacation

            By Margaret V. Doran, June, 2013

No school

One quarter-moon

One comfy quilt

One folding table

Two ground pads

Two cotton curtains

Three giggly girls

No flashlight

One ten-striped June beetle . . . !!!

One table, one quilt, two pads, two curtains, three girls

Vacate the lawn.

###

First, the poem includes a modest amount of alliteration and it establishes a pattern for the verses: one line -0-, three lines -1-, two lines -2- and one line -3-. The pattern is obvious, particularly when it begins to repeat for the second verse. Then it suddenly breaks, providing a little humorous play on words for the last line.  The best thing about this poem (for me) was that it prompted a flurry of poetry from three little girls who had confined themselves to the house temporarily and wrote acrostic poems.

Poetry for Today - Acrostic

Like acrostic puzzles, acrostic poems spell out a word reading down with the first letter of each line. Normally they spell a person's name but I have taken a bit more creative approach with this poem. I wrote it for my daughter in 2009 and although I showed her children where the "hidden message" was, I did not tell her it existed. I do not know if she ever discovered it or not, so it's a little secret treasure waiting for her to find. I like to think that after I'm gone, she'll re-read it for sentimental reasons and discover the short little message hidden there.

Karen 2009

Margaret V. Doran

Ice and snow still cover frozen ground
lovely daphnia perfumes the air
ordains spring to reappear, coaxing
vibrant purple crocus: blooming hope

even as you have been throughout
your life: smiling, joyful presence
our personification of
unlimited, unending love.

PS: There's another poetic device used in this free-verse, unrhymed, unmetered poem. Can you, the poet, discover what it is?

Poetry for Today: Social Commentary

This is like a short, short story . . . possibly Poetic Prose, even. There is no rhyme or meter and the prose is not just "broken into little chunks," but rather broken to add drama to the story. It's not a story that resolves, but leaves the reader to form conclusions or wonder what happens next. It also presents a certain amount of social commentary which is, afterall, the poet's job. Let me make that very clear: The job of a poet is to offer social commentary and to cause people to think, or re-think what they take for granted. It is to move people out of complacency for which I have created an "edgy" quality; something that cuts. Here is my offering for you today.

What?

Margaret V. Doran

He slipped into bed and I smiled

snuggling into him

instantly I knew: he had been

with another woman;

since the day we started dating

all those years ago,

I had to forgo

perfume of any kind

because of his allergies.

But tonight he reeked of something

flowery, sensuous, intimidating.

And he wasn't sneezing or coughing.

He must have sensed the cold

he pulled back and peered at my

face there in the dim light

of the alarm clock

“What?” he demanded.

Poetry for Today: Free Verse

Free verse follows no strict form; rhyming and meter are completely at the discretion of the poet as are length and number of lines. It is usually unmetered and unrhymed. My poem gives an example of "enjambment" which is quite popular in today's poetry. Unlike most traditional poetry, the lines do not provide "end stops," but rather flow from one to the next, transitioning a thought without stopping in much the same way that we think and day-dream.  There are no articles and a picture is painted in words, leaving the reader a lot of personal "room" for interpretation.

Ground Fog

Margaret V Doran

cloud lifts slowly, thin

horizontal layers drift

upwards, leave behind fields'

new growth, each blade gilt

mist coalesced: tiny silver orbs

hold, reflect, refract light

magnify, glorify dawn

Poetry for Today - Cinqku

The American analogue to haiku, the Cinque is minimalist in nature with 17 syllables strictly arranged in five short lines of 2, 3, 4, 6,  and 2 syllables respectively. The last line may circle around to the first or may offer a contrast. They are written in haiku- style free diction and syntax with no metrical requirement; a turn can be used that may be similar to kireji in haiku or cinquain. Unlike haiku, they are not specifically nature or season-based and all subject matter is acceptable. Unless they are part of a series, they are left untitled and the first line becomes the reference point.

I offer you my cinque to brighten a cloudy day:

sunrise
golden shafts
glazing mountains
kissing flowers open
morning

Margaret V Doran

Poetry for Today: Cinquains

The Cinquain is a fairly modern form (poetically speaking) that holds to a strict word and syllable count. Most that you see as examples are faithful to the syllable count but vary from the word count, particularly in the third line. I've tried to keep both. It also follows specific guidelines for what each line presents: Title, Description, Action, Feeling, End. There's also an old form and a contemporary form, but I won't get into that.

These are the Cinquains I wrote yesterday. I'd like to mention that for the "Haiti" cinquain, I want to finish with cholera, but it's three syllables and will not work. I may update it and slide it into a contemporary heading because the word is so much MORE than the generic ending it has now. More impact. More real. That's why contemporary poetry allows deviations; it lets the poetry itself speak rather than be so tightly confined to form that the form is more important than the words. See if you think it improves rather than detracts:

Iraq
fighting factions
killing brothers, soldiers
anguish, dying, fearful, crying
deathbed

Haiti
simple people
floods devastate, destroy
homeless, thirsty, hopeless, helpless
disease

Driving
school ahead
following other cars
outrage, anger, frustration, tears
ticket

Haiti (contemporary)
simple people
floods devastate, destroy
homeless, thirsty, hopeless, helpless
cholera

Poetry from the Past - Couplets

I decided to get back to work on my book so I've been writing to very specific poetic forms. I started work on a Classicism piece but it turned into something completely different. Classicism is to focus on the beauty, writings, ideals, and architecture of classical Greece and Rome. They are written in couplets. Although not stipulated as to meter, in reading examples, I assume that they are (were?) usually written in either iambic pentameter or trochaic pentameter.

I was thinking about the early women of the Christian Church, many of whom were locked into a slavery of sorts within middle-eastern cultures. They accepted Christianity within the framework of a society that had no respect for women. They did not own property, could not travel independently, BELONGED to their husbands as chattel and had no control over their lives. To regain self-respect and self-control, the most radical assumed the role of men, cutting their hair and dressing as men in order to leave society completely. Many chose to live out their lives in caves in the dessert where they spent their time worshiping God and living austere lives of deprivation.

Although this may be a rather romantic notion, the reality was anything but romantic. And there was nothing particularly beautiful about it, either, yet they turned away from their societies, their parents, their forced marriages to find peace and freedom. A high price to pay. I have written God to be gender-neutral and for these women, they would claim that such isolation freed them to actually experience the beauty of God. This has not gone through the revision process since it's "hot off the pen," but that will happen in the future so one can expect changes.

Devotion

     Margaret V. Doran 10-23-2010

And I, to commune solely with my God,

Must leave the paths that other women trod

Cast off the clothing other women wear

Unbind, cut off my long and flowing hair

Embrace the habits of monastic men

Barefoot, bereft, and seeking; only then

Embark upon a course of solitude

With God alone to guide my attitude

Devote myself to worship and to prayer

My God shall create joy out of despair

The Holy will of God shall be my stay

My sustenance and comfort day by day

Deprived of worldly trappings, binds and deeds

I’m free to follow God where e’er God leads.