Clouds curl over the mountaintop
like waves sloshing over rocks —
a thousand times slower,
but no less persistent
in their repetitive attempts
to swamp the leeward side.
Though the poem above is free verse,
sometimes I write in various fixed form styles. These include styles associated with English language poetry (e.g. common meter and Shakespearean sonnets) and also fixed forms associated with other languages (e.g. haiku / senryu / haibun from Japanese poesy — though I vary from strict rules to try to maintain some of the sparse sounding quality [English syllables average much longer than Japanese.])
Sometimes, I set out to write in a particular form (or lack of form,) but most of the time my ideas come out of free writing and a form (or lack thereof) suggests itself as I play around with a key phrase or concept. And if tetrameter works better than pentameter for a sonnet, I’ll vary. I enjoy various fixed forms, but I think it would be a miserable existence to be a poet dogmatically stuck on a particular form. I try to be flexible with tradeoffs between sound quality and form, and subject matter.
Loved the comparison of clouds to waves crashing over the rocks. Nice poem to great the morning.
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thank you
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I have a question. As you know I appreciate your poems. I think you write in open verse. Is there a meter to be followed in this?
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I don’t write exclusively one style of poetry.
Though the poem above is free verse,
sometimes I write in various fixed form styles. These include styles associated with English language poetry (e.g. common meter and Shakespearean sonnets) and also fixed forms associated with other languages (e.g. haiku / senryu / haibun from Japanese poesy — though I vary from strict rules to try to maintain some of the sparse sounding quality [English syllables average much longer than Japanese.])
Sometimes, I set out to write in a particular form (or lack of form,) but most of the time my ideas come out of free writing and a form (or lack thereof) suggests itself as I play around with a key phrase or concept. And if tetrameter works better than pentameter for a sonnet, I’ll vary. I enjoy various fixed forms, but I think it would be a miserable existence to be a poet dogmatically stuck on a particular form. I try to be flexible with tradeoffs between sound quality and form, and subject matter.
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I would like to request you to see my post at my website Twitter if Birds & review my first attempt at poetry & give me a feedback please.
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