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Poetry, rules and rebellion

I have a confession…writing poetry with certain constraints has always made me antsy. I have felt like I was somehow not good enough to write following the rules. So, I have written copious amounts of free verse…avoiding the structure of any fotms.

Then, as I grew as a writer and a poet, I found myself saying I don’t write that way too often. Well why the Hell not? Am I a Poet? Or do I just pretend I am?

So, when presented with a form/structure poem idea, I start by looking up the rules. For me, this is my go to site.

Believe me, I feel like a high school student again. In high school I knew the rules and felt my style was better as free verse. I think that if anyone tried to tell me that I needed to follow rules with my poetry I even would blow it off with poetic license.

The rebel nature of free verse still appeals. I will likely never be the next Haiku or Sonnet genius. Poetry speaks from the heart, and mine is often chaotic and unstructured. The meaning remains though.

So, just out of curiousity, what is your favorite types of poetry? Why?

16 thoughts on “Poetry, rules and rebellion”

  1. I don’t have a clear favorite type of poetry as a reader. Its all about how I respond to the given poem. As a writer, like you, I never learned the rules of the types and what does emerge would, I suppose be classified as free verse.

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      5. Word Jazz (will post formally too. Just wanted to make sure you see it. 😊)
        Word Jazz
        Not structured
        Poetic improv

        Pieced together
        Thoughts, emotions,
        Smiles and tears.

        Word song,
        Spilled soul
        To paper
        Spilled mind
        To sight.

        Eclectic,
        And smooth.
        Energetic,
        Makes the heart move.

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  3. I agree with you: free verse! That said, I love writing sonnets sometimes. I adore iambic pentameter and flicking my fingers while figuring out syllables. My newest challenge is trying to write ukulele songs, using only chords since I don’t know musical notation. A song is so different than poetry and my songs were poems first. Like I use words that really don’t belong in a song (such as catholicon or xanthos–truly laughable to the twang of a ukulele) 😀

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  4. I guess since I am somewhat of a rebel who doesn’t like following rules, my answer would be free verse, although many of my poems rhyme. As an old rock drummer I try to make them rhythmic so they flow. I’ve tried haiku, elfje and sedoka, but at my age I’m easily confused, lol.

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