Bouncing words in melody,

Touching heart and mind.

A love affair, or altercation,

Emotions intertwined.

Interpretations many,

No defying way to guide.

A creative lyrical outlet,

To all that lives inside.

There are many quotes on this which will likely turn up here.One of my personal favorites is a quote from Carl Sandburg:

"Poetry is an echo,

asking a shadow to dance."

There are people in the world who would prefer a poem constrained to perfect form and style. I suppose that crowd has it's fans but it seems to take away the magic for me.

Of course there is certainly a place for craft and form as much as there's a place for free verse and experimental forms. Honestly I'm much more particular about subject matter. Subject matter can push people away who you're trying to entice.

My poetry is a canvas that isn't just for the museum elite.

Nor for the elite of any background for that matter.

Nor for those who are prideful of being exactly the opposite.

Really,I think E.E Cummings had it right saying that poetry and all other arts are strictly up to the individual. Poetry is a snapshot that can be written in so many ways or lengthened to several shapshots to create a great whole.

It is poem when many people agree it poem. Then you are a poet.

Poetry is literature taken to the next stage of evolution. Any of the timeless novels and tales of old will transport you to a time and place that remain etched in your heart throughout your life.

But to describe the scent of lavender without using the brush strokes of rhyme will never truly convey the soul of the plant.

Poetry done well will lift you high above the ground and allow to reach the heavens in short, uplifting spurts that reach deep into your heart and rush through your veins like caffeine.

Poetry is everything.

Poetry is not my thing. I have never been drawn to it. It always seems like it's trying too hard. Forced rhymes and difficult phrasing. I prefer a good meaty story with lots of words. A chance to really flow with no limits. Sometimes I read poems and have to admit I don't really understand. Where is the back story? I want someone to fill in the missing details.

I think my life is the same way. I don't like boundaries or meaningless rules. I don't want to fit in any particular box. I want to let the words flow and get the whole big messy story.

Poetry is prose and prose is poetry.

Paradox?

I think not.

I think that poetry is about

the free-flow of thought

and emotion through combinations of words

in order to create authentic feelings

of awe, wonder, and beauty

regardless of the content or subject.

"Prose," by conventional definition,

is writing not constrained by

structure, but rather

writing that is spontaneous,

stream-of-consciousness,

in-the-moment and free-form.

So it would seem

that prose and poetry

share the same meaning, revealing

that poetry is not defined by

adherence to structure

such as rhyme or metaphor or pentameter

so much as it is defined by

the spontaneous invention of a structure

without premeditation or planning,

which is no different from

prose -

this being whatever words come most

naturally

in any given moment

so as to communicate thoughts and feelings

in the most fluent, smooth, eloquent -

beautiful -

way imaginable.

Of course, the conventional

definition of "prose"

makes no mention of "beauty."

Or "eloquence."

But let's make it our delightful duty

to merge these two p's

and make this cultural prevalent.

Poetry

i.e.

prose

and

prose

i.e.

poetry

are simply two different signifiers

sharing the same signification

that is a means to

create beauty through combinations

of words and ideas

by virtue of their flow

and their depth.

Anything goes

for poetry,

like prose.

What matters

are spontaneity

and beauty.

You know?