What Is A Poem?
For The Vocal "Say It Plainly" Challenge
Introduction
I often think that any set of words in any form can be considered a poem. When you get sentences that become paragraphs, they can be considered prose but still be seen as poetry.
I thought for this challenge I would say what I think makes a poem, and I know most of you will disagree with me.
This is a fairly free-form piece, though each line has eight syllables, that is it.
The music is "Stay" by Shakespears Sister, because of a tenuous link to the Bard of Stratford and the fact I want you to STAY and leave a comment. Both the video and the song are brilliant too, almost gothic.
What Is A Poem?
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Just One Word After Another
To Tell A Story To Readers
Some Will Say That It Is A Crime
If Your Written Lines Have No Rhyme
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And Others Will Hate It For That
Yes, This Is, No Doubt, A Real Poem
Although Some Might Say It Is Not
They May Say It's Nothing But Rot
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It Could Be A Sprawling Saga
Or An Ode To A Most Loved One
An Elegy For Someone Gone
Villanelle To Hammer A Point
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All Your Words Can Be A Poem
You Just Have To Say That They Are
And Then Weave Them Into Your Form
To Share Them With Your Audience
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About the Creator
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insight
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
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More stories from Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred and writers in Poets and other communities.
The Swan Queen
Introduction I love this painting shared by The Enchanted Booklet on Facebook here This is a freeform poem consisting of tercets with five-syllable lines, without deliberate rhymes. I was looking for a more formal construct, but this fell into place, and so I thought I would leave it as is.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 8 days ago in Poets
I wanted to title this something different, but worried that my chosen title might cause problems entering the United States in the future so this is the new title. It's the greatest title. No one has ever written a title better than this. (All titles unrelated to content).
Let me be honest. I am finding this difficult. Now, I like a challenge, a stretch, a bit of an obstacle course. “Write about the decline of the British Empire in the form of a narrative poem in which your protagonist is an artichoke” I read, and flex my fingers. “Write a haiku to evoke the sensation of sibilance using only the first half of the alphabet.” “Well”, I think to myself, “this should be fun.” But “write about a system that isn’t working”? A system that isn’t working? Now? In 2026? ONE system? My favourite system that isn’t working? The sexiest system that isn’t working? The one giving me the most angst day to day? The one giving me the most existential dread? I am, as I say, finding this difficult. I will own that I have contemplated writing a thousand words on why the steady “all on” setting on my fairy lights is the EIGHTH of seven options which must be sequentially activated to get there, because that is a system that some fool came up with and it definitely doesn’t work, and now who is paying the price, eh? But how can I write about my fairy lights when…. When…. When….
By Hannah Moore5 days ago in Humans
Comments (4)
Great 👍
Let's agree to disagree. I can't unlearn my formal training (don't want to--paid for it in headaches from processing so much information in class). Sound matters. Meaning matters. They need to reinforce each other to approach poetry. I'll die on this hill, where my ghost will stand for eternity when I'm gone. Much love, but I will never be swayed on this.
Thats what I like about the poem community 🥰 Total Free form. No word count necessary. Great poem to bring out a point 🥰
"I agree" --- this is a good definition of a poem, thankyou for sharing xx