Day 25 ~ “Free Verse Poems” for “30 Poems in 30 Days” #NationalPoetryMonth

So, today let’s just abandon all the rules (as some of you fabulous poets out there prefer to do anyway) and write a free verse poem about anything you choose.

I just want to point out that “free verse” is NOT the same thing as “blank verse.”

Blank verse IS unrhymed but surprisingly, it DOES have rules - rules that pertain to things like “iambic pentameter” with unstressed/stressed syllable patterns or “trochee” with stressed/unstressed or even more craziness, how about dactyl blank verse with has stressed/unstressed/unstressed syllable patterns? There is also “anapest blank verse” – yeah, we’ll just stop there. So, we are not writing blank verse today ~ just free verse. And if nothing strikes your fancy – just use a favorite poetry form that we have used earlier this month.

So, FREE VERSE is basically random, without any fixed metrical patterns of any kind and while there is no need to rhyme, it’s totally fine if you wish to use rhyme, but there is no need to count syllables or to worry about much of anything – just let it come. But free verse is actually tricky to make it feel cohesive, but once you get it just how you want it – you will be most happy with it. Free verse poems can be long, short or anything in between, as long as it seems to have a good flow, then you are good to go.

Nature, family, life, love, religion, whatever comes to mind ~ go for it. I think it's also fun to use “National” and “World” celebration days as prompts for here are a few of them for April 25,  2018:

Denim Day, DNA Day, Hairstylists Appreciation Day, International Guide Dog Day, International Marconi Day, National Crayola Day, National Golf Day, National Mani-Pedi Day, National Plumber's Day, National Zucchini Bread Day, Red Hat Society Day, World Penguin Day, and World Stationery Day, to name a few.

OH, and head’s up – tomorrow is “Poem in my Pocket” day – so instead of writing a poem, we will try to memorize a poem and/or make copies of it to hand out to share with friends and family – more on that tomorrow. (And, of course, you can always use one of the poems you have written for this).

So, here is one of my favorite free verse poems I have written (a few years ago, but that’s okay):

HOPE

Hope creates options.

It still can happen.

In fact, anything CAN happen.

Hope is what we cling to.

I hope I am doing enough.

I hope people understand the purity of my motives.

I hope my family will all be together in the hereafter.

Why do I have hope?

Because I believe what Christ said when He came.

I believe He really did die for our sins and that

through the atonement of Christ

and the power of the resurrection;

I can be raised up unto life eternal with my loved ones.

That is what I hope for.

And because I have hope

. . . I keep trying.

© 2015 Stephanie Abney

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright for to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.