Day 9 ~ “Free Verse Poems” for Easter and “30 Poems in 30 Days” #NationalPoetryMonth

So, today is Easter. Let's just abandon all the rules (as some of you out there prefer to do anyway) and write a free verse poem about Easter OR whatever 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 of your choice.

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, Easter, whatever comes to mind ~ go for it.

So, for today's examples, I’m sharing two free verse poems that I wrote a few years back. I've shared them before but that's okay. I wrote “Hope” in 2015 and have shared it every year since because I love it and for today, it works well for Easter. The second poem, “Dishwater Redemption” was first written in the mid-1970s when I had young children but I rewrote it a bit in 2007. It also works well for Easter. Anyway, for what it’s worth, here are two free-verse poems:

 

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

 

 

 

   

      

 

 

 

Artwork by my granddaughter-in-law, Sadie Leavitt © 2023

Dishwater Redemption

The house is quiet.
My husband and children are asleep.
The silence of the room is interrupted
Only by the sounds I make while washing the dishes.
 
As I pick up each dish and rinse away our dinner,
I am reminded of the meal we enjoyed together.
The chatter of the children as they spoke of their day
Lingers in my mind and I feel a sweet contentment.
 
I’m nearly done when I notice my well-used cookie sheet,
Standing at the back of the dish drainer;
Even though I have washed it thoroughly,
It really doesn’t look very clean.
 
The evidence of so many batches of cookies baked
Over and over again until it looks tarnished and brown.
When it was new, it sparkled and shined.
Now it is discolored and scratched.
 
And for some reason, tonight, this bothers me.
I take the cookie sheet from its resting place and
Plunge it back into the warm, soapy water.
But I am unable to rid it of the baked-on grime.
 
I reach in the cupboard for an S.O.S. scouring pad
And go after the suspect brown specks with renewed vigor.
I pay special attention to the inside corners of the cookie sheet.
This proves to be especially satisfying and I continue until it shines.
 
It has been reborn and I can see my reflection in it.
And suddenly, I realize… I am like the cookie sheet.
I’m not dirty by any means, but perhaps,
Not quite clean enough either; I have lost some of my sparkle.
 
Leaning against the sink I know what I must do.
I will take upon me the S.O.S. scouring pad of repentance
And work and pray hard to be shiny and clean,
Until the Savior’s image shows in my countenance.
 
I plan to keep my cookie sheet as bright as it looks today
And with a few repairs here and there, and a heart full of love,
I can do the same for myself, that I might be more useful
To those I share this earthly space with.
 
Who knew? Sometimes, there’s not much difference between
A neglected ol’ cookie sheet and a life too busy to notice
Some of the sparkle and shine has faded.
Yes, S.O.S. pads are a beautiful thing.

 

                                 ~ © Stephanie Abney 2007

 

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 to them as soon as they create them and especially once they post them. Thanks so much!

*** Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog or elsewhere on social media ~ 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 EACH DAY’S SPECIFIC 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.