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I can't add to what Annie said about form and meter and rhyme because, as was said, "them's the fac's." And, she also makes a great point that you not only need to read lots of kinds of poetry but you need to read about how to write different kinds of poetry.
For instance, I didn't learn until recently that at least a number of the early free verse writers were well-steeped in traditional forms. I'm a strchctured rhymer myself. I flee free verse mostly, although Annie and Lynda keep daring me to touch and good
for them because I need to challenge. But I also can go contryar to today's wisdom because all the "how to" writer's say writer like you would speak and I love the wordplay of the older writers who didn't do that. I not only look for the imagery of the pictures
the words paint but for the beauty in how the words fit together.
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<div><span style="font-size: 17pt;">We are all but characters in the books of God’s library. — Chris Colfer </span></div>
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<blockquote type="cite">On Dec 21, 2022, at 07:47, Richard R. Thomas via Stylist <stylist@nfbnet.org> wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I liked it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I like the use of the image of shifting, wind blown sand crystals.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They form shapes and go in only 1 direction as does time.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And, as I think she is musing on, time is the conductor of all things and events as we watch, listen with appreciation, to the music of the spheres as it were.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Again, prettyinteresting use of imagery.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have wondered about technical breakdowns of some of these poems as to meter.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How do the various authors count various syllabols and various linguistic helper words.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Is it even important in todays free-wheeling poetry environment?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I really don’t know and have been writing my lyrics as a sort of rhyming prose to avoid the complexities of formal structure but do want to do things quite well so am asking.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I don’t mean any criticism, just interested in what you pros do or appreciate when reading a poem so I can apply current norms to my song lyrics.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks Ann and other writers:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Richard R. Thomas (Rick USA) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sent from <a href="https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;padding:0in"><b>From: </b><a href="mailto:stylist@nfbnet.org">Ann Chiappetta via Stylist</a><br>
<b>Sent: </b>Tuesday, December 20, 2022 4:20 PM<br>
<b>To: </b><a href="mailto:stylist@nfbnet.org">Writers' Division Mailing List</a><br>
<b>Cc: </b><a href="mailto:anniecms64@gmail.com">Ann Chiappetta</a><br>
<b>Subject: </b>[Stylist] a poem</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Origin of Planets<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jennifer Foerster<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In this version, the valley<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">lime green after rain<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">rolls its tides before us.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A coyote bush shivers with seed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We hold out our palms as if catching snow—<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">our villages of circular tracts<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">overcast with stars.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We have been moving together in sequence<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for thousands of years, paralyzed<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">only by the question of time.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But now it is autumn under bishop pines—<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the young blown down by wind feed<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">their lichens to the understory.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We follow the deer-path<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">past the ferns, to the flooded<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">upper reaches of the estuary.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The channel snakes through horsetails<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and hemlock as the forest deepens, rises<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">behind us and the blue heron,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">frozen in the shallows.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The shadow of her long neck ripples.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Somewhere in the rustling tulle reeds<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">spider is casting her threads to the light<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and we spot a crimson-hooded fly agaric,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">her toadstool’s gills white<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">as teeth as the sun<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> bleeds into the Pacific.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We will walk the trail<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">until it turns to sand<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and wait at the spit’s edge, listening<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to the breakers, the seagulls<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">as they chatter their twilight preparations.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What we won’t understand<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">about the sound of the sea is no different<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">than the origin of planets<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">or the wind’s crystalline structures<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">irreversibly changing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The albatross drags her parachute<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">over the earth’s gaping mouth.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We turn back only for the instant<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the four dimensions fold<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">into a sandcastle—before its towers<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">are collapsed by waves.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The face that turns<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">toward the end of its world<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">dissolves into space—<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">despite us, the continuum<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">remains.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Copyright © 2022 by Jennifer Elise Foerster. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on December 20, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">Ann M. Chiappetta, M.S.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center">Making Meaningful ConnectionsThrough Media
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">914.393.6605 USA<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:Anniecms64@gmail.com"><span style="color:#0563C1">Anniecms64@gmail.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All things Annie: <a href="http://www.annchiappetta.com"><span style="color:#0563C1">www.annchiappetta.com</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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