Fuzzy Intro To Verse: Part 1

Am I too presumptuous to dare talk about writing a poem? I have no training in the science of poetry and do not know technical words associated with poetry. A comment was made to a poem I wrote saying I write tight quatrains. A quatrain was a new fangled word. Qua means four, but train is a form of transportation. My poem mentioned nothing about trains. I was dumbfounded, so I asked my wife, a Literature Major, what a quatrain was. She had no clue, so I asked my 15 year old dog, but she wanted a treat before answering. To me this was an outrageous bribe. My wife was watching and told me I had lost my marbles. Well, I decided to look up the term and found a site for people dumber than a dog. Once I understood this term, I felt qualified for talking to you about how to write a good poem.

However, not to show too much paranoia, I fear a student out there will be reading this and his ‘poet’ mom will have this reaction: ‘Herbert, you stop reading that at once.’ ‘John, John’, calling to her husband, who comes rushing into the room. ‘Look at this radical nonsense ‘your’ son is reading.’ John looks and says, ‘Oh my gosh darn golly’ and just sadly shakes his head and says, ‘Son, go play with your Wii.’ After Herbert leaves, John says, ‘Do you think he needs counseling? No telling how long he has been reading this smut.’ His wife just shakes her head and says, ‘I’ll take him to see the doctor tomorrow. There must be some kind of drug to help him. No telling how far over the edge he’s gone.’ With a pensive look and a far away look in her eyes, she looks at John and says, ‘This has given me an idea for a poem.’ John waits until she leaves, then grabs the laptop to enjoy this article in his reading room.

I would probably write better poetry, if I knew more about the science of poetry and had a ‘Reena’ coffee maker for the perfect cup of coffee.. However, all the poetic scientific knowledge in the world does not mean you will be a good poet. A good poem has that elusive term called quality that stirs some kind of emotional reaction. Really good poems are like a beautiful sunset, or a beautiful painting that causes a feeling of appreciation. A good poem is art and the scientific aspects are secondary. I’m sure my last statement is a red flag to some purists. Most purists have their noses so high the air that they may be the reason for possible UFO sightings. I’ve read good poems by people who do not consider themselves poets, but yet wrote a poem that sparkled with imagination.

Some poets can sit down and craft out a poem just from sheer intellect. I guess me being feral doesn’t help. 99% of my poems come from out of the blue. I can be sitting at my kitchen table cutting out coupons, or saying my ’Yes, Dear' mantra to my wife and verses for a poem just pop in my head, sort of like the guy thinking about Arby’s. I have no idea when or why these ideas come. I write in quatrains in rhyme and each line has an equal number of syllables. I know my method sounds difficult, but it drives me. I tear at my hair trying to find the right word, but luckily it’s my underarm hair. In my next article, I will talk about methods and vital points in fashioning poetic verse. As for style, does it really matter?