Thursday, August 3, 2017

Lessons


image from pinterest.com 


Lessons

“Learn as if you were going to live forever.”
--Mahatma Gandhi. 

Can anyone really be a poet
only writing in sumptuous free verse,
or can one be boring & not know it?

I used to think Walt Whitman was a god,
but sometimes I try a different form
to tighten my verbose style,

to insure my poetics aren’t lukewarm,
threadbare, shallow or shop-worn.
I say we should never stop learning,

from first poems in the beginning,
to successful forays into classic forms;
from poetic haze into those perfect storms

of words descending as our message pierces
all those readers very receptive hearts,

becoming targets for cupid’s loving darts.


Glenn Buttkus


Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub MTB

10 comments:

Frank Hubeny said...

I could hear and read your poem with a trimeter beat (three accented line) throughout. Trimeter is a classic meter. It is more about sound than how the poem looks on the page. More about hearing than reading.

Anonymous said...

Poetry in a nut-shell. Love it Glen!

indybev said...


Somehow I faltered in the "poetic haze" on this challenge. Your assessment is spot on!

Maria said...

"I say we should never stop learning,
from first poems in the beginning"

Aye, aye!

Kim M. Russell said...

I like what you've done here, Glenn! You've expressed what we do every week so well in teh lines:
'...sometimes I try a different form
to tighten my verbose style,

to insure my poetics aren’t lukewarm,
threadbare, shallow or shop-worn'
and
'from poetic haze into those perfect storms

of words descending as our message pierces
all those readers very receptive hearts'.

sarah said...

I smiled in recognition. And I like your ending - we hone our art to make our impact stronger.

Colin Lee said...

Precious lesson here -- from one wise master poet. Thank you, sir.

purplepeninportland.com said...

Well said, Glenn. Sharpening a poem is what I love about doing the quadrilles. It forces you to think in shorter phrases.

jp said...

This is beautiful. Indeed we should never stop learning. Well said!

Grace said...

Never stop learning and kudos to you for trying poetic forms such as this one Glenn ~ I agree that poetry forms tightens up our writing ~ Best regards ~