Must Rhyme Draw Blank..et Criticism?
It’s sad to see that rhyming‘s thought redundant
by those who’s bark can’t steer poetic star,
who grudge, shout out, doubt scope, spout words abundant,
seek validation they’d from others bar.
‘Free verse’ disperse if this your fancy tickles
to jar the winter of your discontent,
with fallen leaves, sheaves garnered, unhoned sickles,
with [f]lagging letters, jagged sentiment.
Rhyme carries more than meaning: music, timing,
pattern, play, holistic core explore,
link sense to ‘whither’, ‘whence’, nor mummer’s miming,
nor lead tread led astray by crow’s harsh caw.
‘Rich rhyme’ or ‘prose’ debate is academic
when eight in ten can’t read three thousand words,
what counts is sense and sentiments – polemic
remains the province of small minds in herds
where wherewithal is lacking for expression,
where envy, laziness, or both hold sway,
where turn of phrase is tacky, where aggression
replaces g[r]ace to interface p[l]ace play
with music, sounds send pulses through wave spectrum,
or melt souls’ polar icecaps with accord,
twin chords to cords aligned through playful plectrum
with formal training going by the board.
So be it coral strand or fair complexion,
dire prophesy or cornet candyfloss,
womb, doom and gloom, or in-depth introspection,
imagination's never at a loss.
Thus formal sonnet, couplets rhyming gaily,
with sunny disposition to the fore,
should mirror music, method, context daily
evolving outside all one's writ before.
In pictogram or beaded decoration
in Roman font, linguistic interplay
wed words’ harmonic melody’s elation
responds to tune the key no words may weigh.
To underline, the savant English written
retains both [s]cope and [s]pace for verbal tricks,
like Skelton take the Rap, as playful kitten
re[th]ink link frames for Caxton’s twenty-six.
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poem by Jonathan Robin
Added by Poetry Lover
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