It's Poetry

Hello, this is Amy. As you saw in my bio, I attempt to catch some of the beauty of the world with poetry, so I was delighted to be asked to contribute to Carmina. This is not my first poem, but I wrote it recently, and it is about poetry itself, so it seems most fitting to be my first post.


Arrange the words like this and see:
What do you have? 
It's poetry.
The way the lines are loose and free
What is that?
It's poetry.

Even a poem
that does not rhyme
is poetry
just because
the words do not just speak
but somehow 
sing.

Feel the meter as you read,
Like pounding hooves upon the ground.
The rhythm beats into your heart
Almost music, without a sound.

Corny rhymes like "tree" and "we"
Do not make it
Poetry.
Place each word deliberately,
Then you'll have
Some poetry.

So whether your poem rhymes or not,
However the meter starts and stops,
Set your mind at liberty,
Make each word ring beautifully,
And we who read will all agree
That what we see
is poetry.


Amy Young, 2013