THE WRITER'S DEN Most of the poems I have created have been written in the poetic form known as alternating quatrain (the first line rhymes with the third line and the second line rhymes with the fourth line). The remainder are variations of other poetic forms. Since my poetry covers several categories of emotion, however, I have lumped them together thematically, rather than categorically. As in the case of my prose, they are eclectic, despite the obvious patterns in the following list. Please select a theme (I through VI). I - Night Thoughts Winter and Old Age Middle Age Frustration Dreamer Forbidden Fruit II - Lyrics of Love Captive Eyes Love's Command Essence Touch Instant of Love Brown Eyes Heart Beyond the Wake III - Marriage and Friendship A Working Mother What is Marriage? Memories of Old Classmates Quiet Friend IV - The Dark Side of Love Remember Me Not Blithe Spirit Counterfeit Lover V - Speculative Verse The Projectionist The Clock Broken Shells, Broken Dreams The Mater Tree Legacy of Lies VI - Religious Verse Genesis (The Big Bang) Genesis (The Second Creation)

Return to Index - Contact ®Writer's Den Enter "TX" in Subject of E-Mail Poetry is the most artistic form of writing. As it's counterpart prose, however, it relies on life experiences, dream imagery or pure imagination. A novelist or short story writer, who relies on creative imagery, is often a competent poet. A great poet, such as Emily Dickinson, is able to use his or her life experience but, as the artist or sculpturer, color it with the mental brush of imagination and fashion it with the inspiration of dreams. The Poem What is a poem   but a rush of stark emotion. Often does it roam   in realms of pure devotion, whether strictest quatrain lines   or freely flowing bursts, lyrical or philosophical kind   or the simplest haiku verse. And what is a rhyme   but a play of clever thought. Without a proper theme,   what value has it taught? Deep does it often seem,   so uplifting is its role. What does poetry mean   if not to touch our soul? Yet what is a poem,   if not a bit of whimsy, though sometimes filling tomes,   its substance often flimsy. Cryptic can it be,   too subtle for the dull. Happy, sad, rhymed or free,   our heartstrings will it pull. Mirth, a subtle trick   is welcomed we may find. Or a crude limerick   brings laughter to our mind. Ballads of great deeds   couplets and haiku Poems of glory or misdeed   rhymed and free verse too. So wondrous a menagerie   our secret pleasure abides, flowing rhymed or running free   as steadfast spirit guides. Heavy, common, light   straightforward or obscure to sing, whisper or recite   our burdens will it cure. Oh, what should poetry say?   Should it inspire or should it preach? Should the lines like music play   or sink deeply as to teach? In lyrics we often hear it—   messages to the heart But is it the purpose of the poet   to romanticize his art? What is it in a poem that delves   into uncharted, untried zones, makes us rise above ourselves,   though sad, ailing or alone? What is in its reading   that makes us yearn for more, improves our intellectual breeding.   as a painting or a score. Poetry, a language of the muses,   speaks a celestial tongue, in our heart and mind enthuses,   in rhyme, free verse and song.   ~ Gerald Lee Gibson