Guest Blog by Christopher M. Thompson: A Song without Music
As a form, I think poetry is an often overlooked art. Many people are under the misconception that it HAS to rhyme, which is not always the case. Others may think it simply to be couplets and not be aware of the many styles out there. My own book is a mixture of forms from acrostic, to couplets, to non-rhyming free verse. In fact, one of my favorites – "I Love Me" is little more than a head to toe list of things that a woman loves about herself, followed by a twist in the end that lets the reader know that she really hated those things about herself all along. Could it have been done in prose? Sure. When I wrote it, however, the words flowed like music in my mind and that, to me, is what poetry is despite the form…a song without music.
As a means of expression, I think that it makes wonderful use of what visual artists refer to as 'negative space, letting the reader fill in not only their own descriptive details, but emotional details as well. One of my early works, "Forgotten Warrior" was written purely as an abstract on purpose, to allow the reader to see the face that they wanted to see. Many saw Jesus. Others saw military veterans. Single parents. Cops. The list is exhaustive and seemingly endless. As pure prose, it would be more difficult to paint such a mental picture, I think, as narrative prose makes you define the adverbs a bit more clearly through both description of the subject and their surroundings.
Lastly, here are my thoughts on how poetry compares to prose as a whole. In my mind, there is no comparison, really. Both are written word and have as much in common as the edible choices between steak and lobster. Two totally different animals. There is, however, the hint of crossovers at times. The prose of many, depending on the wording, is often described as 'very poetic.' In the same tack, many poems like "Beowulf" or my own "Breakfast Anytime", serve to tell a narrative story. In the end, I think that the two are equals and that the match should be considered a draw but, for the reader's palate, there will always be the choice between steak and lobster.
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