As you can see from my first post, I write poems, and they rhyme. I offer no excuses for the fact that I am an unabashed rhymer. I fought it at first - like many I used to be a "rhyme snob". In my twenties I wrote a lot of self important gibberish that passed for poetry. (My friends all thought it was great, and at the time so did I - which explains how my friends read it in the first place : ) When I read it to my now husband he proclaimed it "Klingon love poetry". I was dismissive - what did he know? Now I can answer that question. He knew what he liked. Poetry is like any other form of art - entirely subjective.
Fast forward about twenty years. Although I always aspired to "be a writer", I was too busy living my story to write much. I made three false starts on books, but lost motivation quickly. One day I found one of the poems I had written years back, and decided to share it with a friend. It was met with great enthusiasm, and a challenge in the form of a question.
"Have you ever written a poem about forgiveness?"
I hadn't, but suddenly I felt compelled to try my hand at writing a poem on that topic. (In those days I worked at a small, struggling health food store, and had plenty of time to scribble at work.) So there I sat the very next day, and to my surprise I had a poem come to me in almost perfectly metered rhyme! When I read it to my husband on the way home from work he proclaimed -
"Now THAT'S a poem!!"
I shared it with my friend, and she loved it too. Needless to say I kept at it. The rhyme and meter come almost effortlessly to me. I've grown so accustomed to rhyming these past five years that I'm now a bit biased in favour of rhymes, and I'll tell you why. I believe that humans are naturally geared to remember patterns and rhythms. Poems that rhyme may not be considered high art, but they are memorable. Shakespeare rhymed. Ogden Nash coined the phrase "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker!" Would that be as memorable stated any other way? Not all that rhymes is trite merely because it rhymes. Think about hymns and the deep and uplifting messages contained therein.
I have chosen what many dub a simplistic medium to portray a variety of deeper, broader topics. Some of what I write may be silly, but I never rhyme "just for the sake of rhyming". Every poem has to express a thought or tell a story. Those are the rules that I live by. I like engaging in the mental gymnastics involved in getting my message across within a specified rhythm pattern and with just the right rhyming words. (I'm hoping this helps me fend off dementia in my dotage!)
Now you have the whole story - read on - or don't. After all, poetry is subjective, and you don't need to listen to my muse if you don't want to.
But I'm glad I listen to her, even if she can inconvenience me at times...
Nocturnal Muse: By Sharon Flood Kasenberg - May 21, 2008
She is an inconvenient muse
who wakens me by night -
yet won't inspire me when I choose,
which is by morning's light.
When I upon my pillow doze
almost submerged in sleep,
her poetry to my mind flows
and from my bed I creep.
My brain engages and I write,
though wearied I may be -
and verses weave by my lamp's light
through eyes that barely see.
To steer my pen seems such a chore
within those wee small hours -
but when she prompts I shan't ignore
lest she withdraw her powers.
When finally lines are complete
I can lay down my pen,
and settle into slumber sweet -
unless she calls again!
Monday, 28 February 2011
Rhyming Muse - by Sharon Flood Kasenberg
Into my brain she popped one day,
an uninvited muse-
to give me words I had to say,
and rhymes I had to use.
I told her, "I don't write that way!"
She said, "That's no excuse!
You have to keep your guilt at bay -
you really can't refuse.
This rhythmic habit you must nurse
if you don't have it yet.
I know you can write rhyming verse-
your style is not too set!
The urge to write...well, it's a curse
that I'm here to abet.
And writing nothing would be worse
than being in my debt!"
She takes a lot of harsh abuse,
this dedicated sprite -
as dictionaries I peruse
for words that sound just right.
And oft' my temper she'll defuse
when what I've penned sounds trite -
but when I am inspired by Muse,
we both bask in delight.
I've learned to trust her good advice
to try out something new.
Producing rhyme is rather nice -
it's kind of fun to do.
All the syllables I've counted
have disciplined my mind -
with writer's block surmounted,
I think my Muse most kind.
-Sharon Flood Kasenberg-March '06
That's how it all happened - really. One day I was a frustrated "wanna be" creative sort, who thought that maybe I had something to say - IF I could ever find the means and ambition to put pen to paper. The next minute I began spewing rhyme at breakneck speed.
In the beginning nobody was more shocked by my sudden burst of rhythm and rhyme than me. Sure, I'd always been good at impromptu ad-libs (things like finding new words to that annoying tune occupying your head space) - and without a doubt I had totally rocked at creative lullabies when my boys were babies, but I'd never considered that rhyme might be a means of actually expressing my own thoughts.
I discovered Ogden Nash and Robert Service when I was an adolescent, and loved the way their poems rolled off the tongue. ( I confess that I still have large portions of "The Cremation of Sam McGee" committed to memory.) Oddly, I never acquired a taste for Dr. Seuss as a child. (I mostly objected to the way his works were illustrated - too monochromatic to appeal to my discerning eye - LOL) When I was a teenager babysitting my eldest nephew I quickly revised my earlier opinion of the good doc, who I then decided was a literary genius. (For many MANY years I could recite "The Cat in the Hat" and "Dr. Seuss' ABC's " verbatim.)
I don't know why I didn't dabble in rhyme earlier, except for the fact that I was aware that rhyming poetry wasn't fashionable, and like most younger people I wanted to be "cool" - or at least to be seen as someone who could express herself in a "current" fashion. (Obviously trying to be a young Margaret Atwood didn't quite work for me.)
The "Rhyming Muse" began to visit me at a most opportune time. By middle age I no longer cared one iota about what was fashionable, and was just relieved to find my creative juices flowing again. If "the critics" wanted to write me off as a "trite rhyming poet" that was their problem. I was writing prolifically and enjoying my new creative surge. Besides - anyone who thinks that rhyme is trite has never read "The Lorax", or "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Both books prove that deep thoughts and important messages can be memorably communicated in rhyme.
That's what I strive to do - with the help of my kind "Muse", who I thank daily.
an uninvited muse-
to give me words I had to say,
and rhymes I had to use.
I told her, "I don't write that way!"
She said, "That's no excuse!
You have to keep your guilt at bay -
you really can't refuse.
This rhythmic habit you must nurse
if you don't have it yet.
I know you can write rhyming verse-
your style is not too set!
The urge to write...well, it's a curse
that I'm here to abet.
And writing nothing would be worse
than being in my debt!"
She takes a lot of harsh abuse,
this dedicated sprite -
as dictionaries I peruse
for words that sound just right.
And oft' my temper she'll defuse
when what I've penned sounds trite -
but when I am inspired by Muse,
we both bask in delight.
I've learned to trust her good advice
to try out something new.
Producing rhyme is rather nice -
it's kind of fun to do.
All the syllables I've counted
have disciplined my mind -
with writer's block surmounted,
I think my Muse most kind.
-Sharon Flood Kasenberg-March '06
That's how it all happened - really. One day I was a frustrated "wanna be" creative sort, who thought that maybe I had something to say - IF I could ever find the means and ambition to put pen to paper. The next minute I began spewing rhyme at breakneck speed.
In the beginning nobody was more shocked by my sudden burst of rhythm and rhyme than me. Sure, I'd always been good at impromptu ad-libs (things like finding new words to that annoying tune occupying your head space) - and without a doubt I had totally rocked at creative lullabies when my boys were babies, but I'd never considered that rhyme might be a means of actually expressing my own thoughts.
I discovered Ogden Nash and Robert Service when I was an adolescent, and loved the way their poems rolled off the tongue. ( I confess that I still have large portions of "The Cremation of Sam McGee" committed to memory.) Oddly, I never acquired a taste for Dr. Seuss as a child. (I mostly objected to the way his works were illustrated - too monochromatic to appeal to my discerning eye - LOL) When I was a teenager babysitting my eldest nephew I quickly revised my earlier opinion of the good doc, who I then decided was a literary genius. (For many MANY years I could recite "The Cat in the Hat" and "Dr. Seuss' ABC's " verbatim.)
I don't know why I didn't dabble in rhyme earlier, except for the fact that I was aware that rhyming poetry wasn't fashionable, and like most younger people I wanted to be "cool" - or at least to be seen as someone who could express herself in a "current" fashion. (Obviously trying to be a young Margaret Atwood didn't quite work for me.)
The "Rhyming Muse" began to visit me at a most opportune time. By middle age I no longer cared one iota about what was fashionable, and was just relieved to find my creative juices flowing again. If "the critics" wanted to write me off as a "trite rhyming poet" that was their problem. I was writing prolifically and enjoying my new creative surge. Besides - anyone who thinks that rhyme is trite has never read "The Lorax", or "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Both books prove that deep thoughts and important messages can be memorably communicated in rhyme.
That's what I strive to do - with the help of my kind "Muse", who I thank daily.
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