Poetry

At its best, and perhaps most correctly defined, poetry is the art of using words to convey what words cannot contain. My fascination with poetry probably comes from that, or perhaps from the fact that I’m not naturally very good with words. It seems more natural to me to communicate without words, or with words augmented otherwise (such as with music). So getting words to carry meaning beyond their normal ability strikes me as nearly magical.

Some think it childish, but I rather like acrostics. As sonnets were to Elizabethans, acrostics are to me: a poetical diversion and an exercise in one.  The variation in name length (I almost always base it on a name) inspires different solutions for meter and rhyme… if I decide to use either. Some of mine are presented here for your entertainment.

For a true étude (a more strenuous technical drill) I occasionally do acrostics in a Shakespearean sonnet format, conforming as much as possible to 16th century English as well. Quasi-Elizabethan style, if you will. Quite satisfying. I also wander into other sonnet forms now and then.

It’s not always in some strict form, of course. Sometimes a poem is just a poem.

Also, here is a collection of some of my favorite poems regarding the various topics of the garden.

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