Blank Verse
by Michael Doyle

The other day, I went to the library
With no intention to become contrary
And picked up a famed anthology
Of poetry to see what it might teach me

I'm sorry to say that it seems perverse
When someone writes poetry in blank verse
It seems to be a matter of being lazy
Write an essay and put things grammatically

It is not that I doubt the poet's capability
But when you dig into its functionality
Blank verse is somewhat of a misstated wonder
As it is supposed to create specific grandeur

Yet what is the grandeur in writing incomplete
Stating half-stated thoughts until they're replete
Poetry should have a rhythm and a sense of rhyme
Otherwise, why would you bother to spend the time

To put down words that could be said to be a test
As we weave our way through the meanings as if the best
Put thoughts in ways that serve mostly to somehow confuse
Likes spatters of word patterns that truly ill abuse

The hearts of the romantic and the world's truest souls
It's as if rewarding the half efforts of passing trolls
To say that blank verse is anything but essays incomplete
But to say this again would be more than replete

I understand this to be a dramatic monologue as a reflection
But I guess it escapes my untrained methods of detection
Why this isn't better said in some other sorts of ways
Then half thoughts lacking emphasis and wasting our days

(c) May 24, 2023  Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved