It’s free verse I must master if I want to be a poet.
For “Rhymers” lack the necessary skills—we just don’t know it.
We think that rhyme’s the best way to communicate with words,
But we don’t know what “Freevers” know: That concept’s just absurd!
They say that rhyming’s limiting; it forces me to choose…
Some words I may not really want, for fear that I will lose…
The rhythm and the cadence—unnecessary chores—
That force me down a narrow path, the “Freevers” all abhor.
And try to end a quatrain line with words like “bulb” or “orange.”
I only can approximate the rhymes with “hub” or “flange.”
Why must I tie myself in knots, just to make it rhyme?
When free verse offers me the chance to mitigate the crime…
Of choosing words that fail to say exactly what I mean,
And offer me but little hope my audience will glean…
The point that I am trying to make. It’s time I must retool.
So, I’ll attempt to write a poem without the stringent rules.
Let’s see if I can conjure one without reverting back…
To rhyming, which the “Freevers” say will make me just a hack.
I promise not to make a rhyme. I’ll swear off meter too.
And then I’ll see if what the “Freevers” say is really true.
Here goes:
Higher Duty
There lies
the fair maiden.
Her concupiscence abundant
in her artful splendor,
adjuring me to reap the rewards
she knows she can bestow.
So why must I go
[watch it now!] (oops)
away from her realm
to where cold winds stir
that shun the comfort of her evanescent loins
quickly fading away
like a magician’s vanishing coins
[you’re not trying very hard!] (I apologize)
Such is my woe
That I can only imagine her now in my dreams!
For I must go where higher duty beckons.
Despite the rain and cold and wind
To cancel a golf game? That’s a sin!
I must show up, I promised my buds.
If I renege—my name is mud!
(@#!$%^&*)
I’m sorry, I have failed, my friends. I just could not sustain it.
I did my best, you must believe. I just cannot explain it:
This need to rhyme with flowing cadence I can’t do without.
I’ll never be a poet now! I think I’ll go and pout.
| 
