Sharing Knowledge Of The Written Word. Forum No Subject

I thank you for the invitation  I am an old fashioned formalist I do not care much for free form which I do not regard as poetry. It may be beautiful wnd well written Some is a pleasure to read but without meter and structure it is merely poetic prose  Ivor

And what is wrong with poetic prose?

Language has rhythm and meter that can sound musical without being repetitive, and without rhyming.  That's poetry, although I can't say rhyme works for me without the formal meter.  That's my own particular taste though.

I too prefer lyrical, rhyming poetry. It's what I know (or what I think I know). I won't though, take it upon myself to define the limits of poetry, I'm not that much of an expert. Poems though, don't require as much from me as short stories, so I feel a greater sense of accomplishment from the short stories. I'm sure that what I have read has influenced what I have written, but not such that I am aware of it.

Some people think that if it doesn't rhyme, it's not a poem, but they don't look further into the rhyming form - the meter.  To me, rhyme without meter is an anathema.  I'd rather free myself from the constrainst of both, rather than be only half free in a cul-de-sac.  I know that others will disagree, but when I try to write formal poetry, I find myself having to dilute meaning just to follow the form.  I've given that up, and I think my  poetry is richer for it.

I'd rather create my own form that slavishly follow others.

There is no right or wrong way to write a poem, unless of course, you are specifically following a format such as a haiku, limerick or senryu--etc... A prose style poem has no less value due to its lack of structure than a more rhythmatic, rhyming or formatted poem. If the poem contains quality, then it does. If it doesn't, then it doesn't.