Poetry Found Me

I was never drawn to poetry

I was never interested in prose

Not really, anyway

Sure, I loved wordplay

Rhymes, innuendos and double entendre

Puns, irony, alliteration,

metaphors, similes, allegories

Tam o Shanter and The Raven were always favourites

But...

*

This wasn't supposed to happen

This wasn't part of the plan

Somehow though...

Poetry found me

*

That sounds a bit strange, doesn't it?

Maybe pompous even?

Be that as it may

There is no better way to say it

Poetry found me

Took me captive

Used my love of the written and spoken language

To lure me in and make me its slave

Now I am forever Cursed, emphatically and enthusiastically

Now I am forever Tortured, deliciously so

Now I can't stop thinking in terms of stanzas

Now I can't stop thinking about acrostics

While I have this outlet

To clear my grievances, thoughts and feelings

I find myself collecting more

*

Words fascinate me

They always have

So, I guess it was a matter of time

Before

Poetry found me

Rewired my brain, on some level

Reorganised the fragments, to some degree

Now I think in haiku

Try to tame syllables

Make them yield to me

Sometimes I will build a piece

Out of interesting fragments

Sometimes I will build a piece

Out of a Maddening thought

The words need to get out

The words need to be Free

"haiku challenges

Are ones that appeal to me

They offer me peace"

I have been transformed

Poetry found me

I went looking for something

Poetry found me

The Chaos still exists

That Insanity

Unbridled and ready to be untethered

Inside my mind

There's a rhyme and reason now, though

There's a rhyme waiting to be found

There's a sound waiting to be found

Pompous?

Maybe

But that's okay

Because

Poetry found me

*

When I close my eyes

I see letters rearranging themselves into words

Words combining and forming sentences

Sentences becoming verses

Verses becoming...

Something...tangible...something...greater than the sum of its parts

Something...Real...

No longer just a Concept that is invisible to the eyes

No longer just an Idea floating around in my brain

The Concept, The Idea has Flesh and Bones

The Concept, the Idea has been released from its cage

Free to just...

Wield its Power

Express emotions like sadness, fear, distress, disappointment,

desire, contempt, confusion,

awe, anger, amusement, and adoration

States of mind like hope, angst, despair, arousal

Vividly describe detailed dark, dank and dusky nights

And beautifully bright, blue, and blissful days

*

Poetry found me

Opened up my mind

Encourages me to empty its contents

Taunts me to use its Power

Rouses my Creativity

Yearns for me to use its Power

Forces me to look inward

Opens my mind to wordplay and syllables

Undermines my abilities, pushing me to do better

Nudges me onwards...beckons me towards it...Like a Siren calling out to a ship so it crashes

Drowning me in my love for the written and verbal word

Making it impossible for me to turn around and escape

Easier to give in...

*

Yeah, poetry...

Poetry found me.

*

Thank you very much for reading this poem. This is probably the most ambitious poem I've ever written. So...yeah. I feel like it's self-explanatory. I intend on writing about my recent Vocal/Writing experiences at the end of the month, so I'll keep it brief here.

If you enjoyed this free-form thing, please drop a comment, click the heart or both. You can also hit the subscribe button too. All interactions are welcomed and appreciated.

While you are here you may also enjoy these other pieces:

One of my favourite entries for the Quadru-Haiku Challenge:

One of my two entries into the Reset Your Password Challenge:

You can also check out the rest of my work here.

Thanks again for reading!