Free Verse
Free verse is an open form of poetry which does not use a prescribed or regular meter or rhyme and tends to follow the rhythm of natural or irregular speech.
Walt Whitman pioneered the free verse movement and is even referred to today as the “father of free verse.”
I love you, Love you anyhow - Cheryl Clarke
Can’t stand it cuz you put me down.
—Nina Simone, “I Put a Spell on You”
I could use a good ole R&B lyric
right about now to face this hard absence.
Only its terse verse can approximate
the testament.
Or the big arms of “these arms”
circling my wide waist
to close the space
after all the years
of absence
these big arms
once more
once more
to close the space.
I could use a good ole R&B lyric
right about now to face this hard absence.
Only its terse verse can approximate
the testament.