This poem is all about how I fell in love with poetry. Unfortunately, I can't remember the first poem I ever read. However, I do remember some of the first poems that really sparked a desire within me to seriously start writing poetry. Among these were 'In Our Tenth Year' by Simon Armitage, 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost and 'The Raven' by Edgar Allan Poe. In this poem, I try to reference these works, as an ode to the great poets that inspired me to embark on my poetic journey.
This is also the first poem I have tried to write in 'common metre'. Lately, I've been trying to push myself to try out different metres in poetry. Common metre is a very popular metre not just in poetry but also in songs. The lines in common metre alternate between 8 and 6 syllables each. The syllables in each line follow a pattern of unstressed-stressed-unstressed-stressed. This article explains common metre a bit more in depth.
I hope you enjoy this poem! Do share your thoughts in the comments below!
First Words
Those words, they beckoned softly sweet,
Indeed they just flowed fire,
Those gorgeous words that fanned my flames
Lit poetic desire.
In Our Tenth Year, it all began,
A dusty English class,
Where sombre pencils scratched and sang,
That's where I found my pass.
I hadn't Two Roads to choose from,
And nowhere to belong,
That's when the gentle lady stood
To sing The Raven's song.
And then my stanzas bloomed bright white,
My notebook held my soul,
The sonnet's garden danced my feet,
Until my heart seemed whole.
I now wax lyrical through rhyme,
Amused by every beat,
I'm sonneting my time away,
All for a verbal treat.
Forevermore I live free-verse,
Through ink, I breathe wild dreams,
My brooding ballad is this pen,
For it repairs all my torn seams.
© 2021 Shreya Alagramam
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