BunDles of WOrds... a musing...

That’s literally what literature is, a bundle of words communicating knowledge through a variety of forms that can have a social, political, medical or spiritual role.

And poetry is very much an integral part of this. There are many different types or styles of poetry as you may know and I believe that had developed since humans started wandering and wondering  about things around them. Their cave art is a form of poetry expressing a reality outside the cave– a message maybe that there’s danger outside from where they dwell and feel safe.

One of the many styles of poetry is “naked poetry” formally known as free verse, not rhyming and not measured or metered as in syllable count with the nuances of short and long syllables. In this style, stanzas follow the natural rhythms of speech but not necessarily grammatically rigid with strict grammar rules and can use what is known as poetic license that appears in other forms of poetry. A pattern of meter and rhyme may emerge naturally in this style along the body of the poem-anywhere from beginning to end of the poem. A popular style easy to handle.

Another style is a metered and rhymed poetry. It has been integral to poetry and been around since eons ago. Some of my poetry follow the rules of metering and rhyming which are challenging to write in, in my case, i.e., but like anything else there is what is called a personal preference.

There are many types of metering or measuring the lines or stanzas of a poem and many rhyming patterns as well. Many names are attached to them like the more familiar sonnets. However, strange as it may sound rhyming words is very forgiving as you can rhyme words in several ways from what is called loose rhymes all the way up to rhyming them by choosing eloquently the nuances of words fitting exactly the meaning you want to impart. For example a single word can be rhymed with two words and rhymes can occur in the beginning, middle or ending of lines. Patterned and repeating.

Poetry styles are just that-styles-ways of expressing one’s emotions, thoughts, observations in abstract or concrete forms through a bundle of words. Expressions that can be successfully transcended even when not requiring an explanation or imparting the style you used. More likely than not those expressions are conveyed with metaphors and other literary means by the poet. And that’s where the beauty of poetry lies. Sweet and subtle as it can be yet powerful and incisive at the same time.

There will be many interpretations, as many as there are readers of the poem. Making no comment is an interpretation as well. The reading of the poem could very likely be different from what the author intended it to say because words have many different nuances more so when they are bundled together. The reader’s take on the poem is solely his /her own who gifted their time to read the author’s work. This alone makes the poem a success without the author even knowing it. And for me that’s a good thing.

That’s the beauty of working with words in poetry arranging them in such a way that would be pleasing to the readers, hold their attention both in auditory and ocular manner in a way that would make sense for them to form a read, say, from a free verse type to various styles of rhyming and metering kinds. His/her alone to enjoy in solitude over a cup of a favorite beverage.

All that said, undress! Have fun! Have at it! Like poet Jenifer Crowder said “... fill those blank sheets of paper with words uncensored...” put your passion where you want to... there are no hard and fast rules... choosing your style... have your cake and eat it too! Make those single-word-stanza quatrains metered and rhymed. Or naked unmetered. Caps lower caps them. Get drunk with metaphors and all in between. Let the sunshine permeate the bundles of words you write or read. Hmm... dictionaries can help.

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(c) ndr 06.25.2025
Photo: online iStock