Poetry is Not Dead Yet and Other Related Poems
Poetry is Not Dead Yet
Sit back and read your favourite poem,
Somewhere comfy in your home.
Just relax, don’t think too hard,
Give a mile, don’t take a yard.
Reading verse is not a chore,
It isn’t meant to make you snore.
Don’t try to analyse each word,
Set it free, just like a bird.
Imagine listening to a song,
If it sounds good it can’t be wrong.
Perhaps a message hides within,
If so take it on the chin.
Don’t contemplate the rhyme and form,
Any port’s good in a storm.
The poet’s blood is in the verse,
The urge to rhyme can be a curse.
Put yourself within their shoes,
Imagine you’re the poet’s muse.
Appreciate the time and sweat,
For poetry is not dead yet.
A Writer’s Life
A writer’s life is lonely,
They often work alone,
In front of a computer screen
Or notebooks when not home.
Observing life and taking notes
To commit to memory,
So they can write the perfect text
Whatever that may be.
Writers are a special breed,
Their patience will astound,
Researching and studying
To make their words profound.
Authors, poets, freelancers,
All writers have a place.
Some are very famous,
But many have no face.
So here’s to struggling writers
Who slave for hours a day,
To try to please the reader
For very little pay.
If I Were Not a Poet
If I were not a poet
I’d never write of love.
My feelings would stay hidden,
The world would never know.
If I were not a poet
I’d not confess my love.
You’d never read a verse by me,
So I’d never break your heart.
If I were not a poet
I’d be a lonely man.
My feelings would stay trapped inside,
For I’d fear to set them free.
If I were not a poet
I would not have a muse
Who stabs a pen deep in my heart,
And bleeds words from my soul.
John Hansen © 2018
Now I find myself branching out and experimenting with short fiction, and thoroughly enjoying this, especially flash fiction.
I have been fortunate to have two poems made into songs and recorded. The first "On the Road to Kingdom Come" by Al Wordlaw, and the second, "If I Could Write a Love Poem" by award-winning Israeli/British singer Tally Koren.
My services increasingly in demand as a freelance writer and I have ghost-written the text for a number of children's books and educational tutorials.
It has taken me many years of searching and restlessness to realise that my life's passion is to write. It saddens me that I wasted so many years not devoting to that, but thinking positively, the experiences gained over those years are now wonderful material for my stories and poems.
I want to try to bring a new focus on poetry and try to make it appealing to a new generation of young people and those who thought they never liked or understood it before.
- The First Word – A Flash Fiction Story - January 18, 2024
- Dawns Song ~ and Twilight Serenade - December 1, 2023
- Weave Me a Story - June 15, 2023
Nicely done John, inspired by our fear of poetry being unread and unnoticed. Well done mate!
Yes, tony it was inspired by that. We just need to keep pushing our cause. Thank you as always.
Very nice, John. More verses should be written on the benefits, joy, and goodness of poetry. In the time of Poe, Wilde, Yeats, so many others, poetry was greatly loved by society – we really should do our best to make it so again. I am so pleased that HubPages has given poetry a place on their site. Wonderful work, John. Well done.
Thank you, Phyllis. I am sure we can make a difference and society goes through stages where things return to popularity in time. I approve the HP changes though as well.
Too bad we cant get more people onto a poetry movement. It is so lovely to read rhyming verse and I’ve grown to love reading free verse as well. You are so right that people do not understand the homework done in perfecting a rhyme, in creating depth in each sentence, and some many never appreciate it. And that last stanza speaks to the emotional connection a poet has to his writing. So strong it feels as though the words are cutting you to the heart. Nice work John.
Yes, Paul, I know you live and breathe poetry too. I can feel the passion in your writing. You are right that we need to get a poetry movement rolling and gathering followers to support the art and promote it as the greatest form of literature. Thank you for the supportive comment.