Poetry turns into jugglery, <br />As I struggle with counting syllables <br />To meet the demands of structure- <br />Haiku, iambic pentameter, <br />Stress, unstressed; <br />Leaves me in distress… <br /> <br />Free or blank, <br />Verse or worse, <br />Is it art <br />Is it craft? <br />Lament the classicists <br />Follow rules, they persist… <br /> <br />A pen, a piece of paper <br />And some floating thoughts <br />In the stream of consciousness, <br />Are basic tools, but to add spunk <br />Rules are a must, <br />Add effectiveness… <br /> <br />Oh, but I insist <br />I write from the heart: <br />For relaxation, self expression <br />Meditation, catharsis <br />To enjoy, feel buoyed <br />Not to annoy… <br />Am an amateur, no artist. <br /> <br />All that effort at compression, <br />Shows- makes no impression... <br />I find it difficult to comform <br />Honestly, I suffer from <br />A mental block <br />At a poetry workshop. <br /> <br />Loved mathematics, <br />but not off late, <br />after the stock market <br />crashed.... <br />But not one to admit defeat, <br />thought let me use my <br />numerical skills <br />to enhance my creativity. <br /> <br />Alas, have forgotten to count <br />and at the same time recount... <br />A classic is not in my fate. <br /> <br />So I rebelled, <br />please refund my fee <br />and let me be.<br /><br />Mamta Agarwal<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/poetry-mathematics-and-distress/
