Poetry is … hard. It requires emotions or perhaps more accurately the ability to share emotions. Something I’m not particularly good at. I tried Chat GPT, asking it to create a poem for me, but even I could tell it was juvenile and contrived. So, I put on my big-boy pants and gave it my best shot.
What I got out of the long lesson is that poetry is writing that elicits emotion from the reader. It tells the story with imagery and feelings. This, as noted above, is why I don’t get much from reading it and struggle to write it.
The assignment was to write a rhyming poem and a free verse poem. The first is, as the name implies, a poem that rhymes. The latter doesn’t rhyme or have a lyrical cadence to it. I was surprised to find the second harder to write than the first.
Update 2023-03-01:
I got full points for the submission. This was the feedback.
Thank you for your perspective, it was enjoyable to read!
Rhyming Poem:
So fast, so fast the sloth does travel.
Across the road men made with gravel.
The cars and trucks and bikes must pause.
For the sloth’s road crossing is the road’s own cause.
Free Verse Poem:
I sit and stare at the screen before me, expressionless.
The blinking cursor awaits the tap of my fingers on the keys.
My mind wanders, thoughts of riding, gliding, leaning through curves.
I focus on the screen again, chasing away the thoughts of freedom.
But I see it, and my mouth draws back into a broad, joyous smile.
There, on the screen, my computer gives me permission.
go lint, to test, go build
go run
NOTE: go is a programming language I use at work, go lint, go test, go build and go run are commands used during software development using go.