Two years ago, I took up guitar lessons. A year after that, I tried songwriting for the first time. These are the lyrics to the first song I ever wrote, based off a poem I wrote two lifetimes ago.

Poetry

Verse 1
I like alliteration, linking letters line by line,
And making music that you marvel at the movement and the rhyme.
We often wonder at the work that went into these words,
And contemplate the cool, creative cadence in each verse.

Chorus
Poetry for the sake of line breaks is a lie.
It’s really all about the ear and not about the eye.

Verse 2
I seek some syncopation, where the basic beat’s off-beat,
And the rhythm really rocks you, knocks you neatly off your feet.
It behooves a bard to try real hard to sing with symmetry,
When putting pen to paper and composing poetry.

Chorus
Poetry for the sake of line breaks is a lie.
It’s really all about the ear and not about the eye.

Verse 3
Craving consonance is clearly an addiction to the craft,
And heroic couplets with iambic feet are where it’s at.
If you understand “trochaic,” “amphibrachic,” and such terms,
Then you truly understand the craft of poetry with words.

Chorus
Poetry for the sake of line breaks is a lie.
It’s really all about the ear and not about the eye.

Verse 4
So jam in journals, junior. Play with prose and pretty words.
Over time you’ll find the rhymes and sing some songs you’ve never heard.
Then before you know it, you’re a poet, fine and fancy free.
So put that pen to paper and compose some poetry.

Chorus
Poetry for the sake of line breaks is a lie. It’s a lie.
It’s really all about the ear and not about the eye.
It’s really all about the ear and not about the eye.
It’s really all about the ear and not about the eye.

copyright 1995, 2001, 2015 by April G. E. Martinez

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