Poor Man’s Gifts

I wanted to find some interesting styles of poetry for 2022. Metered poetry has always been a challenge for me. I discovered I subconsciously avoided the challenge of dabbling in this particular writing pattern. This year I decided to spread my wings and fly into the face of the storm. I stumbled across the Aquarian by accident and thought it might be interesting to play with this metered style during the last part of January and the entire month of February. This one I will call Poor Man’s Gifts.

I am discovering this style of poetry is harder than it first appeared. You only have to develop fourteen syllables for each stanza, but sometimes you want to write more. Plus, I find the constant counting of the syllables distracting. I also have to fight the urge to create rhythms. These short poems have gotten darker, and I am not sure why. Maybe it’s caused by the dark winter or all the conflicting messages we get these days. One thing for sure, sadness captured my attention during this dark winter.

About the Aquarian and Poor Man’s Gifts

Maris Mazz created this metered style of poetry.

Each stanza has lines of 2/4/6/2 syllables. They can have any number of stanzas creating multiples of 4 lines. They aren’t supposed to rhythm at all.

Poor Man’s Gifts

Rich in
Faith when times get
Hard and the dollar soft
This is

One of 
The poor man’s gifts
That sustains hope when there
Is none.

Fall in
Love at first sight
With the girl who becomes
Your wife

Arms to
Hold you through the
Endless frigid winter nights
This is

One of 
The poor man’s gifts
That sustains hope when there
Is none.

Children’s
Faces around
The fire to enjoy
This is 

One of 
The poor man’s gifts
That sustains hope when there
Is none.

Rich in 
Love, hope, and faith
He counts all his blessings
This is 

One of 
The poor man’s gifts
That sustains hope when there
Is none

Who is Molly Shea?

Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh.  To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.

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