Slow Burn

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 Slow Burn.

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. I know for sure that sadness captured my attention during this dark winter.

About the Aquarian and Slow Burn

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.

Slow Burn

Stuck here
Waiting for my
Wings to mend before I
Can fly

Again
I know what it
Means to fly to close to
The sun

Scorch and
Burn before you
Tumble to the ground and
Wallow

In the
Dirt grieving for
The clouds and the sun and
The stars

It is
The slow burn
The slow burn that
Will crush

Every
Time you try to
Soar out of their Grasping
Clumsy hands

One thing
Experience
Has taught me the ground is
So hard

When you
Were born to take
Flight and live among the
Blue clouds



It is 
Hard to smolder
With the hot heat from a 
Slow burn

Stuck here
Waiting for my
Wings to mend before I
Can fly

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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