The Puzzle

I plan to continue my poetic adventure in 2023, similar to how I started in 2022, with a slight variation. Starting with the letter A, I will try to explore several poetry styles. This journey in poetry writing started two years ago when I strongly desired to learn more about reading and writing poetry. Black Out Poems became my obsession at the end of 2022. I promise to be a little more diverse this year. I started 2023 by writing “Ars Poetic” verse style. This form of poetry can be translated from Latin as “The Art of Poetry,” I titled this poem The Puzzle.

How does “Ars Poetic?” relate to the poem The Puzzle

Horace started this tradition somewhere around 13 B.C.E. This form of poetry is simply writing a poem about writing a poem. It expresses how the poet feels when engaged in the writing process, examining the poet’s relationship to the poem. There are no rules about meter or rhythm. Writing this form of poetry should be a fun experience.

Note: I decided to tackle my “Ars Poetic” poems by writing them in a series of poems without any rules of meter and rhythm. The subject matter concerns what I could write about if I chose to write about the subject matter.

The Puzzle
Sometimes, life is like a puzzle
And not all the pieces fit
Words that wear a muzzle
Secrets that don’t get told
Until there is that one blank spot
Where color ought to be
Distorted beyond the ability to mold
The perfect picture without a flaw
And we search the floor
For something that will never be found
That missing element
To make the meaning clear
It can’t be discovered here
With the dust bunnies
And the stray bite of popcorn
I guess I could write about that

Like notes sung by a little bird
Letter upon letter
Word upon word
Line upon line 
Stanza upon stanza
This poem is for me to create and define

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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