Stupider Things

It’s time for me to switch my poetic styles this month. The winter is dragging on, and I wanted to jazz things up a bit. I came across the Bop Poetry style and thought it sounded interesting. Afaa Michael Weaver created this style at an African American poetry retreat at Cave Canem. I love the simplicity of this style of verse because the rules are very simple. There is no rhyme structure, and the stanzas are unmetered. I call this Bop Poem Stupider Things.

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The simple rules of Bop Poetry and Stupider Things

The poem is three stanzas long.

The first stanza is six lines long and lays out a problem.

The second stanza is eight lines long and explores or expands the problem.

The third stanza is six lines long and gives a solution or failed attempt at resolution of the problem.

There is a short refrain between the stanzas.

I think this style will be fun to explore. You are welcome to join me while I explore this poetic style. I’m not certain if I can pull off this switch. It is challenging to come up with a new poem every day. I hope you have as much fun reading these attempts as I am writing them. Now, if I can only capture the laid-back feel of the Bop in Stupider Things.

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Stupider Things

I’ve lived long enough to
See a lot of stupid things.
Like telling grade school kids
Hiding under their desk
Would save them in a
Nuclear blast

And the rich boys took to the streets yelling, “Hell no, we won’t go.”

There was a time
When we did such stupid things
To trick ourselves into thinking
That we were safe
And fearing everything Russian
Had a hollow ring.
Now in the distance, I can hear
The war hawk’s fluttering wings

And the rich boys took to the streets yelling, “Hell no, we won’t go.”

I don’t really understand
Why Dostoevsky, Chekhov, or Tolstoy 
Could warp my thinking
If history repeats itself
They will have to pry my copy of Anna Karenina
Out of my cold dead hand

And the rich boys took to the streets yelling, “Hell no, we won’t go.”

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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