Story Poems
Ode to a Little Girl
Story poems can relate a simple moment in time. They can also tell of something that’s happened over eons.
I find free verse is the best way for me in writing poetry. Poems are not my strongest writing genre.
When it comes to writing poetry that rhymes, I usually cannot find enough words that rhyme to say all I wish to say. So free verse is my number one choice.
I wrote Ode to a Little Girl in 1971. I was young and foolish and decided I wanted a blond blue-eyed daughter.
When I realized it wasn’t in my hazel-eyed, dark auburn-haired genes, I eventually faced reality.
Something else I experience when writing poetry, especially story poems, is that they help clear the air for me. I write poetry to understand my deeper feelings. In writing about the experiences that trigger the deep emotion, poems become cathartic.
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- Ode to a Little Girl
- I met a little girl today
someone I used to dream of many years ago,
so very long ago.
And I was stunned when I first saw her,
the impression shook my soul.
Her hair was golden, her eyes were blue,
set in a pixie's face
that laughed and teased and offered love
and tugged at my heart
to rekindle a yearning I once knew
so very long ago.
But how could I, with dark, dark hair and olive skin
hope to ever bear
a child so fair, as if from sunlight.
And so it was, through reality
the dream had faded
and with it went a part of me.
An impossible longing I couldn't justify
I freed
so very long ago
to seek and find the kind of tiny girl
that I could never bear
and take its place inside her soul
to touch her heart and make it glow,
so warm with love,
even if I might never know
whose little girl she was.
So I was stunned to see today
a little beauty, all happiness.
The girl I'd dreamed about
so very long ago
had come to visit me and asked if she could stay,
as if the yearning I once felt
had homed and brought with it
the kind of tiny girl that I once loved
because she was so much a part of me
so very long ago.
This type of poem has the ability to tell the whole story. I find other forms of poetry can only address a minute portion of a feeling or incident.
Epic poems, of course, cover broader expanses of time. I have, however, written some poems about one moment in time.
Free verse is like being given free rein in writing. That’s one reason I refer to free verse as story poems.
Poems should reflect your feelings about that which you write. Poets and writers usually find the form of poetry with which they are most comfortable and stick to that style.
I’m most comfortable if I can sense the rhythm of a piece.
A guitar-playing friend once set Ode to a Little Girl to music. We could not sell the song, however, because I wasn’t ready to give up all rights to something so personal. I still have that music and might be able to do something with it in today’s markets.
The truth in writing poetry for me is that it enables me to express some deep feelings. I encourage you to try all forms of poetry because I still experiment with all forms, though I’ve found more ease writing story poems.
I hope you will try all forms until you find one style with which you are most comfortable.
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