Recently I have been applying to graduate schools for creative writing. To apply I have to send in a portfolio of either poetry, prose, or both. While compiling my work I realized something. None of my poems rhymed. Luckily for me, poetry has less rules and structure than it used to, even spanning different medias. While my style may not be classic or traditional, that doesn’t keep me from creating and expressing myself. This original poem is for anyone who goes against the mold. Who isn’t afraid to try new things. Who is proud to be a poet who doesn’t like to rhyme.

Why Don’t Your Poems Rhyme?

Rhyme? You want me to rhyme?

That’s fine: dime, time, even sublime.

It's not that I can't, you see?

But whenever I try, it seems to me

it’s stilted and stupid and weak,

my lines too simple and meek.

Writing a lovely rhyme is hard

Mine sound contrived, like a hallmark card

I wish I could be lyrically round,

And surrender my words to a velvety sound.

But, my genius in lyricism seems

is meant to exist in poetic dreams.

I want to emulate those greats I adore,

but Poe’s rhyme scheme? Oh good god never more!

Emily Dickinson, so precise in her craft

would look at my rhymes and laugh,

condemning them to a fate worse than Plath.

The dilemma I find that plagues my art?

I rhyme from the brain, not from the heart.

I wonder if it is such a big deal?

I lack rhyme, not lack zeal

Alright, I'll say it loud and clear:

I write what I like, and I write what I feel.

Poems can be anything, for scholars or fools.

This is the future, where “no rules” rules.

Yes indeed, this is my time.

I'm a great poet, who simply can't rhyme.