Comment from Debbie D'Arcy

Excellent

Always a fun and interesting read. Love the backdrop to your introduction to FanStory where apparently most of all your best work can be found. I was impressed by your first poem about baseball which was indeed well rhymed although you seemed a little anxious to wind up by the end and pass on the baton. I certainly learnt more about baseball in that short verse. Anyway, best of luck in your writing. I enjoyed this latest post so a great intro. Debbie

 Comment Written 14-Apr-2023

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2023

Thanks very much, Debbie. Yep, the rapid conclusion of that Baseball poem still cracks me up every time I think about it.

Comment from PoemsOfDD

Exceptional

I really enjoyed getting to know you in this divine nonsense on you. It is well written, informative and engaging, not to mention entertaining - I chuckled at the thought of the nonsense that goes on in your head. I get it.

Thank you for sharing your first poem. Yes - it is very good :-) It made me remember my first poem written when I was 11 years old on a subject I knew nothing of but it was a classroom project.

~ Guy Fawkes

On the 5th November
I remember
I went to a bonfire at night
It was such a sight
To see the red, green and blue light
Go up at such a tremendous height

And that is all I can recall of my first poem.

I have never written this poem down since the day I composed it so thank you for digging it out of me and for sharing parts of yourself. Enjoy the six shower :-) and keep on writing.

 Comment Written 14-Apr-2023

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2023

Thank you so much, Diana. I really liked your poem too. So glad I could help dig this poem out of your memory.

reply by PoemsOfDD on 14-Apr-2023

Thanks, Jim :-)

Comment from Julie Lau

Excellent

Hey, this book sounds very promising. I already know the excellent Pluto. Here's a poem I wrote my father for Fathers' Day (me about 11 I think). I always called him by his name, Max. He was living in New Guinea:
A happy Fathers' Day, oh Max,
I send this card to you;
And tho' a certain polish it lacks,
Be assured, the design is new.

I thought of sending you an axe,
Or machete, to chop off a head,
But being afraid of customs and tax,
I send you this card instead.

Ah, such early promise we both showed!

Catchya, Julie

 Comment Written 14-Apr-2023

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2023

That is a wonderful poem! You had that great humor even at an early age. I'll bet he loved it.

reply by Julie Lau on 14-Apr-2023

He did too! Showed it off to everyone. (It came with appropriate gruesome illustration)

Comment from Carol Hillebrenner

Excellent

This is a good introduction to your book, so call it that. Having read "Pluto" and enjoyed it immensely, I hope the others are of the same quality. They would certainly make a fine book.

 Comment Written 13-Apr-2023

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reply by the author on 14-Apr-2023

Thank you Carol. I'm sure you've read a few of them already, but some of the earlier ones will probably be new to you.

Comment from Jannypan (Jan)

Excellent

I enjoyed your baseball poem. I found it neat for
a young kid to write. I liked the rhymes. You did a
great job detailing your book, Jim. You organized it
well and gave readers some great info as to what it will
cover. I've read several of your poems, and they were funny.
Thanks for sharing and best wishes with your book, Jan

 Comment Written 13-Apr-2023

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reply by the author on 13-Apr-2023

Thanks, Jan. I submitted it to the FS judges for a Seal of Quality review. I'm curious to see what they think about it. I wonder if it will be like Rotten Tomatoes is for movies, where they have their "professional" raters, and their general audience raters. They are often far apart.

Comment from royowen

Excellent

I would write essays, but I'm the world's slowest typeset, and it would take npme eons to get where I'm going, and would probably die of boredom on the way, this is most informative Jim, thanks for sharing, blessings Roy

 Comment Written 13-Apr-2023

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reply by the author on 13-Apr-2023

Yeah, that would be a pain. Maybe you could let Siri or Alexa take dictation while you speak your essay, and then just change the screwups they make in translation?

reply by royowen on 14-Apr-2023

That?s true

Comment from Pam Lonsdale

Excellent

I love your first poem, especially the line that goes, "That's all there is, there's nothing more to say.". LOL!

I love the idea of a book of poetry and like your title. Looking at your titles, I believe I've read most of them. Will there be more?

Have fun with it, Jim.

P.S. I'm not a hater, I'm watching the Sox-Rays game right now.

 Comment Written 13-Apr-2023

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reply by the author on 13-Apr-2023

Thanks, Pam. Yeah, that's my favorite line of the baseball poem too. Still cracks me up.

No, that book I closed after choosing all the poems to put in it. I'll have to start on another one now. I wanted to submit it to the FS judges to see if they will approve it for a "Seal of Quality." The book of poems must be marked complete for them to consider it.

It costs $9.95 to buy a Seal of Quality request certificate and there are strict criteria that must be followed. If you are interested in this, you can find information on it under the Social tab, then click on the Certificates label in the dropdown menu. It is the last certificate in the list.

reply by Pam Lonsdale on 14-Apr-2023

Good luck to you getting the seal:-)

Comment from barbara.wilkey

Excellent

I can't wait to read these poems. Poetry is extremely hard for me to write. I don't understand meter at all. I do get rhymes and alliteration. I taught that in first grade, but meter I don't get. I thought I understood syllables, but it seems to be different in poetry.

 Comment Written 13-Apr-2023

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reply by the author on 13-Apr-2023

Thank you, Barbara. I'm sure you've read some of these, but some will probably be new to you.

Yeah, with poetry, instead of syllables, you have to think in terms of poetic feet, which are made up of one or more beats--the most common being 2 beats. If it's dit-DA, as in "complete," it's called iambic. If it's DA-dit, as in "favor," it's called trochaic. Another common one often used is dit-dit-DA, as in "to the left," which is called anapestic, but it's also common to use DA-dit-dit, as in "beautiful," which is called dactylic. In all cases, the accented syllable is the DA while the unaccented syllables are the dits. There are other variations as well, but these are the main 4.

The challenge is to choose a meter, which is a specific combination of feet, and keep it fairly consistent throughout the poem. But you must keep the number of feet per line consistent or in a pattern that is consistent (such as 7-5-7-5 in a 4-line verse.)

The simplest would be to use the same foot type and the same number of feet in every line. For example, a line with five iambic feet in every line is called iambic pentameter. Many sonnets are written this way. My poem, "Wile on the Green" is written in iambic heptameter (7 feet per line).

But you can certainly include different kinds and numbers of feet on the lines in a poem as long as you stay somewhat consistent throughout.

I honestly don't think in those terms when I write a poem. Instead, I just hear a rhythm in my head and try to follow it. For example, with "Pluto," I wanted the basic rhythm to be:

DA-dit-dit, DA-dit-dit, DA-dit-dit, DA

with several slight variations such as adding a grace note in front like this:

dit DA-dit-dit, DA-dit-dit, DA-dit-dit, DA

Most of the lines actually follow that variation.

Many children's books that rhyme, like Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, follow that same pattern.

The challenge is to make sure the words you've chosen are situated in a line so that the correctly accented syllable falls in the correct place in the pattern. If you don't, it ends up sounding contrived.

Try reading the poems by MissMerry, Dolly'sPoems, or tfawcus for 3 examples of poets on FanStory who use excellent meter, and see if you can identify the meter used in each poem. Forget the funny names, but just identify the feet with dits and DAs and count the number of feet on a line, and you'll see how consistent they are.

Comment from Jay Squires

Exceptional

Hey, that's a neat idea! And when you finish your posted poems, you should bind them up nice and pretty and send 'em on in to Amazon. I for one thought your school poem was a great indicator of what was to come. Good luck with your project, my friend. The six is for your baseball poem.
Jay

 Comment Written 13-Apr-2023

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reply by the author on 13-Apr-2023

Thanks, Jay. You're very kind. As far as FanStory goes, I marked this book as complete, so I won't be adding more to it. Maybe I'll start another one some day.

Comment from Ginda Simpson

Excellent

I am so pleased to see that you are putting together a collection of your poetry. Congratulations. You encourage me to follow through with mine. And yes, Fanstory, has been a tremendous help is keeping us writing. Best of luck.

 Comment Written 13-Apr-2023

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reply by the author on 13-Apr-2023

Thank you so much, Ginda. I finally figured I had enough to make a decent book out of. You can also get it judged by a panel of FanStory judges by buying and using a Seal of Quality certificate.

Yes, I would definitely encourage you to put together some of yours into a book. Good luck.