Poetic Examples

I was asked to present some of my poetry as examples of narrative, lyric, and dramatic—all dealing with a valentine theme and all about a similar subject. It was suggested that I do this in four lines apiece, but it is very difficult to write a narrative or a dramatic poem in only four lines. Lyric, however, no sweat—so here they are.

The narrative and the dramatic could have had a rhyme scheme if I’d had longer to work on them. The lyric is free verse. The dramatic is sort of an unrhymed cowboy style. Note that “blush” is the key to all three. I hope you enjoy them.

Narrative

Maggie sat straight yet nervous

at the interview,

left hand

smoothing out her skirt,

right

balancing her pen, point to tablet.

Her blue eyes smiled when

the chairman

welcomed her,

but I, from then on

noticed only the smile in her blue eyes.

And

when they rested on me, I blushed.

Dramatic

Well, the stuffy chairman welcomed

the bright new prospect gal

after we had gathered in the stuffy room.

“Well, y’all introduce yourselves

to Maggie,

one of our prospects for the music position

here at Rio Grande High School?”

Well, when my turn came I blushed

as her blue eyes smiled at me.

The stuffy chairman interjected

before I could speak.

“Well, I guess we know your vote!”

Her blue eyes smiled again

and the room was no longer stuffy.

Lyric

To Maggie

As dawn blushes

upon the valley mist,

your smile blushes

upon my misting heart.

The lyric is quite concise. No words are wasted, yet the image is clear. This poem appears in my new book, Each Month I Sing, for the month of June. Maggie is my wife.

~~~~~~~~~

L. Luis Lopez has written three books of poetry: Musings of a Barrio Sack Boy, winner of an Honorable Mention in the 2000 Writer’s Digest poetry competition; A Painting of Sand; and Each Month I Sing, which was granted the American Book Award 2008 and the CIPA Colorado Independent Publishers Association) EVVY first place in poetry award 2008. Luis teaches Latin, Ancient Greek, and Mythology at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado. He offers workshops in reading and writing poetry. In addition, he and his wife, Maggie, are owners of Farolito Press. Visit his Web site at http://www.lluislopez.com/.