Meta Post- Organic Form

In general the consensus from this weeks launch post and the queries that followed it is that there is a difference between free verse poetry and organic form but that the differences can be subtle and sometimes techniques overlap. In many ways organic poetry seems to be very similar to free verse but with the form taking on a shape (sometimes literally) that reflections the author's apperception of the subject, such as a sloth moving slowly. This allows the poem to take on a symbolic image that is separate from but adds to the symbolism or meaning of the words themselves. In general it seems people agreed that free verse does pay attention to the relationships between lines but not in the same way that organic form or traditional poetry does.

Personally when I write free verse I think about how the lines look, whether they are visually appealing or not, but most importantly I think about how the breaks between lines change the flow of how the poem is read. I base my line break decisions on this rather than appearance most often so that it is creates a pleasant sounding flow of inflections and pauses that is almost musical to me. I suppose I write poetry the way I imagine an old time story teller would speak around a camp fire, with dips and peaks in inflection and a steady flow and emphasized pauses.

This seems to be more of how free verse thinks about the relationship between lines. Organic poetry considers these things, but also tries to make the form take on a whole new meaning by conveying additional information that may not be expressly written in the piece. Organic poetry also seems to make more use of traditional methods such as rhyme schemes and other techniques.

Most of the comments about this article revealed that many of us hadn't thought too much about what makes a poem free verse versus other methods such as organic poetry. Many of us think about fancy techniques such as iambic pentameter and think since we're not using old, formal methods that it is free verse, which often worries little about meter and rhyme and instead focuses on flow and rhythm, or perhaps not on these at all, turning out more like prose. It seems it would be worth it to think more carefully about poetry and different types or forms to understand the differences and similarities of them and how different forms can some times overlap or even merge completely.