To read the latest issue, click 'Issues by year' in the menu above

Free verse uses words without restraint,
Without restriction; free verse seeks to paint
A portrait of ideas, or burst of passion,
Splashing words in willy-nilly fashion
On a page, bathetic or sublime,
But minus metre; also minus rhyme.
At times it fails; at other times it glows,
But − bottom line − it isn't verse, it's prose.I

I feel that I can say, without hyperbole,
To be a verse, it should be structured, verbally,
With rhyme and metre. They give zest and flair
(A feeling Browning, Pope, and Burns would share).
If you, somehow, should be a free verse buff,
So be it. Peace be with you. Fair enough.
Read all of it you want, for that's your call,
But free verse isn't any fun at all.