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The Middle East: an Acrostic

The fire of wrath has set all things ablaze,
Human things now steam up, tyrants cool down,
Earth mother cries at Ghibli’s ghastly rage.

Mice and cockroaches - all cry out for help,
In dark and dust, they see no rising sun;
Dictators are now unyielding leeches,
Day and night, they just drink the blood of earth;
Like Sphinx, they rise up again and again,
Engulfing rays of hope in their ashes.

Expatriates pay their wages of sin,
As they came to build the blessed nations;
So long as these ill-fated humans live,
They may never adore the Middle East.

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Comments

One seldom sees an acrostic of any sort and usually they are silly, humorous, a little goofy.
Not so The Middle East.
A powerful work.
I confess that verso libre is not my favorite type of poetry, but time and again I read something like this and find myself a little mystified.
I am Director of the mentor program, a workshop leader... realistically I should offer something to improve the work.
I have nothing.
I am impressed.

W. H. Snow

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Thanks Mr. Snow.

author comment

Thanks Ms. Beauregard.

author comment

A very good acrostic write.
It would be good if you acknowledge the comments you receive, there are many things going on here workshops and other poets writes to comment on, please feel free to join us in the massive grumble, Yours Yenti

.
There are a million reasons to believe in yourself,
So find more reasons to believe in others..

Thanks Mr. Ian.

author comment

I do have one serious criticism.
You should never have told us it was an acrostic. The mere word lowers the expectations of the the quality of a poem, so few are really successful poetry.

If we had noticed the acrostic it would have been a bonus extra.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

I believe it won't be Azzem's fault, and then we will not appreciate a great value in his poem. But Azzem, listen to jess he knows much better than I do :)

Azzem, a great write indeed! Being one of the Middle East citizens, I do strongly relate to every word in your poem.

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Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
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And it would have added a dimension of wonder if people had recognised it for themselves.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

Thanks Ms. Rula.

author comment

Thanks Mr. Weirdelf. Right you are.

But I thought that it would be helpful for those readers who are not familiar with this form. Maybe they will search net to find out what an acrostic is and be delighted at their new discovery.

However, the title is undoubtedly outmoded for those who know what an acrostic is. For them, the title is "The Middle East".

author comment

Yours was exceptional because it carried itself as a poem in its own right.
When most people write acrostics they are stilted, convoluted in form and, frankly, bad poetry..

They might be worth the attempt as a word exercise however have never seen one as good as this.

cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry

Thanks Mr. Weirdelf

author comment
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