off with their heads, lol. Truthfully, at times I wish we had an absolute but benevolent monarchy here in the States instead of annoying presidential elections every 4 years. Where are the Redcoats when we need them? LOL. Last winter, black bears demolished my beehives for the honey; none of my bees survives. No bears in England except at the zoos? Thanks, Ma'am. Ali

Most likely I mislabeled what I called a free-verse that, in truth, would be narrative prose. Not wanting to change the wording in my story, I should have abstained from formatting the text as though it were a free-verse and rather written it out as straight prose that can be paragraphed or not. Thanks to both of you for pointing out my error. Ali

My New Bee Hives PROSE

They have arrived; two boxes filled with little honey makers. I donned my sting-proof suit and transferred them to their new homes--then listened to the buzz inside those hives. Within each colony, every bee performs a function: There is the queen and her consorts, the large-eyed drones that swarm high above the ground and engage in courtship with the queen. The prevailing male will not survive; he loses his genitalia when his purpose is fulfilled. Unlucky son of a bee! Worker bees are female.They decide which bee will become the queen . . . unlike the human custom, in which the queen is given such prestige by birthright. The process is simple; workers provide a larger cell for the potential queen. Should there be other contestants for the throne, they will be killed. Winner takes all. Bees must dance if they want to survive; it’s called a round dance when the food source is near, but a waggle dance indicates that nourishment is a distance away. They must perform the dance to alert their fellow-gatherers . . . . Oh—the function of a queen? It’s merely to reproduce and do so endlessly, at least for the next three years. After all, she must earn her keep—unlike the human queen.

I think I will let this write stand as "prose," even though much of it might pass as a prose poem, especially in the rewrite that appears in the block form.
Prose poetry looks like prose, usually written in paragraphs; it focuses on images. An example by Gary Young, Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz county, is called 'I discovered a journal'.

'I discovered a journal in the children's ward, and read, I'm a mother, my little boy has cancer. Further on, a girl has written, this is my nineteenth operation. She says, sometimes it's easier to write than to talk, and I'm so afraid. She's offered me a page in the book. My son is sleeping in the room next door. This afternoon, I held my whole weight to his body while a doctor drove needles deep into his leg. My son screamed, Daddy, they're hurting me, don't let them hurt me, make them stop. I want to write, how brave you are, but I need a little courage of my own, so I write, forgive me, I know I let them hurt you, please don't worry. If I have to, I can do it again.' . . . . ..

The prose poem looks, at first glance, like prose. But unlike prose, it resists conventional narrative or character. The poem defies easy interpretation, due to multiple pronouns that are not clarified, in addition to raising the question of whose journal it is. If you read the prose poem out loud, you can hear the rhythm that the prose poem contains. It's not as clear-cut as a traditional poem, since it is a prose poem, but there is clearly a consideration to each word and sentence the writer chose.

As the writer of that bee poem, I would claim a certain amount of freedom of expression and style, yet I would admit it is NOT a free-verse in the truest sense. Btw, a free verse must not have any semblance to metered/rhymed verse. All in all, my write is narrative prose, or at its very best, a descriptive prose poem. Thanks for reading.
Ali

the vast majority of writers would agree with me and "Wikipedia" and others that
"Free verse is an open form of poetry. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern." I believe that writers of poetry can experiment with forms to make them work to their liking, but to think that free-verse has no rules is a mistake. My teacher, among several others, would be Walt Whitman. Thank you, sir, and I'm sorry we have to disagree.
Ali

I think this is turning into a pointless issue. If for the sake of effectiveness a writer inserts a rhyme, then why not? If I posted a mostly metered/rhymed poem on this site and called it a free-verse, I'm sure I would be called on the carpet for my error. I guess whatever one thinks a free-verse ought to be is okay by me. It doesn't change the fact that free-verse is poetry without regular meter or rhyme. If my write sounds like an essay, I might say that much of what I have read on this site falls into the same category as those chopped up lines I have seen, then put together, are nothing more but disguised prose or "essays." That's all I care to say on the obvious. Thanks,
Ali

there must be room for all kinds of poetry, even if one does not agree with my narratives that most of my free-verses and metered verses are. As you know, narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story. Has been a pleasure discussing this subject with you and others. Cordially yours,
Ali

maybe my write is prose--maybe it is something that I adopted as my own style, but you have to admit that it is not entirely free of musical nuances as in dry prose. Even the (arguable) father of free-verse wrote a lot of free-verses that could be labeled prose; the following write strikes me, personally, as prosaic but scholars would shut me up. Thanks for your input. Ali

Poets to Come (Walt Whitman)

Poets to come! orators, singers, musicians to come!
Not to-day is to justify me and answer what I am for,
But you, a new brood, native, athletic, continental, greater than
before known,
Arouse! for you must justify me.

I myself but write one or two indicative words for the future,
I but advance a moment only to wheel and hurry back in the darkness.

I am a man who, sauntering along without fully stopping, turns a
casual look upon you and then averts his face,
Leaving it to you to prove and define it,
Expecting the main things from you.
...........
And how about this bible verse that is acclaimed as beautiful poetry:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; * for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: * the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name...." To me, this is prose. All is in the eye of the beholder.

I agree with you; bees are cool. Even when they are angry they still offer us their cornucopia of sweet bees barf that tastes so great on my raisin bread that's to die for. Some bears are not so cool; last winter they destroyed my hives. Bad, bad bears, lol. Thanks my friend,
Ali

Ali: no matter how much you squirm and dance,
the last drop always ends up in your pants.
A free-verse your write was not meant to be,
therefore, just call it "prose" and set it free.

Thanks all for participating. This was a great exercise in defining what "is" is. (Bill Clinton) LOL.
Ali