Alankar(Decor) -178 Poem by Indira Renganathan

How Little Girl Hassles(Free Verse)-3

In free verse, the old 'rules' are broken, the line itself becomes the only rule.The verse is strophic, not contained in uniform stanzas. It must breath, think and sound like the poet. The rhythm keeps time with the poet's own heart beat. To ignore its form is irresponsible. It may be more difficult to create a line of free verse than metered verse, the length, word choice and placement become an extension of the poet even more without the 'rule' of predetermined patterns. With free verse it is up to the poet to create his/her own rules

How Little Girl Hassles

Back
Fromschool
Little girl is in full cheer
Shoes off, bag off
She sings loudly
Galloping with her
Swinging pony tail

And
That fetches in
From the opposite house
Her friend

Who
Fat and friskily rough
Joins his friend's singing
High spirited he dances
More spirited with a ruler

And
Still more spirited
In fast beats he
Beats little girl
Showing demonic faces

There!
Sounds the other way
The little girl
And her friend
Flees away

And
Amid all this uproar
Mammaseriously checking
The tiffin box full back
Furiously screams

Contd