issue 34 > poetry > juster
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Why Verse Should Be Free Range
by A.M. Juster
from The Billy Collins Experience
It seems ridiculous
to write blank verse.
Who speaks so rhythmically
when ordering
his soup, fried rice
and shrimp in garlic sauce?
I must concede it worked
for Shakespeare’s plays—
and Milton—
but we’re living in an age
of email apps and microwaves,
aren’t we?
Why should a random scheme
compel the loss
of any poet’s well-turned
lines and phrases?
It’s hard enough to write a decent poem...