Oh Man, we are going deep into this thread 🤣

I'll be honest, I don't even remember what the original article was about.

I certainly don't remember her saying 'nothing could be poetry if it didn't rhyme' although looking back, that seems to be the actual premise of the article.

It's been a mad couple of weeks. My parents are visiting from overseas. I haven't seen them in five years. I've been driving four hour round trips every three days to clean an Airbnb for a friend who is sick. On top of that my Mother in law is visiting and I have a daily writing habit and three god damn cats to contend with. Not to mention Xmas.

Everything is a blur.

I don't agree that everything in poetry should rhyme and I think I may have gotten the wrong end of the stick here.

Sometimes I assume an underdog and go into bat for them. My eyesight goes blurred and I start chucking snowballs.

To be very honest, I am not educated in a formal way although to be an absolute cliche knob I have to say I went to the 'school of life' — a saying that makes me hurl but I just had to write for my own amusement.

Im now 45 and I completed a writing diploma two years ago. Also, I have just finished my first year of creative writing at University.

So Im basically a freshman as you Americans would say.

I'm also a late starter.

It's very funny that I am doing my first poetry unit early next year and have been looking forward to it for a while since I know very little about the subject —only that my previous attempts at poetry have been met with the phrase:

'This isn't poetry'

So I have a history. But I suppose that's what you get when you wing it.

I'm following you now Robson and will take your articles seriously.

I hope you will do the same and take the time to really rag out my non-poetry next year when I start posting it.

All the best,

Frank