The Return Of The Muse

My full-length Epic Poem The SkyPath Crusade is modeled after “The Cremation of Sam McGee.”  The meter I used has seven stresses per rhyming line, which is also the same number as “Casey at the Bat.”  Unlike “Casey,” however, I often insert an additional rhyming pair within the lines, allowing each stanza to have as many as 6 rhyming pairs instead of just two. This is the same formula that Robert W. Service used in “The Cremation of Sam McGee.”  Here’s an example from his poem:

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
        By the men who moil for gold;
    The Arctic trails have their secret tales
        That would make your blood run cold;
    The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
        But the queerest they ever did see
    Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
        I cremated Sam McGee.

Now, to compare, here is an example from my poem.

As you can see, the two forms are very similar.  Mine is perhaps a bit more condensed though, the result of the influence of modern pop music, no doubt.  Service’s poem, on the other hand, being over a hundred years old, is classier than mine.

 To read my epic click on the link: www.skypathcrusade.wordpress.com/

After being initially wounded, Marcus valiantly defends himself against the monster’s onslaught. Despite his bravery, however, he is slowly losing. Each time one of his blades touches the monster’s spikes, a jolt of electricity rushes through his body further disabling him. As his strength wanes, he makes an interesting observation. Some of the rocks scattered on the ground are nothing more than holographic duplicates of other rocks lying nearby. Taking advantage of this new information, he charges into a stream of light, causing twenty or more holographic copies of himself to suddenly appear around the monster. Surprised, the monster faces the wrong foe, turning his back on the real Marcus. The young ruler quickly rushes out of the shadows and kills the fiend. Once this is done, however, he begins to despair of his life, expecting to die in the mountain. That’s when he notices a shiny gadget in his victim’s fur.

The SkyPath Crusade is a humorous sci-fi/fantasy epic poem posted as a serial three times a week at http://www.skypathcrusade.wordpress.com

The SkyPath Crusade is a 39-chapter epic poem that I wrote for fun. It is a science fiction/fantasy thriller with the same rhyme scheme as “Casey at the Bat.” You can read it at http://skypathcrusade.wordpress.com

Marcus falls deep into the mountain but is miraculously stopped before hitting the bottom. He finds himself in a large chamber illuminated by shafts of light entering through glass-filled crevices. These shafts focus the beams from outer space, serving as a telescope to create holographic images of what is taking place far away. Marcus is able to study the Persian blockade in great detail, and watches as the Klaron fleet masses itself to make a move on Mars. At first he despairs, but then he sees some good news: a large army of Chinese ships flying down the ether stream that connects Saturn to Mars. Before long they would be in position to hit the Persians from behind. As his eyes wander across the star map he notices something else: a complex web of ether streams going from star to star. Apparently they exist in more than just our solar system. Theoretically one could leave our system completely and travel to another star. He doesn’t have time to finish his thoughts, however, before he is attacked suddenly by the monster from chapter nine

The SkyPath Crusade is a humorous sci-fi/fantasy epic poem posted as a serial three times a week at http://www.skypathcrusade.wordpress.com

Marcus and Shelah continue up the mountain, searching for whatever it is they are supposed to find. Finally, they make it to a volcanic chasm that opens at the mountain’s peak. Marcus is accidentally knocked inside by a mountain goat and he falls hopelessly into the inky black depths.

The SkyPath Crusade is a humorous sci-fi/fantasy epic poem posted as a serial three times a week at http://www.skypathcrusade.wordpress.com

That’s a very good question. I am certain that there are a lot of people out there that dislike the direction of modern poetry, even among the super-educated. I run into them all the time. I expect them to be critical of my ideas against modern lyrical forms, but instead I find that they share many of my viewpoints. So why is it that a new popular poetry hasn’t emerged yet?

The first answer is that it is opposed by many university professors.  This answer isn’t very convincing because university professors really don’t have much power over what gets published and what doesn’t.

The second answer is that the public is simply unwilling to give poetry a second chance. Unfortunately this may be true, but I do not wish to believe it.  Poetry is not dead.  It can’t be dead.

Thirdly-and this is the answer I hold to-poetry must be written in such a way as to compete with the novel. This is seldom done because most poets focus on short poetry. We need something longer that can demand the readers’ commitment. Although a reader may look at a short poem and agree that it is enjoyable, he/she simply puts it out of their head the next minute and moves on to the next thing. 

I believe that the best way to get the poetry revolution up in running is to start writing humorous epics/long poems based on a constant rhyme and meter with enough freedom to keep the reader from getting bored. Of course this is a very difficult thing to do, which perhaps is why no one has done it yet. Sooner or later, however, someone is bound to get it right. Until that day we just have to keep writing. 

I don’t know how many times I’ve read some new “famous” poet writing in the same obscure and insipid style that has plagued our culture for the past one hundred years. They each claim to bring something new to the world of poetry but every time it feels like a new regurgitation of the same old stomach ache. At last we are at the verge of freedom. Elitist brand poetry has slipped so low that it will probably never recover.

Now is the time in which the world of poetry can finally be reborn.  The sages of academia are no longer able to hinder it. They have squandered the people’s patience so long that they have made themselves irrelevant.  The only people who read their stuff now are the students trapped in their classrooms.

But for the rest of us there is much opportunity. Those of us who live in the real world and have jobs that lend us real-world experience are able to write much better than they are. Sure, we may not be “educated” with all their theories, but we have a better teacher than they do. We do not pretend at existence: we thrive in it. We neither need their approval nor want it.

Here is how, in due time, poetry will be reestablished among the reading public. It will not be through academic symposiums or university-sponsored learning. Rather it will happen when the long poem or the epic poem is once again written by people who understand how to entertain. When rhyme and structure returns with wit and humor to satisfy the soul and thrill the imagination. No more metaphysical comparisons and oblique imagery. The day of muddled communication will be long gone. The day of inspiration will return.

So sharpen your pens writers and start them singing. A new day has dawned.  We are no longer in bondage.

As soon as they are finished kissing, Marcus and Shelah continue their journey deep into the forbidden regions of Mars. By early morning they are forced to leave their horses behind and continue alone on foot. After several hours of climbing the side of a treacherous mountain, they enter a cave that leads deep into a subterranean palace. They are caught up in a vortex of light that splits their souls and bodies apart and magically transports them somewhere hundreds of miles away. Then the supernatural forces put them back together again on top of a distant mountain.

The SkyPath Crusade is a humorous sci-fi/fantasy epic poem posted as a serial three times a week at http://www.skypathcrusade.wordpress.com

Marcus’ attempt to leave the city alone is thwarted when Princess Shelah discovers what he is up to and demands to go with him. He agrees to let her cross the Martian desert with him on horseback, but before he knows how it has happened, he also agrees to marry her.

The SkyPath Crusade is a humorous sci-fi/fantasy epic poem posted as a serial three times a week at http://www.skypathcrusade.wordpress.com

Fantasy poetry has made a comeback in recent years, although it has never garnered close to as much attention as let’s say, fantasy fiction. Nevertheless people are beginning to notice it. Maybe it’s time for a bold new step for fantasy poetry. Maybe it’s time for epic poetry to return.

  To read my fantasy epic poem click on the following link: http://skypathcrusade.wordpress.com