Prose or is that Poetry

I have passed on to y’all some of the stuff I picked up about Ink and Writing so naturally this leads us, ok me, onto Prose-the ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure which is what distinguishes it from verse / poetry; it is also by definition boring, dull and tiresome. Prose is a pretty word to describe general forms of writing. It is paragraphs made of grouped sentences that use standard rules of punctuation and grammar in clear and concise words to convey a message or idea of any sort. Every day we say and write words telling the everyday kind of stories or do we?

All writing is prose, it is the style we use that keeps it from being tedious and makes familiar or new subjects interesting which is what all writers want their writing to be. Each of us want to be unique and individual in voice and point of view regardless of whether we are telling a story, passing along gossip or teaching. There are many styles of writing-humor, journalist / news, academia, business, poetry and others. Style can be determined by what a writer wants to say for instance a note of condolence, a blog entry of a vacation or a complaint rant or letter of recommendation of self or a business associate. It can be formal or informal. These are only a few examples there are many different styles and combinations of styles that are used for writing prose.

Prose or Poetry or Prose Poetry and how do you know? This is a convoluted mess, between the dictionary and the common thought or belief if you will. Prose Poetry is believed by some literary persons not be a valid form of poetry as it does not conform to precise rules that are set out for other forms, including free verse, and yet it is highly descriptive with flourishes of fantasy. Because it does not have any rules it is sometimes considered flash fiction.

I have written what I think is prose poetry, being fancy sing songy words in story form written in paragraphs as opposed to stanzas and they have sometimes contained loose rhyme. I like this form and do consider it poetry and not flash fiction, which I have done as well. I came across this site that has some pretty cool Prose Poetry. I really enjoyed Fireflies and Blueprint Cyanotype. Here’s a site you can check out for different artistic forms and here is an article I came across written by Peter Johnson about the prose poem.
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did researching and writing this little piece of prose and I suppose I should post a some prose poetry that I have written...


PARADISE VALLEY

Though I walk through, I slow my step to admire the beauty of it all. I absorb every thing that I can, while I can. Time spent here is peaceful and full of gladness; it is not near long enough. I see the shadows as they fall in front of me, I look upon them, my feet say retreat, my heart says stand strong, and my soul knows I am protected. They are mere shadows to be stepped upon; they will pass and fade with the afternoon sun. Night comes and the stillness is breathtaking. A whole new beauty develops and surrounds me. Yet still the shadows lurk. They are cast about in a haphazard way. I am protected and yet sense them. I don’t let them trip me or make me fall. Serenity cleanses and chases the shadows away. I am loved. I can rest in paradise and all will be well. It is not fleeting; it is here, all around. Paradise valley waits.