Form takes the show

In the text for my course, we were directed to review poetry based on rhythm, rhyme, sound, language, imagery, and emotion. I believe that form is a new element for evaluation.

I've been reading over my reviews from a few days ago and I've begun to wonder. In the review of What My Mother Doesn't Know, I've mentioned the strong emotions that Sophie experiences in the span of a few days. In A Pocketful of Poems, I've made reference to the clever imagery that is mirrored in the poems and in the collage illustrations (straws and "one last sip of summer").

However, the rhythm in most of the poetry books I picked out was not obvious had had little impact on the actual reading or interpretation. Also, nothing rhymed in any of the the three poetry books I read. Sound didn't stand out either to me. There was limited onomatopoeia, assonance or consonance. Language was important, particularly in Pocketful of Poems where one word directed an entire layout and two poems.

Form was dramatically important in all three books that I read. In Pocketful of Poems, Grimes provides an author's note to describe her poetic form of choice, Haiku. In What My Mother Doesn't Know, Sones uses line breaks to create dramatic pauses. In Blue Lipstick, the form is the poem. The shapes that are created with the words create a deeper meaning and require a longer reading.