Prose Poetry

What is Prose Poetry?

Prose poetry is a hybrid form of writing that was introduced from mixing poetry with prose. It is written in paragraphs rather than in verse but uses poetic elements such as metaphors,  rhythm, fragmentation and figures of speech. Although prose can be traced back to very early age, it emerged as a form of poetry in the 19th century as a rebellion against traditional poetic forms and since it has been evolving up to present.

How to write a prose poem?

• In a prose poem the writing is continuous without line break. Sentence is fragmented to structure a paragraph. 
• Alliterations, repetitions and metaphors are used to paint your compressed intense thoughts in a lyrical and rhythmic form.
• Focuses on the imagery.

Example of a prose poem

Dear Babylon, By Harmony Holiday

What will you be like when the daylight comes? I’m glad you’re Diana Ross, today. What is she scraping off her face? Two strobing flashlights at the apex of the cheekbones, one on the tip of the nose. I’m so glad you’re Dorothy. Nineties depression chic nirvana flannel and hobo overalls accented with stilettos are back falling through lawn chairs as Rodney King. Your dog ran away in the night and I’m celebrating. Caleb caught a case and I’m running through the streets like there’s a bouquet of swords in one fist and balloons in the other, dissembling my distress. In high school we read Camus’s Rebel but stayed up till midnight to catch the second airing of Jerry Springer on three way. I mostly remember the brawls and such earnest DNA testing, such universal are you my daddy tales. We’d stay on the phone and wait for the results. The audience hated reconciliation and everyone was someone’s mom outrunning the weightless claymation noon-night. Praying for patient doom. Tasting like Cool Ranch Doritos and a room of one’s own. Sullen minstrel cuddling the spotlight won’t you put down your phone and tell me what’s really the matter. Why won’t they call security before she hurls another chair. Their spectacle protects them from sorrow and all sorts of water rots in Chicago and no one seems outraged when the mother’s boyfriend is her daughter’s babyfather no one turns down the complimentary coffee and hamburgers or stabs him in the groin. By default, by heroic shamelessness. Did you spend at least eight and a half minutes in daylight. Did you radiate like starch in the Paleolithic age, get so thin it aches. Is the rebel wanted dead or alive? I had asked Diana. She had gone into hiding by then.

Note: None of the poems we present belong to us. We present an organized record and analysis of them. All copyrights are reserved to the original author and we are not using plagiarized work. The originality of the writes is verified to the fullest extent we can.

Tips to write a prose poem

1. Choose a subject that has an emotional connection to you 
2. Create a narrative and add poetic devices such as metaphors, alliterations and internal rhyming to make it flow
3. You can make your sentences as long as you want and fragment it to make it rhythmic
4. Use imagery and immerse surrealism to make your prose poem more subtle and subversive

Prose poetry has been gaining popularity in the poetic realm due to its composition of lyrical and other additional features of traditional poetry woven with the standards of prose, such as punctuation and absence of line break. If you are looking for a way to construct your poem densely with creative imagery or you want to portrait an abstract story that doesn't seem to flow well in verses, then the structure and content of prose poetry might be the perfect rhythm and feel for your write.

So let's get your fingers on keyboard and start crocheting a prose poem!

Cheers!

-Fathimath (member of team PoeTree FoRest)