Our Lady Named Liberty

QUESTION: Wait a minute, Tom! What is this Our Lady Named Liberty stuff? I just finished reading Polly's Story Part One. Where is Polly's Story Part Two? Shouldn't that be the next episode? 

Me: Yes, it should be. I promise more Polly in the following episode. But I need a poetry break.

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From the Author...

Most of the poetry I have shared with the readers in this story, Different Prisons, has been free verse poetry and proems (prose poetry). This format lends itself best to me when writing about prisons.

My favorite poetry to write is ekphrastic. Ekphrastic is a Greek word meaning "description." However, ekphrastic poems are usually associated with painting, drawing, or sculpture. They could be poems about songs, dancing, or any art form. There are no rules to ekphrastic poetry. This means writers can write about almost anything, using any rhyme or meter they're interested in.

Although 'no rules', poetry appeals to me. My most successful poems have been very structured, including sonnets and rhyming poems that most people associate with poetry.

I also enjoy writing Sijo, Korean poetry usually put to music. It predates the Japanese Haiku. Sijo has three long lines. Each line varies between 14 and 16 syllables, with the middle line often the longest. The first line states a theme, the second counters it, and the third resolves the poem.

English sonnets are the most popular poems. My most successful poem is an Italian sonnet called Our Lady Named Liberty, a homage to Emma Lazarus. Not surprisingly, I prefer writing Italian sonnets.

I entered (and won) a contest to create a modern Colussus poem. Emma Lazarus was a young Jewish immigrant who wrote the poem The New Colossus, an Italian sonnet. This poem is on the plaque underneath the Statue of Liberty and in the Emma Lazarus Museum, run by the American Jewish Historical Society. I am proud that my poem hangs on the same wall as the original handwritten Lazarus poem.

The English sonnet was first introduced in the early 16th century. It is composed of 14 lines in 3 quatrains and a couplet. On the other hand, the Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet was created in the early 11th century. The Italian sonnet has two parts. The octet (first part) has eight lines, and the sestet (second part) has six lines. English sonnets use an ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme. Italian sonnets use an ABBA ABBA CDE CDE rhyme scheme, or CDC CDC, for the sestet. Both are precisely fourteen lines.

See- I told you I could do structured poetry!

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Our Lady Named Liberty

Emma first named her the Mother of Exiles, for the poor

The symbol and embodiment of maternal strength is she

Her head held high, standing proud for all the world to see

Others may falter, lose faith in her, and become unsure

Some still calling to close and lock tight her golden door

She won't abide it, not her, not our Lady named Liberty

None are lesser in our Lady's eyes; all are meant to be free

She is a promise-keeper for them, who can reach her shore

She remains at her post, kinder, wiser, Mother to those in need

Her torch lighting liberty's path for the world's children lost

Forgotten peoples around the world can recite our Lady's creed

Give to her those named unwanted and deemed unworthy of the cost

She will raise them up as her own, to perform many a mighty deed

This is our Lady Liberty's destiny; may her lesson never be lost

~dedicated to the memory of Emma Lazarus (1849-1887)

END - Next- Polly Wants a Cracker...

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