Help! I don't "get" free verse poetry!

[Wanton_Wordsmith]

I love rhyming poetry, and I love that it follows a structure in it's rhyming scheme. But I don't understand free verse poety I hear at poetry slams. The poems sound like stories, without descriptive language except obscenity. Can anyone give me some insight? THank you.

[Lycaonia]

There's nothing to get. There is no true structure, it's free, it's emotional, and it's fun. Think of free-verse as a "miscellaneous" category for poetry. it's clearly not structured like prose, but it isn't quite structured poetry either. You do what you want.

[Sweetp120]

honestly free verse and structural poetry still tell a story its just how they tell the story that's different. All it is, is the perception of the picture. free verse can paint a picture are obscure as a haiku can or as humorously as a limerick, or even somewhere in between like the ballads of sonnets. It can have no rhymes it can have one or two. It also doesn't have to makes sense to you as long as it makes sense to the author and maybe another with similar experience or feelings as the author. or it could be even that you either have to read it a couple times to understand it. but I think the biggest difference between the two is that free verse is more raw more straight from the heart. Not saying that structured poetry isn't from the heart because it is as well but there's just less editing and more self to it.

[nooregano]

It's about raw expression. The "point" of it is to preserve the emotion/thought in its rawest form. It's meant to create a reaction in you and make you feel something. If you feel it on a visceral level, some may argue that there's no reason to understand it on a mental level.

[IamShing]

It is very easy..no pattern no wordcount..etc..you can write whatever you want

[finebunchofnothing]

Honestly, neither do I. At school most of the poems we studied were free verse poems, and I absolutely could not understand why they were called poems. I guess I grew up thinking that "poetry" equals "rhyme and rhythm", that is why it is so difficult for me to consider anything that does not have these two elements a poem. By no means am I saying that these works are not beautiful or not meaningful or not worth reading, of course not. I just do not think that they go into the "poetry" category.

[IamShing]

I respect your opinion. But freeverse for me is something cool especially for students and teenagers.

[Akshi Porwal]

I somewhat agree. I too prefer a structure but sometimes free verse can be good as well.

[Wildflowertheorist]

Both have their own charm.
Free verse gives a poet an incredible amount of creative freedom compared to structured poetry.
Also you show try listening/watching spoken word. Especially Phil Kaye'. And if that doesn't move you then go read Daffodils.

[AvishaJain_13]

You can look at it like ballads, it helps me understand it better.

[Sia P]

So a free verse generally means writing in any way, without any parameter or rules. You are free to write in any way, like whatever suits you. I think I love exploring and so, till now I have been very much comfortable with all kinds of poems. I would say, just try accepting them as they are. )