What's most striking about all of this is the inherent musicality of your poems. For me, the presence of that is what sets them apart from most of the prosy poetry being written now. Even the titles sound musical, exactly like you'd expect to find a new Sinatra singing - 'Will There Be Starlight', 'Moon Lake', 'How Long the Night' etc. Hopefully, one will turn up!
I think I have always had an ear for musical poetry, rather than the metronome. Even when I was a struggling young poet, I never wrote clunky meter. My problem was finding "the right word at the right time" consistently. I like to think I improved in that regard. But even my first longer poem, "Happiness," which I have never shown to anyone, had nice meter. It must be something native, it was there from the very beginning.
Congratulations, Mike. 59 poems set to music is a truly extraordinary achievement. Well done.
It's still hard to believe, but I'm not complaining! Now I'm hoping for an even 60. And some royalties.
What's most striking about all of this is the inherent musicality of your poems. For me, the presence of that is what sets them apart from most of the prosy poetry being written now. Even the titles sound musical, exactly like you'd expect to find a new Sinatra singing - 'Will There Be Starlight', 'Moon Lake', 'How Long the Night' etc. Hopefully, one will turn up!
I think I have always had an ear for musical poetry, rather than the metronome. Even when I was a struggling young poet, I never wrote clunky meter. My problem was finding "the right word at the right time" consistently. I like to think I improved in that regard. But even my first longer poem, "Happiness," which I have never shown to anyone, had nice meter. It must be something native, it was there from the very beginning.