More Beautiful Every Day

They say that time is the great thief
Robber of beauty and of looks
I have heard it spoken times before
Have read of it in books

But as the years go by with you
I realize more and more
You just get that much better
So much better than before

For what may have caught my eye
Was surely your pretty face
But over the years I have come to know
Your true beauty and inner grace

For your true beauty is not seen
Not what you choose to show
It is your beauty that lies inside
The beauty I’ve come to know

And as the years pass on by
You age just like fine wine
And every year that passes by
Makes me glad you’re mine

Far from your beauty ever fading
I feel that I must say
You just keep on getting better
And more beautiful every day

Picking this one, because it was the best of the group -- in my opinion. They were all rhyming, a plus. Most missed the meter in places. It hurt in that the poems are simple in thought, so really are those that you want to say out loud (hopefully with a member of the opposite sex around). When your tongue trips in the recitation, it slightly spoils the mood. If you are going for direct, clear message poetry, make certain that it flows.

I assume from the poems that you life is going well. I certainly hope so. May it continue to go well for you.

Also, glad to see you posting. Poor Oskar has been steadily putting out stuff, but he should not be alone.

Thank you very much, Terish. The posting has come short since my computer broke down and I'm without one for a while now. It'll be alright eventually, though.

Yes I always make sure that my wife, Kellycakes, reads the poems I write for her, so no worries about that. Over the years and the time of writing poetry I've got to experience different kind of genres, but it turned out that poems about my feelings, or in this case, about love, marriage and my wife are the ones that flow the best.

I've been reading your replies you've given our members and since you mentioned it again on one of my pieces, I just have to ask what exactly that "meter" is you're talking about?!

Meter is the number of syllables per line. It is the ta-da ta-da cadence of how the words are said.

I have to go to school today (8)
Because I need to get my pay (8)

That is a good rhyming couplet.

I have to go to school today(8)
Because I need to learn what the teacher will say(12)

Is not a good couplet. The rhyme is good, but the rhythm actually expects the rhyming syllable earlier in the sentence. Thus, the rhyme is not good, because the word the cadence expects to rhyme does not. Thus, while (to)day and say DOES rhyme, that is not the word your voice or the listener's ear expects to rhyme. When working with rhyme, you thus have to consider the meter as well to assure that the rhyme works.

Now, that does not mean that the speaker cannot make the couplet work. Someone reading the poem for the first time however will not know to adjust their speech. Meter is thus important for those seeking a new audience. Those with an established audience can ignore it, although they then get held up as an example of how certain poets ruin the quality of poetry by flaunting the rules.

Most of those that hate rules simply go with non-rhyming or free verse. Truthfully, meter is still important there. The cadence of the stanzas still must pull the meaning and emotion, so word choice and how they work with other words becomes important. Basically, in free-verse EVERY word becomes important. Good free-verse thus can be a challenge as well.

That is enough lecture. Have fun with it. Poetry is more personal. Whatever its structural faults, it is strange how some poems actually manage to touch people. Thus, one can come down hard on a poem for being in error, then simply end with, "I liked it." People are weird, and poetry brings that our inner nature rather well at times. That is what makes poetry worthwhile.

Well thank you very much for explaining so detailed. I'll definitely start paying attention to the meter when I'm writing a poem next, since I enjoy the rhyming ones better anyway. That's gonna be a new challenge while writing, and I'm always open for new things.