>Bel - some free verse is very, very good - and not all poetry should be rejected on the grounds that it doesn't follow the traditional structures...

Shanks dear, if you have any suggestions to make as to good free verse, I'd like to hear them. I promise I will look into it. As it stands, in the 'poems' I have seen, you can remove the returns and put them in paragraph form and it will sound exactly the same.

What I admire about poems is their rhythmic quality. Haiku's do not rhyme but they do have rhythm. What burns my butt is that, like you say, poets that use rhyme and rhythm are considered second-class – but it's hard work. I know I can't do it.

When I read something like:

I went to the grocery
…..store, and when

I was in the produce section I saw
that no more melons
…….were in the bin. And my dog was
waiting in the car

I want to pull out my hair at the thought that someone was PAID for this.

(Oy, two grumpy posts in a row. My jubilant reputation is going to take a beating. You can now call me Grumpy Gus )