"The invention of poet Afaa Michael Weaver, the Bop is a kind of combination sonnet + song. Like a Shakespearan sonnet, it introduces, discusses, and then solves (or fails to solve) a problem. Like a song, it relies on refrains and repetition. In the basic Bop poem, a six-line stanza introduces the problem, and is followed by a one-line refrain. The next, eight-line stanza discusses and develops the problem, and is again followed by the one-line refrain. Then, another six-line stanza resolves or concludes the problem, and is again followed by the refrain."
Got that? It appears that it doesn't necessarily have to be iambic pentameter or rhyming like a traditional sonnet. Most of the examples I have read so far appear to be free verse, but I decided to do a more-or-less blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter, more or less). Hope you like it.
Suburban Clutter
A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go
out and get more stuff. – George Carlin
We’ve been here eighteen years. You’d think we’d know
that it’s okay to throw stuff out, but we
have boxed it, stowed it everywhere – garage
and attic, basement too. I wouldn’t say
we’re hoarders – maybe one degree from that,
but now we’re moving – now the work begins.
We try to fill the spaces in our lives.
When we came here, there was some room to grow.
You wouldn’t know it now. We built a mountain –
boxes, bins and crates, some old appliances,
clothes too small or out of style, rows of books
on shelves. This pack-rat life has got to give.
We’re moving to a small Cape Cod, downsizing,
so it’s “everything must go” – not everything,
perhaps – a yard sale, trash bins, Goodwill trips.
We try to fill the spaces in our lives.
No wait! That was my grandma’s, and this stuff
the kids made in first grade. And we can paint
those chairs to look like new. And that could fetch
a lot on eBay. What’s the use? Whatever
doesn’t fit the new home goes in storage,
we’ll rent a unit, check it once a year.
We try to fill the spaces in our lives.
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