Exercise 1: Alliterative Accentual Verse

A failure to my forbears:__singing forbidden songs, reading
___Ferlinghetti
or drinking coffee with Coleman,__at first course and chaotic
but then beautiful__bearing joy to this bastard son.
The Artist is anarchy__not alright with the Old Man

who says I need to stop__seeing visions and step up
to the reality, the repulsive__running around
of this bullshit blue-collar__boarding room
that distorts the deliberate_ artistic declaration, to deafening.

Notes:

1. Alliterative Accentual Verse: The only truly English metrical form. Lines do not have a beat count but in each line there will be four main alliterative accents that mark the metre. This style dates back to the Anglo-Saxons and the best known example is Beowulf. This style is rare in modern poetry

2. Lawrence Ferlinghetti: American poet and member of the "Beat Generation." He is the owner of the famous independant City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. He is most famous for receiving an obscenity charge after publishing Ginsberg's Howl and other poems. His poetry is often marked by minimal puncuation and a unique stanza structure that has been adopted by many modern poets.

3. Ornette Coleman: Innovative Jazz saxophonist credited with developing the style of Free Jazz. His album Free Jazz made use of a "double-quartet" and featured only one 37 minute song. He plays a signature white plastic saxophone.