Poetry Place Collected Poems

My Life as a Diplomat

My Life as a Diplomat

For 27 years
I served as a foreign Service officer
A U.S. Diplomat
Representing the U.S.
Around the world
And in Washington, DC

I served in ten countries

Antigua
Barbados
Grenada
India
South Korea
Spain
St. Kitts
St Lucia
St. Vincent
Thailand

I did everything

From issuing visas
Blogging about program evaluations
Serving as a program evaluator
Helping American businesses
Helping Americans who got into trouble
Organizing conferences
Coordinating classes
Investigating visa and passport fraud
Serving as a labor officer
Serving as a commercial officer
Serving as a human rights officer
Serving as an economics officer
Serving as an environmental officer

Visiting prisoners

And through it all
I was always proud
To serve my country

And make the world
A better place
Winning friends
And influencing people

Promoting American values
Around the world


Free verse poetry evolved from a desire of writers at the beginning of the twentieth century to alter the tone of the poem because of change in attitude toward literature in general, and poetry in particular, where concerns about the suitability of subject matter receded and the relationship between writer and reader became less formal. The term implies total freedom from any type of design or structure. This is not the case at all.

In traditional poetry, the fixed shape of the meter, rhyme, and stanza creates an emotional distance which facilitates universal acceptance. The poet writing free verse must compensate for the lack of traditional structure by designing the title, line, stanza, and rhythm to provide the greatest impact in an efficient manner. Otherwise, the poem will be nothing more than prose in disguise.

Careful design of the word selection and arrangement, the length and density of each line, and the breakdown of stanzas must provide a natural rhythm. That is, through much toil in search of precise language, experimentation with forming lines and stanzas, and extensive revision, the poet carefully crafts a work that appears natural, authentic, and convincing to the reader.

Here are a couple of examples:
Where I come from land lies flat as paper.

Pine, spruce, holly like dark words

left from a woods. Creeks coil, curve,

enigmatic as women. To know the depths

you must dream. In the mountains

for college I walked up and could see

barns, cows, house smoke, but no boats.

Hillsides of winesaps, still, perfect.



Here my little boat takes the night Bay.

One far neon light tosses, a city

people walk alone, its rhythmic

landscape cut from marshes and cries.

On black water it is all mine, first

beginnings, endings, love's beauties.

So when I move, it moves under me, and knows me.



~'Night Pleasures' by Dave Smith



Snowflake (E)
...in a child's eyes
#1182457 by Dave (896)



ASSIGNMENT: Write a free verse poem about your occupation.