Painting with words

There are many ways            
of making art with words.              
Some poets order them formally—              
counting out syllables,              
conducting their rhythms precisely,              
following the rules,              
producing classical beauty.              
              
Some delicately              
                                        sprinkle            
a few                                                  
                          select sounds.              
Less…                               
                                         …is more.              
Elegant beauty.        
       
Some joyfully              
fling bright colours              
at the canvas:              
splashes and sploshes              
of onomatopoeia.              
Contrasting sounds,              
(satisfying by themselves)              
increase the impact              
of others.              
Frazzle.  Astonish.  Eclectic.              
BONANZA!              
               
I prefer to mix my own colours,              
incorporating explosive adjectives;              
judiciously juxtaposing              
carefully crafted              
alliteration,              
and assonance,              
its magical companion.              
               
There’s a time for rhyme,              
and a time to dream              
in exquisite metaphors.              
Writing poetry              
is like painting with words  
in similes—                     
just like that.