To Capitalize or Not

poem by: Annie Kirby
Written on Oct 25, 2016

To capitalize or not to capitalize 
That is the question? 
And this is my answer 

Capitalizing the first letter of 
Each beginning word in a line 
Of poetry,Â  came first
It is traditional, been around 
Since the beginning of poetry 

But nothing stays the same
Not even poetry
And why should it?

And one day a young poet
Decided he didn't want 
To capitalize,Â  so he didn't 

Maybe he was just lazy
Or maybe he just wanted 
To be different, try something new 
After all it is just capitalizing 
Not the end of the world 

Now I was not around 
When the young poet
Decided to change the rules 
But I think the old
Traditional poet was not happy
And told the young poet
He was wrong 

But the young poet
Stood his ground 
It was his poem
And his freedom of choice 

And what do you know
Not capitalizing was a hit
Out with the old
And in with the new

And there is nothing 
Wrong with that 
New is good
But please don't forget 

We still have freedom of choice 
To capitalize or not to capitalize 
Neither is right and neither is wrong
And after all it is my poem

Add Comment

A previous user commented:

I love the way you worded this poem bravo

Annie Kirby commented:

Thank you Robin! On another poetry site, a person left a comment on my poem, not this one. Their whole comment was how I should not capitalize. They even told me to edit my poem, take out all the caps and then repost. They said nothing about my poem, if it was good or bad. I don't even think they read it, I don't like to be told that I am wrong when I am not. The person had such a I know what I'm doing and you don't attitude, it pissed me off. I was sure that I had did nothing wrong, I even looked it up on the Internet,. And there it was in black and white, over and over again, it may be out of fashion but it is not wrong. I was not going to let this person tell me how I should write, so I answered their comment with my own. I was respectful and polite, but let them know the truth of the matter. Then I wrote this poem.

Christopher Russon commented:

Nice poem.some one told me that my poem the cemetery was prattle Which means childlike.I thought tactless. There is away of saying things I thought.I agree with Robin You worded your poem well.

Annie Kirby commented:

Thank you Christopher ðŸŒ¹

Taha Hassan commented on Oct 27, 2017 at 5:47am

Lovely Poem Annie, Well written. Really fun. Way to make my morning better. ^^

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