I normally don't write poetry. Instead, I prefer story telling because I can never find a rhythm of poetry I'm good at.
But for history today I had to write a poem on the Johnstown Flood. My history book gave me an example of a poem composed of five couplets written at the time of the Johnstown Flood by Isaac Reed. My assignment was to write a poem in the same style. Here is the result.
AFTERMATH
Walking through that hospital room,
Feeling as if I had just meet my doom,
My daughter lost, my husband gone.
Why should I even carry on?
Then above the wails and tears,
A small sob reached my ears.
I looked across and saw a bed,
The woman in it plainly dead,
A small boy sitting by her side,
Crying as if he too had died.
I then realized I wasn't the only one,
For this young boy must be her son,
We could do nothing for our lost loved ones dear,
But in their memory shed a tear.
I look around me just once more,
Seeing shed tears hit the floor,
Knowing this loss of life and excess of blood,
Would go down in history as the Johnstown Flood.