Achebe's comment on Rhyme

[zorcas]

The question of rhyme or no rhyme overlooks several things: most folk prefer rhyme but poetry teachers and critics eschew it like the plague and so poets, noting the proscription, shy away from it. The problem is reflected in the automotive world in which some are concerned only with how well a car handles and rides; others delve into its mechanicals. So, too, with food: most speak of having had a good meal, others critique meat, starch and vegetable separately. For poetry, isn't what counts is its overall effect, what one feels when reacting to a poem just read?  If there were a general poetry magazine displaying poetry's great variety, one could move happily from formal rhyme to something approaching doggerel and enjoy both.
Try the following after reading a "serious" poem:

In ragged jeans
the young think
what's in them
is what girls are after.
In elegant slacks
the old know
what's in them
just prompts
laughter.