Her hair tangled beyond hope; Her sleeves
Rolled up to her elbows; As she adhered
To no one’s code; She needed reason
An explanation for everything; If you can’t
Show her science and logic; she would not
Understand at all and she would not conform

She just could not conform to their ways

She had a mind of her own; Where
Norms and traditions were things of
Past; that people practiced because
They did not know any better; She
Even found the stories of her ancestors
Hilarious and dared to laugh! How could she
Conform, accept and be one of them? How could
she belief without science, logic and evidence?

She just could not conform to their ways

When they could not justify or explain
With reason and logic; they slapped
Her across her face and locked her up
In a dark cell; “Conform or you shall die”
The volume of their voices grew louder and
Louder where they failed to explain “Why”

She just could not conform to their ways

Today’s challenge was to write a Bop.  The Bop is a kind of combination sonnet + song. Like a Shakespearean sonnet, it introduces, discusses, and then solves (or fails to solve) a problem. Like a song, it relies on refrains and repetition. In the basic Bop poem, a six-line stanza introduces the problem, and is followed by a one-line refrain. The next, eight-line stanza discusses and develops the problem, and is again followed by the one-line refrain. Then, another six-line stanza resolves or concludes the problem, and is again followed by the refrain.