I find it difficult not to write like a limeric - AA bb A :)
But I think if the words flow the way they want to, because of alliteration or rhyme schemes of any nature, then that's all good. I can't give any examples off the top of my head, but I like complex rhythms myself, ones that you can feel but don't see unless you look closely.
It's true, my friend, to listen to the lilt of a smaller voice
to find the scent of the sense of things,
to give the good word its due.
To write it well and tell
the story plain...
That's all.
I always write in rhyme and rhythm when writing poetry, thats how it comes to mind and therefore how I write it down. A lot of my poetry is for children of all ages, and my style is depicted by the natural rhymes that come to me as if I were writing music. Try telling a child that a poem that has no rhythm, rhyme or structure is not just another story, I like poetry of all types and have written "Serious" poems before, but whatever style I use I always write from the heart.
Rhyme is just one tool in the toolbox. It can help establish the rythm of a poem whether you hang it on the end of a line as dictated by a classic form, or peppering free-verse with loose internal rhymes.
Once you establish a pulse with this 'audible' meter,you can change it up or down to control pace - tightening it up (adding frequency) for urgency or loosening it up (using imperfect rhymes) to relax the reader.
That's what draws me to Slam-style, it's a lyrical ride.
I haven't had the chance to read a lot of contemporary poets lately, but last I did:
No serious poets were using AA, BB, CC, etc rhyme schemes. To me that pattern sounds a bit like greeting cards or something you'd write for a 6th grade English class.
I know I fall into the ABAB, CDCD far too often, but it suits the style when I write in parody...a scheme used by the great Henry Gibson on 'Laugh-In'
On the other hand, the best poems I've read have little or no rhyme at all. A couplet at the end of a sonnett, or the soft interior rhymes of alliteration are quite nice.
Poems with no rhyme whatsoever can be fantastic (when they are not all about rending hearts and woe-is-me and beat-my-breast-my-girl-doesn't-love-me and "look at me, how dark and brooding my words are...I must be deep so sleep with me").
Look atSimic, Angelou, Frost, Sandberg, and cummings.
Great poets, subtle rhymes, not a lot of tortured-soul meter that comes off like a verbal expression of 1920's silent film over-acting.
It's like end-zone dancing: the very best know they're good and don't have to make a fuss.
You want to make cool shapes with your stanzas
because you
saw somebody do it
and thought. "Now THERE"S a poet!"
Shape has to do with rhythm, there should be no form without a need for function. Making crazy shapes that have no bearing on the piece only make it unpleasant to read and, quite frankly, pretentious and silly.
I beseech you all (there's a dramatic word), challenge yourselves to write simply, honestly, cleanly. Use a clear voice and speak lyrically, let the music inside you define your rhythym.
You can be a writer or you can be a wordsmith. You can be a poet or a rhyme-monster. Always your choice.