The Trap Of Old Rhymes In A Draught. Comical Poem 759 by Angela Lansbury.

 I'm struggling hard to find escapes

From traps of old and well-known rhymes

Dictionaries delay, like big capes.

Pick words which echo modern times!

So let's chuck old rhymes in verse two 

June, moon, tune, noon, protected

Start verse three with a shock that's new

Misheard, absurd, unexpected

From classic poets, much to learn

But I shall censor 'thee' and 'thou'

Like them, make do with modern, 'you'

Invent new similes somehow

Although I always do my best

I start excited in a tiz

A bad start can leave me depressed

I'm not Shakespeare, only one is

No muse can help us pass life's test

Though AI edits all the rest

The way to pass life's daily test

Is starting early at one's desk

Your first draft has cliches, mistakes

But editing is all it takes

Thought can start or follow action

Just start, both bring satisfaction.

-ends-

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Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_the_West_Wind

About Angela Lansbury - my books of poetry

Poetry Pets & Pests

Angela's Alarming Animal poems

Poetry Workbook

 My latest book, Embarrassing Moments, is on Amazon, at a bargain price of well under ten pounds

My books are on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Lulu.com

Take a look. You might like to buy one for yourself or a friend. 

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Don't Stare, Children! Comical poem 758 by Angela Lansbury.

 

Girl with coloured hair, by mural inspired by poet Shelley, in London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Don't stare, children, It's rude to stare

Even if they have purple hair

Look at the floor, or sky, or tree

In your mirror, or book, or me

Don't stare, children, it's rude to stare

Though they are nude, have six foot hair

Pretend you neither see nor care

Ignoring them, just talk to me

If they look odd, their words absurd

Just act as though you never heard

Do not let the outside affect

With things you don't need to inspect

Act like you did not hear nor see

Do not react, nor disagree

Just concentrate when you're with me

They're free to be how they must be

Don't look nor hear bad things they say

Just hope and pray they'll go away

Just act as if they are not there

Don't share but have a happy day.

-ends-

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People Are Like Icebergs. Comical poem 757 by Angela Lansbury.

Angela Lansbury wearing red, fancy dress glasses. 

 People hide their thoughts like icebergs

Only show you a little bit

You can mine gold, kindly find gold

Listen, gather golden drips 

I don't like football, so I wait

Let others share their dreams of teams

Their music is not to my taste

Frankly, I don't have time to waste

And yet each opportunity

Can bring new laughs and wit to me

Even strangers at the bus stop

Linked in sorrow when the trains stop

Start a chat with simple questions

Show that you have good intentions

Join journeys to far off places

In a world of friendly faces

Stories you might never have heard

Lips like taps drip out gems of words

Lonely people have hidden dreams

Dramas, thrills, and get rich quick schemes.

Stories of places far and near

Confessions you'd rather not hear

Make you pretend you're not, yet, friends

Forced to become friends in the end.

-ends-

I changed 

'though you become friends in the end.

Thinking time 2 hours. Writing time, then typing time 1 hour.

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You Must Decide. Comical poem 756 by Angela Lansbury.

In every life there is some strife

Rehearse, decide which way to go

Agree or fight for all your life

You take a ride, choose who to know

Today I heard my neighbour died

We must admit life could be worse

We sent condolences and sighed

Glad weren't not there inside the hearse

We have survived most of our friends

The bad news is we all grow old

Hope for peaceful, warm, happy ends

It's worse to die early of cold.

-ends-

Some people think it is irreverent to joke or dress up for a funeral. But others feel the need to joke to counteract depression in order to cope.

Please follow me, read my blogs on comical poetry with Hazel Nutter, travel with Angela Lansbury, Dress of the Day Angela, and share links to your favourite posts.

My books on travel, poetry and poetry structure and writing poetry, humour, and wedding etiquette and quotations are on Amazon. Have a look. Buy one or two. 

Flowers For Hours comical poem number 755. Footnote on creating rhymes and surprises in poems.

Dying rose fading. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Cut flowers are dying

The petals are falling

The water's turned misty

The garden is calling

 

I run around a spring time garden

With my helpful secateurs

Which flower should I cut next?

Whose favourite? His or hers?

My first thought's the pretty rose

Simple white, pure and mellow

Roses are best, everyone knows

Only dead red? No white? Nor yellow?

Choose camelias, white and pink

They're still in bloom, so big and bold

They would be best, what do you think?

Agreed. Help - I've too much to hold

Who'd have thought you'd spend an hour

It's like cutting, left, right, dress hems.

The midget vase, or glass tower?

Decisions drive you round the bend

Cut off rose thorns, saved from harm

Tiny movement, ladybird? Doubt

Upturned insect in alarm

I saved its life, I threw it out

Such simple rules the flower game

My reward, it's like nature's balm

Dark green leaves, a halo, a frame

My restful flowers, give me calm.

-ends-

Today's discovery, or rediscovered system. Instead of predictable doggerel couplets, write couplets on alternation lines and a and c, then make another doublet split b and d. Start with a punchline, a statement or self-deprecating surprise. Line four numbering or d in the alphabetical ordering of each verse's four lines. Then find a rhyme for the last line to insert in line two.  

What surprises could you put in the last line? 

The object is alive, or the person described is dead.

|The writer is an animal. A ghost. The same person in the past or future. 

The second person is the alter ego , not two people, one.

The enemy is the friend. The friend is the enemy.

The dead is alive, the alive is dead.

The heat is a dream on a cold day. The cold is a dream on a hot day, like the song dreaming of a white Christmas, written in sunny California in summer.

The person or object described or addressed is an animal, bird, insect, reptile, fish, cat, dog, ornament, doll, soft toy, puppet, photo.

Rhyme. Comical poem number 754 by Angela Lansbury

 I think of rhymes all of the time

Sometimes cliche, often vary

Sometimes scary, sometimes sublime

Hesitating, feeling wary

Yet, I do what I've been taught

Walking around in my home town

Make sure every thought is caught

Carry a notebook, write thoughts down

They are  a help when I feel lost

Consolation for big bills

Like AI but with little cost

I feel so proud of my new skills

Think of your audience? I do.

Don't build new wheels. Copy old schemes

Dearest reader, I think of you

Copy this action. Fulfil dreams.

-ends-

The Photo album comical poem 753 by Angela Lansbury

 

Do you see that young man looking at me

That knowing look, of impish glee

You wouldn't believe the prizes I won

Such fun, you won't believe what I'd done

But now my lover has gone away

Old and bald, wrinkled and grey

I like to imagine him waiting for me

Impatiently, in purgatory

Now the men of my grand old age

Think that they are always right

And everybody else is wrong

They go out looking for a fight

Time moves on and life goes on

Maybe it's for the best, we wouldn't get on

And yet that photo tells the story

Of the joys of youth and our moment of glory

He made night day and he made day night

He made white black and he made black white

He made right wrong and he made wrong right

He made light dark and he made dark light

Do you see that young man looking at me

That moment caught by photography

Preserved as a permanent memory

Of the joy I was and will always be.

-ends-