The World
I should avoid reading bad news
But, as usual I bad choose
Must know if important changes
Will alter what I need to do
The headline has the worst unfurled
The web God, Microsoft, is down
One glitch affects the whole wide world
Even stops planes, you can't leave town
Working From Home
Cocooned at home I'm running late
I've overslept, feel out of joint
Here I create my own sad fate
Can't find my missing Powerpoint
The Problem
It's amazing how our gadgets
Save work, and keep our minds alive
Without hard drives, no Powerpoint
No speech records. I can't survive!
The First Search
We chucked out clutter, searched the floor
Checked in the car, and on the ground
Yesterday we lost many things
A clear-out means many are found
I found a lost computer bag
I scanned corners inside each box
We searched shy, long hidden boxes
Not deterred by those which were locked
We've turned out old carrier bags
Called anxiously, 'Have you found it?'
We gave up. Rested. 'Please don't nag'
'Plough on. Papers could surround it
Move the books, notebooks, and papers
Throw all your useless things away
My desktop's clear, no more vapours
Desks needs tidying anyway
Ah Ha - Process of Elimination
If it's not here, then it's elsewhere
Our family visit - must be there
I text at midnight, forced to wait
Like them, sleep calm, not in a state
I sent a message on What's up
The family didn't read it
I called again, it's at their house
They looked quickly - and found it
Solutions
'It wasn't left on the table'
'So, tell me where,' 'Can you guess where?
It was right there, where you left it
But black's hidden on a black chair'
Conclusion
The world's sure to solve its problems
If today dumb me has solved mine
I've plans to number each cable.
I'm confident, in charge, feel fine.
The sky is still in the blue sky
The ground is still on the firm ground
The loss is he past, was yesterday
Because today the lost is found.
I can't blame kings, the big, wide world
Each country's humans, just like me
I've found my important had drive
But I've just lost my cup of tea.
Blue Denby cups. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
-ends-
A blog is a blog, a web log. It requires writing something new every day. New ideas. New facts. New events.
How To Find New Ideas
Looking in my emails, which come from a drinks business, or a shoe shop or other retailer, I see it's easy to promote something new of the 365 items they have in stock, with seasonal sales.
But what about a poetry blog? How do I find something new to write about every morning?
Facebook wants me to keep posting. Why? So their advertisements have some editorial matter to hang onto. to interleave with the advertising, to keep the readers coming back. So Facebook encourages me to post by asking a simple questions, 'what's on your mind today'.
Today I turned on the blogger. The comic poetry blog was waiting, What was on my mind?
My lost hard drive. So I wrote a poem about loss. Lost and found.
Abstract Or Personal
To make it less abstract, more informational, new, I told a personal story. That makes it original.
Optimism
I like to end on a happy note. So I ended on a happy note.
Surprise
Then I added in this footnote, that to be comical, you can end with a surprise. How do you create surprise? At a Toastmasters course on humour I learned, either one sad story followed by a happy one, or one happy story followed by a sad or bad one, or to mislead further, two or more or one kind, then reverse in the last verse. A one line joke has one sentence, ending with a surprise.
Analysis of Joke Construction
A simple joke has two serious or happy statements, followed by one which is nonsense, or ridiculous. Or bad but so bad that it's clearly made up or worst case scenario.
Comic Poems Construction
In comic poems it is the same format, with added rhymes. Then, check ideally the same number of syllables. If it's conversational, or constructed, a rhythm of alternating strong and weak beats. English conversation is often iambic, eg I am - or trochee, stamping on the first beat going. Morning. Welcome.
Sub-Headings For Sorting Editorial
Today, I added a verse which seemed out of place. To help myself to sort out the structure, I went back and added sub-headings.
Sub-Headings To Help Readers
You usually do this in prose, to help the reader follow the logic. Visually, you also break up the the on the page to look more simple, less daunting, smaller chunks, less time needed to concentrate on each section.
Sub-headings create opportunities to take a break, if interrupted. By your own thoughts, or somebody outside, or a doorbell.
Sub headings make it easier to find your way back after an interruption.
Sub-Headings As An Innovation
Maybe I have started a new system. It's new for my own poetry. It might be new and a help for everybody else's.
The illustration shows one blue Denby cup hiding a smaller blue cup. (A bit like the warning signpost, one train can hide another.)
Please save and share links to your favourite amusing, light-hearted poems and useful posts.
No comments:
Post a Comment