You know your poem is too long
If you cannot recite it
Think how long it takes to read
When you start to write it it
Is your poem far too strong
Or week and namby pamby
It should leave you with a smile
Like happy, dancing Bambi.
-ende.-
copyright Angela Lansbury written Friday 31 May.
Photograph of poster from 1942 in public domain from on Bambi.
Please share lins to your favourite poems and posts.
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I think I'll write a short pantoum
It's easy with a lot of rhyme
Easy recall, write, lifts the gloom
Fine when you do not have much time
It's easy with a lot of rhyme\
It's also a quick one to read
fine when you do not have much time
The poem grows, just plant the seed
It's also a quick one to read
One verse's last line in the next
The poem grows just plant the seed
So simple, you won't be perplexed
It's soothing to the mind and eyes
It's also a quick one to read
And yet you should have some surprise
The poem grows just plant the seed
It's also a quick one to read
I think I'll write a short pantoum.
The poem grows, needs a good seed
East ti recall, lifts the gloom
...
I think I'll write a short pantoum.
This could be written by an internet bot
Easy recall, write, lifts the gloom.
I'm glad to tell you that it's not.
-ends-
Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3tOrXbJEMk
Please share links to this posts and your other favourite posts.
Dreaming dreams beyond belief
Waking up is a relief
Clearing, clearing, clearing head
Getting, slowly, out of bed
Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning teeth
Search for shoes hidden beneath
Just one shoe, who was the thief?
Find the other, what relief!
Waking, waking, waking woke
Eating, eating, eating, yolk
Quickly, quickly, quickly, quick
Licking, lovely, licking, lick
Feeding, feeding, feeding, fed
Reading, reading, reading, read
Speaking, speaking, speaking, spoke
Telling, telling, telling, joke
Boating, boating, boating, boat
Floating, floating, floating, float
Writing, writing, writing, wrote
Gloating, gloating, gloating, gloat
Building, building, building, brick
Feeling, feeling, feeling, sick
Some people are rather thick
Getting, getting, on my wick
Some people can do no wrong
Longing, longing, longing, long
Moving, moving, moving on
Going, going, going on.
Lovely, lovely, lovely sun
Time to run, and run and run
Til the exercise is done
Some people's idea of fun
If it rains, more rain and rain
It waters the flowers again
As for me, never complain
Ten umbrellas match all rain
Shopping, shopping, shopping shop
Carry bags until I drop
Wonder if I'll ever stop
Keep them till buttons pop
Lovely dresses, dresses, dresses
Nine successes, what success is
Only ever had one flop
Never, ever, ever stop
I'm a poet, poet, poet
So I show it, show it, show it
If you have the talent grow it
Let the whole world love and know it.
Angela writing with outsize pencil. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
-ends-
Copyright Angela Lansbury 2023, Thursday September 5th.
Read this aloud. It is a triumph, a joy of rhythm. A perfect piece of performance poetry.
I hope to perform it at Swanwick Writers' Summer School in 2024. I must put it on Tiktok.
Please share links to your favourite poems.
How to write a pretty poem?
Very soon we're going to grow
But before you rush to write it
Here are top tips you need to know
Some folks think poems are just verse
Instead of commas, make a break
That's just staccato prose, or worse
Confusing cuts, a half-cooked cake
Poems start with a simple rule
People remember lines which rhyme
This is what I was taught at school
So now I use rhyme all the time
When you stand up, proud to recite
You want to smile and look around
At open mic, or a planned night
Not at your page, the sky, the ground
In the good old days, few could write
They could not read poems nor songs
A chorus repeats - you get it right
Those who recite or sing along
One more thing, alliteration
You repeat a strong first letter
Rhyme and a beat are good enough
Alliteration - even better
You need a beat so words will flow
Grab attention, get feet tapping
Like strong heart beats and nodding heads
So you end up hearing clapping.
-ends-
