Higgledy-Giggled
Iron-spined advocate
Raised you with discipline
Unyielding.
Young mama rises in opposition
Big Momma stood solid-
Tough love that felt mean
But-
Built one unbreakable.
Out of line sometimes life's events don't always rhyme and if I hear hey bro the line is over here, um going to lose it, throw a fit and then maybe get inline. In line out of line online all these lines still nothing straight.Lines-you going to make it, heard that line so many times it rhymes.you may not like it when I start cussing and again tell me sir you out of line..no worries today I will acknowledge that I am out of line no worries tomorrow I will get online, inline do rhyme cause yesterday I needed that.. I was . . .
So now what, where do I go from here
I'm wandering around feeling a bit weird
People that I know don't know how to react
Thinking my spirits have finally cracked
Not so, I welcome this change of scene
Drinking more coffee, it's becoming routine
It's similar to finally stopping to smoke
After forty long years for fear that I'll croak
Well wish me luck, I need your support
Hope I don't go weird and begin to cavort
Wearing lots of makeup and leather that rocks
Playing air guitar with long flowing locks
If that starts to happen, I'll revert to the funnies
Hopping around like a pregnant bunny
Hang on a minute, I think that was funning
Well sneaky old me, how utterly cunning
Pleased as punch this mother quite proud
Flips up her tail and neighing so loud
Her gait so lively, her head held high
A bright young mama, once a gleam in her eye
Unbridled spirit, feeling so grand
The spitting image of his dear old man
Romping through fields, free of reins
Thundering hoofs, flying mane
A frisky young colt like dad in his day
Who was quite a stud they were heard to say
Then back to the barn when day is done
This spirited young colt was born to run
Resting for a while batteries recharged
Chomping at the bit, a spirit so large
Such unbridled youth, exuberance defined
This pesky young colt, it's his time to shine
I know a young lady, her name is Kim
Whenever I see her, she makes my heart grin
They call her a doctor but to me she's a friend
Whatever my ailment she knows how to mend
With every new visit, my symptoms take flight
She knows how to soothe me to remedy my plight
After all these decades finally found a new doc
Who makes me feel comfortable wearing just socks
('twas I just wearing socks... not the doc)
I'll gladly recommend her to everyone I know
My resistance to doctors I sure did outgrow
So next time I'm fevered or feeling some pain
Even though quite minor like a bump or a sprain
I'll make an appointment and really toute suite
Visiting Doctor Kimberly is surely a treat
She'll fix me up quickly she'll fix me up fine
Three cheers for Kimberly this new doc of mine
Gloomy old Gus sure ain't my claim to fame
Upbeat and happy, they're both my middle names
There sure ain't no future in promoting ill will
Every morning the sun still peeks over the hill
There's enough negativity in the world to go round
So let's not encourage this scourge with a frown
You've only got one life to live then it's done
So let's be remembered for promoting good fun
It may seem quite difficult at times to achieve
But it's never too late if we all still believe
Things will be better for our kids and their kids
If we just put our trust in the joy in our midst
In this happiness sermon I'm trying my best
Some say you'll never succeed in your quest
But I say to these nay sayers, listen my friends
No one's invincible so laugh till the end
Pickety, Snickety
Reason A. Goodwin is
using a lexicon
to check the word
Reason’s a champion
alphaclopediack.
Not ev’ry intern can
find what is heard.
Reason A. Goodwin, the editor of World Book Encyclopedia Dictionary,
was paid good money as a judge on the original Password Game Show.
The first time he used his dictionary to look up a word - the producers
commented that we could have paid any 'staffer' to do that.
Dactyls are metrical
Feet that are named after
Fingers with three little
Parts like the knuckles that
Lie in a pattern of
Stress like these sentences:
'Jealously murmuring
Elephants quietly
Sob in their handkerchiefs.'
Feet that are fingers -
How odd!
"you know even a mirror can speak but you can't hide what your emotions are because the mirror is a kind of silent killer of your age and death"
With love all
OM Jagdish
13:22
29 oc 2024
When I was younger and thought of old age
Thought we all became senile at this elderly stage
It appears I was wrong, I can still go potty
And able to dress this tired old body
Try as I might, I don't see very well
And my wobbly old legs are as shaky as hell
Sometimes my words come out like a squeak
Other times I whistle when trying to speak
Have a secret my young whipper snappers
It's as good as it gets except for my bladder
It seems to be constantly wanting attention
I don't have a problem with pee retention
So now that I've told you what to expect
I must tell you all it's as good as it gets
Enjoy your youth cause it's downhill from here
You'll soon be old and decrepit I fear
Mesmerizes
Holly Dolly
Mesmerizes me
Ahead her work
Calls Me
Proofs her love
Not for me
But for hersake
Abandoning Romance
Rabasha Kabasha
Old Prophet Noadiah
Rifling society
Lying to God
Judgement shall fall on thee
Incomprehensibly
Thou art an enemy
One to the Lord
Wig-wam
Gabriel Van Helsing
came so great like
a speeding arrow,
never comes late
under call as
megalomaniac
and charging sparrow.
Higgledy-Piggledy
Forty-fifth president
Some think him marvelous;
Others a jerk.
Chasm political
Breached by consensus, his
Cosmetological
Routine needs work.
Skillary Spillary
Sir Edmund Hillary
Climber, Philanthropist
First up Mount Everest
Liked to keep bees
New Zealand juvenile
High-altitudinal
Knighted in fifty three
Maintained humility
Loved Nepalese
Introduction
The pleasure of reading a Double Dactyl often begins in the ear: a brisk, tumbling beat creates momentum before the poem has fully disclosed its target. That buoyancy can support affectionate tribute, sharp satire, verbal mischief, or even a surprisingly grave reflection. Because the form places intense pressure on names, stresses, and word choice, every poet must negotiate between linguistic accuracy and apparent ease. The most satisfying poems make that negotiation feel like play rather than strain.
As you browse the community poems, notice the variety hidden inside the shared framework. One writer may build toward an extravagant polysyllabic flourish, while another may make that conspicuous word sound perfectly natural. A historical figure can become the center of a compact character sketch; a place name can open into cultural commentary; an absurd opening can establish comic permission for what follows. Even similar subjects may produce very different voices, from mock-heroic grandeur to conversational teasing or bittersweet wit.
Reading several Double Dactyls side by side reveals choices that an isolated example cannot. You can compare how quickly poets identify their subject, where they place the strongest joke or insight, and whether the closing rhyme feels inevitable, outrageous, or knowingly contrived. You can also hear how different writers manage the form's relentless forward motion: some ride it exuberantly, while others create expressive friction against it. Read beyond the first example, and the collection becomes a workshop in compression, comic timing, sonic invention, and the art of giving a tiny poem a memorable dramatic arc.
Reading Guide
Read a Double Dactyl first as a small performance rather than as a puzzle to be checked. Its conspicuous sound pattern invites anticipation: the ear quickly learns what kind of momentum to expect, then listens for fluency, disruption, and payoff. On a second reading, examine how the poet coordinates rhythm, subject, syntax, and verbal surprise. As you compare several community poems, ask not only whether the pattern is recognizable, but what that pattern enables the poet to say with unusual speed or force.
- Listen for propulsion. The rolling rhythm can feel exuberant, breathless, ceremonial, or mock-serious depending on diction and delivery. Where does a poet let the beat carry the sentence, and where does phrasing create a useful hesitation? Which approach best suits the subject?
- Examine the nonsense opening as a tonal signal. Its sound may suggest nursery play, theatrical fanfare, sly irreverence, or deliberate chaos. Does it prepare you for the poem's attitude, or does the subject create a productive contrast with that playful entrance?
- Notice how the named subject enters. A name is more than an identifying label here; its stresses become part of the music. Does the poet move immediately into portrait, anecdote, praise, or criticism? Compare how much characterization different writers achieve after the introduction.
- Watch the syntax across line endings. The beat can tempt a writer into choppy units, yet an effective sentence may sweep over the lines and prevent sing-song monotony. Where do pauses sharpen a joke or image? Where does continuous syntax accelerate the poem toward its conclusion?
- Consider the conspicuous long word. Because readers are likely to notice it, the word can function as punch line, intellectual flourish, comic exaggeration, or exact description. Does it deepen the subject, or does it seem present mainly to display ingenuity?
- Study the closing sound and final turn. The delayed rhyme creates an expectation that the ending must answer. Is the resolution merely neat, or does it revise what came before through irony, tenderness, judgment, or surprise? Which community poems make closure feel both audible and meaningful?
Reading aloud will expose effects that silent scanning can miss. Try different speeds, then compare which poems retain clarity, personality, and emotional shape without losing their characteristic verbal tumble.
Writing Tips
Approach a Double Dactyl as a miniature dramatic problem: a strongly patterned voice must introduce a subject, create pressure, and arrive somewhere worth remembering. Before drafting, say possible phrases aloud and listen for language that already wants to move in the form's rhythm. The goal is not to force ordinary prose into a metrical mold, but to discover a subject and vocabulary whose energy can inhabit that mold naturally.
- Choose material with a sharp point of view. A compact biographical anecdote, recognizable contradiction, public persona, linguistic misunderstanding, or moment of reversal gives the poem something to do. A subject selected only because the name fits may leave the rest feeling like scaffolding. Decide what you admire, question, expose, or find absurd before solving the verbal pattern.
- Build a bank of spoken phrases. Gather verbs, concrete nouns, epithets, and images associated with the subject, then test them by voice rather than by syllable counting alone. Dactylic movement depends on stress, and a phrase that looks correct on paper may sound awkward when naturally pronounced. Preserve normal emphasis whenever possible.
- Let the opening establish character. Invented nonsense should have a chosen flavor. Plosive sounds can produce bustle or slapstick; softer consonants can sound conspiratorial or whimsical. Do not treat the opening as disposable padding. Its acoustic personality is the doorway into the poem's voice.
- Make the lexical showpiece earn attention. The extended word is most effective when it names the poem's central action, attitude, or contradiction. Search for semantic precision before novelty. If an impressive word merely repeats information or distorts the sentence, the reader will hear the machinery.
- Vary movement within the strong pulse. Use punctuation, enjambment, and syntax to shape acceleration and pause. A sentence broken into identical chunks can become mechanical, while endless rushing may blur the joke or argument. Place a pause before a revelation, or let a clause spill forward when breathlessness serves the speaker.
- Prefer vivid evidence to explanation. The form has little room for background. One telling action, object, costume, quotation-like gesture, or physical detail can suggest an entire character. Instead of announcing that a figure is vain, cruel, brilliant, or unlucky, choose an image that lets the rhythm dramatize that quality.
- Resist rhyme-led logic. Beginners sometimes choose the final idea solely because a convenient word matches the earlier sound. Generate several possible endings and judge each for consequence. A slightly less flashy rhyme attached to a genuine turn is stronger than a perfect chime that says nothing.
- Control the comic expectation. The form's bounce encourages humor, but humor need not mean a single detachable punch line. Irony, affectionate exaggeration, mock ceremony, and tonal mismatch can create subtler effects. If the subject is serious, acknowledge the risk of trivialization and use contrast deliberately rather than accidentally.
During revision, read the draft aloud at a conversational pace, then perform it more briskly. Mark every place where stress requires unnatural pronunciation, syntax exists only to fill a slot, or an image arrives too late to register. Test the ending without the rhyme: if its thought is still worthwhile, the rhyme is reinforcing meaning rather than substituting for it. Finally, ask another reader what they remember-the subject, the turn, or only the difficult word-and revise until verbal virtuosity and human interest remain in balance.
Interesting Facts
- Apparent lightness can conceal difficult decision-making. The galloping sound gives an impression of spontaneity, yet natural stress, coherent syntax, accurate characterization, and a satisfying ending must cooperate in very little space. Ease is often the poem's most carefully constructed illusion.
- The nonsense phrase is not semantically empty in performance. Although it may not denote anything, its vowels, consonants, and cadence establish mood. The same opening position can sound like fanfare, muttering, machinery, gossip, or a child's chant, altering how the named subject is received.
- A long word can change the scale of the poem. It may momentarily slow recognition, raise the diction into mock scholarship, or deliver a comically precise diagnosis. Readers often remember it because it concentrates sound and meaning, but conspicuousness makes irrelevance especially noticeable.
- Regular motion can produce more than comedy. Against a sorrowful or morally complicated subject, the buoyant pulse may create unease, restraint, or bitter irony. The contrast works best when the poet understands that cheerful sound does not automatically create a cheerful meaning.
- The final rhyme carries argumentative weight. Its distance from its partner gives the ear time to anticipate resolution. A strong poet uses that expectation to complete a portrait or reverse a judgment; a weak ending may merely close the sound pattern without completing the thought.
- Variation appears most clearly through comparison. Browse the poems in this collection and notice which writers foreground narrative, verbal display, caricature, or tonal contrast. Shared conventions make small choices unusually visible, so differences in pacing and voice can feel larger than they would in a looser form.
Popular Themes
Subject matter interacts intensely with this form because the rhythm tends to place everything under bright acoustic pressure. A grave subject may acquire irony; an eccentric personality may become larger than life; a technical idea may turn into verbal theater. The following themes are literary possibilities rather than statistical rankings, and each depends on the poet's handling of tone.
- Character portraits and famous names. A compact sketch can isolate one habit, achievement, failure, or contradiction. The energetic beat suits caricature, but a precise image can keep the portrait from becoming a mere label.
- Politics and public rhetoric. Inflated claims, shifting positions, ceremonial language, and public personas invite mock-heroic treatment. The form's compressed momentum can expose contradiction quickly, provided the poem offers more than a topical insult.
- Love, courtship, and domestic friction. Affection often becomes vivid through teasing detail. A lover's grand declarations can collide comically with ordinary behavior, while the closing turn can reveal tenderness beneath the verbal bustle.
- Language, scholarship, and specialized words. Scientific, philosophical, medical, or bureaucratic vocabulary can become part of the entertainment. Such diction works best when it clarifies a human situation rather than serving only as an exhibition of syllables.
- History, myth, and cultural memory. A recognizable figure or episode can be reframed through a sharply selective lens. The brisk scale encourages poets to focus on one revealing paradox instead of trying to summarize an entire life or legend.
- Mishap, embarrassment, and reversal. The rhythm naturally propels a sequence from confidence toward disruption. Minor disasters, failed plans, and ironic consequences can gain force when the ending changes how the opening bravado is understood.
- Mortality and elegiac wit. Serious loss can be approached through affectionate comedy, understatement, or tonal dissonance. This is demanding territory: the patterned gaiety must illuminate the subject's complexity rather than diminish it.
As you read the community poems, compare treatments of similar material. One poet may turn a public figure into satire, another into tribute, and another into a meditation on language itself. The theme matters, but the decisive question is how rhythm, diction, image, and closure transform it.
Editorial Insights
The central artistic tension of the Double Dactyl lies between inevitability and artifice. Its sound is so assertive that readers immediately perceive construction; the poet cannot pretend the language arrived without constraint. Yet a memorable poem converts that visible machinery into expressive necessity. The rhythm seems to belong to the speaker's excitement, pomposity, agitation, or mischievous intelligence. The conspicuous vocabulary seems to be the exact word the subject demands. What could have been a metrical demonstration becomes a compressed act of characterization.
Editors and attentive readers therefore listen for a three-way reinforcement among form, voice, and subject. A bustling cadence can embody a frantic career, a boastful public image, or a sequence of escalating mishaps. Mock-learned diction can expose pretension, while a deliberately plain image can puncture it. Even the opening nonsense has artistic work to perform: its sound can announce the emotional weather before the poem names its focus. When these elements cooperate, structure is not decoration placed around an idea; it becomes the means by which the poem thinks.
Technically recognizable drafts often falter because each requirement is solved separately. The name fits, the long word fits, and the closing sounds correspond, but no dramatic or intellectual current connects them. Forced inversions, dubious stresses, filler adverbs, and vague abstractions reveal the cost of compliance. Other drafts explain too much, using scarce space to supply biography rather than selecting one decisive detail. Predictable poems may also spend all their energy reaching an expected joke. A stronger ending does more than deliver wit: it alters the portrait, sharpens the speaker's attitude, or opens a brief aftertaste of sympathy, discomfort, or wonder.
Individuality remains visible in what a poet chooses to pressure against the form. One writer may embrace speed and exuberance; another may use punctuation to create resistance within the pulse. One may treat verbal extravagance as comedy, while another makes it sound clinical, bureaucratic, affectionate, or ominous. Comparing multiple community poems trains the ear to distinguish difficulty from achievement. It becomes easier to hear when a surprising word is exact rather than merely rare, when a rhyme completes an argument rather than a template, and when apparent effortlessness is supported by disciplined revision. Quality in this form is not simply accuracy plus a joke. It is the fusion of sonic pleasure, concentrated perception, and an ending that makes the whole miniature feel necessary.
Read, Write & Share
Read several community poems before settling on what a Double Dactyl can accomplish. Compare how different writers handle the rushing pulse, introduce a named subject, deploy verbal extravagance, and turn toward the final rhyme. A thoughtful comment might identify a particularly effective image, tonal contrast, rhythmic choice, or closing surprise rather than offering praise alone.
Then try composing your own. Choose a subject that provokes a definite attitude, test the draft aloud, and revise until the pattern carries the thought instead of controlling it. Publishing your poem on PoetrySoup adds another interpretation for future readers to enjoy, discuss, and compare.
Collection Statistics
This collection contains 80 Double Dactyl poems, offering readers a substantial range of interpretations to browse and compare. Across a collection of this size, visitors can examine how poets make different choices about subject, voice, verbal play, pacing, and closure. Individual writers may follow established conventions closely, adapt them to a particular expressive purpose, or challenge reader expectations while retaining the form's recognizable character.
Double Dactyl Categories
Read wonderful double dactyl poetry on the following sub-topics:
names, love, political, words
and more.
Definition | What is Double Dactyl in Poetry?
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.