Written: August 28, 2026, for a contest sponsored by Brian Strand
Note: Creating a clerihew suite (a connected series) allows to convey a hilarious biographical narrative or analyze a historical event from several perspectives. Because clerihews are so brief, connecting three or four of them creates a lighthearted narrative arc.
********************
The teenage William Shakespeare
found himself steered by sudden fear
When 'Anne Hathaway' said 'We are to be wed'
he packed up his quills & to London he fled
When writing tragedies at 'The Globe'
he wore a truly fancy velvet robe
However it caught fire during 'Henry VIII'
burning the theater right down to the gate
The aging wordsmith William Shakespeare
felt the English language was so austere
So he invented the words eyeball and swagger
just to find a rhyme for a bloody dagger
When it came time to bury William Shakespeare
his lawyer shed a real dubious tear
For he left his wife no money or bread
only his clearly favorite second-best bed
Bill Shakespeare is wanted for hate speech,
His study’s surrounded with tape.
The local police were slow to react,
He may already have made his escape.
There’s a chance that he’s gone into hiding
To work on the draft of a play;
Anne Hathaway helps with enquiries:
Where’s old Bill? She’s refusing to say.
She cannot abide the intrusion,
As detectives examine each sonnet,
If she pops down the market she wears a dark cape
And hides her face under a bonnet.
She’s missing the warmth of her husband,
His sensitive hands and dark beard.
She hopes that they’ll soon be together
But meanwhile, her dear Bill’s disappeared.
And Bill’s understandably nervous
’Cause writing these plays is quite hard.
He enjoys married life with his beautiful wife
And his neighbours now call him “The Bard.”
The risks of a long legal battle
Could distract him for over a year,
If the courts rule against his linguistics,
That might end his productive career.
This poem references the emotions of fear, hope and love now that historic scripts are frequently re-appraised - and sometimes condemned - against modern norms and expectations.
How can we know what lies ahead
Tomorrow we might wake up dead
And yet we make our lifelong plans
As if the future's really man's
In hot pursuit of daily bread
We hang on words that Buffet said*
And wish by rich men to be led
We insignificant grains of sand
How can we know
Through dark of night we quave in bed
Though morning comes, still fear and dread
Our troubling thoughts, they have not fled
Where vision's mostly blind and bled
How can we know
Iambic Tetrameter
*Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is arguably the most successful
stock market investor who's ever lived. He is definitely the wealthiest.
Like Donny Hathaway, “I loved you in a place where there was no space or time.”
I guess I now call that place, the past we’ve left behind.
I will always carry you everywhere with me in my mind,
And forever I’ll know, that’s where I need to look, if it’s you I need to find.
When an old fashioned poet named Will
wrote a sonnet he chose words to thrill,
in a metrical time
with a word perfect rhyme
fourteen lines gently flowed from his quill.
This William he also wrote plays
that reflected the life in those days,
from Scotland McBeth
then to Denmark for death,
that Prince Hamlet he had funny ways.
With Anne Hathaway he'd often spoon
an experience he used very soon,
to pen a romance
put Juliet in a trance,
the very first print, Mills and Boon.
SHAKESPEARE'S NIGHT OF ANNE HATHAWAY
They loved well in the night, 'twas but their game
and took them to the brink of sanity
where both could feel the burning of its flame
and be more into love than they should be;
His cataclysmic heart too young to wait,
She much to sassy of a mind to care
they'd have it all before it was too late
taking from love what love's been hiding there;
and in the last lavation of desire
when love's no more, they lay right where we lay
begrudged of what they thought should be a fire
but all they found was love that would not stay.
and yet they stay beholden to the night
though love was not so real, and not so right.
© ron wilson aka Vee Bdosa the Doylestown Poet
The Artist – Donny Hathaway
His voice was sweet, but he didn’t stay here long
His voice was golden; I loved all of his songs
He was smooth as silk; I loved to hear him sing
His Songs told a story, he could sing anything
He had a special rhythm; he played the piano with class
His words pierced your mind with thoughts that would last
When he hit the stage it was his time to shine
And to this day he's still my favorite of all time
Really hate he was only here a short while
Donny Hathaway was his name, I loved his style
4/15/14
By: Amy
I need to study, cannot go out...
‘BUT THAT PARTY I HEARD ABOUT!’
I’m so behind, I simply must work...
‘BUT THERE’S A KEG! WHAT A GREAT PERK!’
I have a paper, and test real soon...
‘BUT THERE’S TOMORROW, JUST WAKE AT NOON!’
I can’t take a hangover on a Sunday...
‘BUT THE PARTY TONIGHT’S 281 HATHAWAY!’
I’ve so much concern, my GPA’s sunk...
‘ALL THE MORE REASON I SHOULD GET DRUNK!’
I’ll be too tired, the night gets so late...
‘CAN’T STALL LONGER; THE PARTIES WON’T WAIT!’
Really, grades worry me, school’s been tough...
‘BUT THINK OF THE GUYS, SO HOT, SO BUFF!’
THIS IS TRUE! MY DECISION IS RIGHT!
‘TIME TO GO OUT FOR ONE HELL OF A NIGHT!’
Where I’m From…..
I am from bar-b-ques and live family feuds.
Walks to down town Paterson laughing at women and men who allow their selves to be called
hoes and prostitutes.
Fast behind little girls and quick to call their selves thugs little boys.
A really excited family is where I’m from.
I am from let your voice be heard.
It’s okay to get picked on sometimes in school while you’re being called a jerk or a nerd.
But would that person allow him/her best friend feelings to get hurt.
I am from growing up listening to old folk’s music,
Such as Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, Donny Hathaway, Otis Redding, & Teddy
Pendergrass.
Speeches from Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King & his wife Coretta Scott King.
Two stepping in my grand parent’s back yard.
I am from a mixed family.
Some who are Muslims and some who are Christians.
Some who are really big hearted and the others who are selfish.
Nice caring and the others who are rude hypocrites.
Some vegans, vegetarians, & meat lovers.
This is where I’m from and I love it.
Shanaya Thomas.
Watching in disbelief, Amazed at
what was taking place.
How these kids escape life's
reality on stage.
Lost in a haze of
purple, as Jimi
Hendrix
plays.
Song after song they played as they lip
sang, songs by the Beatles, Led
Zep., Eric Clapton Jeff Beck
It felt surreal, like a
scene from far away
I lost myself
on that day
as they
played.
Its therapy, my mother said,
helps them try to communicate.
express feelings through music
helps them to open up,
builds their confidence,
to trust adults ,
feel free like
other
kids
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