Not long ago,I used to write
about myself,the life I lived
life was dark, the soul was white
I'd be the best,I so believed
Played with words,called it art
sharp they were,truth they said
to the ears sweet, feelings they hurt
to the highest bidder,price they paid
Peak of Everest, challenge I took
Each at a time, I took steps
lower the grounds,up the hook
higher grounds, I slid the depths
Now in vain, with no touch I reach
Hear no sound, a muted world
A throat of silence, lacking peach
chained to earth, in dreams I'm furled
The complex secret of life
is simplicity itself:
you're born, you live and you die.
It is a well-thumbed book with
incomprehensible text
which you borrow, you read and
then pass it on to the next.
When you think of places that are sad,
you might think of the Germans in Stalingrad,
or you may consider, too,
Napolean, leading the French, at Waterloo,
but, by far, the saddest place around,
for a hundred years, is Mudville town,
the place where Casey at the bat
failed, as his mighty swing fell flat.
Casey made excuses. Folks said, "Save your breath",
and mighty Casey drank himself to death.
Flowers in Mudville, they say, never bloom.
Children grow up in misery and gloom.
Yet, as all hope is disappearing,
lately, I have been hearing,
about a strapping young prospect,
the one standing there on deck.
Do you think he can make Mudville smile?
Will he strike out or hit the ball a mile?
The Ace Trumps a King
You have no cards left to play
No peace prize for you
like in an ice cream shoppe or confectionery
a poet’s selection’s necessary
couplet or rhyme, lyrical chime
sonnet or ode, peach ala mode
fonts galore and shapes
like raspberry dreamscapes
symbolism in imagery, or
metaphor continuously
begin with the ending
end with the beginning
which person – 1st, 2nd , 4th, 3rd,
animal, human, fish or bird
infinite assortment, endless variety
~ remember not to leave out levity
They have zero charisma
Republicans give off no sparks
Richard Nixon, so woeful wooden
He was carved from Noah’s Ark
Ike and Mamie, a pair so excruciatingly dull
They spelled ‘live action’ – L U L L
And next to JFK’s wife, Jacqeline
Mamie was a dime-store mannequin
Fess up, GOP, you’re a party of Mitch McConnells
Liven up, like that Democrat clown ~ Ronald McDonald
This is amazing
My favorite t.v show here
The color purple
Whose brainy idea was this
Picture Sign-in? I have to
Squint and adjust, peer
And stare – 2 minutes have
Passed and I can no longer
Tell bicycles from cars
And alien space crafts. Got my
Telescope now set up in front
Of the computer, just for
Sign-in, try as I did I could
Not get the screen to fit on
A microscope slide. If this
Is the way of the future, at
Least get some pictures I
Can clearly recognize, like
Old Playboy centerfolds or
Beer can labels. Just saying.
Darling J, it’s getting worse
And I can’t believe it’s true
The puzzle fits as if I’m cursed
For the deeds I didn’t do
It is more than truth these days
What’s established is the vision
Where I’m guilty, just in case
I may take the wrong decision
To act like I have the right
To be welcomed to the ball
And as loud as they might
They shall whistle, and I’ll fall.
.
deep vibrate'n
mine
bellow'z rhythm
grunts
snort
snort
shhnort
clack shhtomp
scraaape
daddio holdz on
woops
thar him goez
swooosh flop
flip
like uh hunk uh poops
plop
']>
*bardeo; mine portmanteau for,
bard and rodeo <]')
rabid bard
perforce
binds
untethered reins
of a supple wit
excising
the ornate quills
head lowered
body tilts
into commas
whittling lyrics
through his swivet
.
and kissez
(((wahp)))
just ladiez
tease'n
kissez are a dime
each
(((wahp)))
"um kisses
no
not today ladies (eve ever ')>
nope" meanz
.
edvard doesn't
nope
therefore
into hat
thuh
edvard digz
into
jamez' uv
cache
engramz
um
we think
don't
not until thuh psyche eval
shrink'did
")
I snuck into the party with an ID hastily made
and stumbled, out of step, into the poetry parade.
In this beautiful country club, I'm surrounded by my betters.
I wave my kindergarten rhymes to show the men of letters.
In the echo of the learned men who came this way before me
I hear the patterned minuets, that if followed, lead to glory.
I chafe in those traveled ruts and I long for something varied
and I hope to spark a unique verse, between school and the cemetery.
.
.
A song for this:
Time by Tom Waits
Cradled in a crib
Twine whiskers and spit
A fissure between
every footstep
nails impaled
into wrinkled palms
As I gesture in the
stiffend stance
of “I don’t know”
And ran crucified
like martyred puppets
on invisible string
At a horrifying pace,
shoes sloshing with blood
beneath the lace
Hyperbole Categories
Definition | What is Hyperbole 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.
Related Poetry Forms
hype, metaphor, overstatement, embellishment, coloring, distortion, enlargement, magnification, amplification, big talk, tall talk, pr, embroidering, laying it on thick, mountain out of molehill,