London people
Londoners are very kind people, people of love, I love all of them
It is good to live with them in this so fantastic world city, Metropol
Metropol, the same as Athens in the old age; culture, civilization
Live here is a great realistic dream, a gift from life; here lives on
London
Love
My life
On
The Tyburn wagon halts at every inn.
Tight stinking alleys
cobblestones and gin.
The condemned drink their fill,
none fear falling ill.
Harlots cackle and screech
the condemned grow horny.
The Hanging Tree accommodates
three at a time.
Six limbs a’ waving,
bladders and bowels voiding
- drink now to the dangling.
A canting debauchery
spends its copper penny.
Hungover Londoners swear
‘off the wagon,’
but look here comes another:
Pass the flagon!
Something happened that shook the ground
The Hammies were victory bound
Two goals up late in the game
They thought the words of relegation would be tamed
Suddenly, the seagulls started to pest
Not allowing the Hammies a rest
Finding the net, a goal closer the Seagulls did get
Only a few minutes later a bright move was made not using a hand
And the incident put more leverage into the relegation plan
This review situation scene made West Ham yell and scream
What is this said the marooned fan another video replay scam?
All level and if this keep up the Londoners will spend a year with the British futbol devil
Relegation haunts those who play at the Olympic home and this situation is like being biblically stoned
On the bright side
And this is no lie
A whole new league could invade, and they could have much EPL information to trade
Also, if West Ham makes the drop
The losing may stop
Leaving West Ham England Champion on top
I.
Higgledy piggledy
Roger de Coverley
Fonder of hoofing it
Than of romance
Found himself typified
Characteristically
King of the Reels and the
Lord of the Dance.
II.
Willety wallety
William the Conqueror
Wanted his subjects to
Quail at his power,
Crowing to Londoners
Hyperdespotically,
“Look, everybody, I’ve
Built me a tower!”
III.
Rickety tickety
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Sought for a subject to
Fashion a tale;
Tiring of writing so
Eschatologically,
Rather, he turned to the
Quest of the Grail.
NB. The nonsense opening of a Double Dactyl was originally, and is still most frequently, "higgledy-piggledy", but it can be any alliterative pair of dactyls. Here, the opening of the second is from the adapted version of the Scots folksong "Wee Cooper o' Fife" in the schoolhouse sequence of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds-- though some postings online mishear it as "willaby wallaby" or "willicky wallicky". The nonsense opening of the third is from Tom Lehrer's "The Irish Ballad".
In London, the crowds got to swoon
At a 20-foot orange balloon
Of a baby, quite plump,
Looking very like Trump
As he often appears – a buffoon.
His huge mouth is agape with a scream,
Surely spouting a foul-sounding theme
And his little hand grasps
What inspires some gasps –
That’s his phone, with its Twitter-type stream.
So the “welcome” the planners conceived
And that Londoners thereby achieved
Was a slap in the face
Bringing Donald disgrace
And the chance to see how he’s perceived.
As I walk through the turmoil of ADHD
I wonder to myself, why did it have to be me?
what happened to me as a child?,
to make me feel so wild?
why cant I control my mouth and my brain?,
why do I feel I'm going insane?
south Londoners will call me 'chicken oriental!'
professionals will argue, 'hereditary' or 'environmental?'.
To medicate or not, is the very big question,
spending years of misery to find the best one.
Finding the word's to say how you feel,
to ignorant people, who just make you more i'll.
deep breaths for me and to ten I am counting,
as I try to live 'normal' and climb this slippery mountain.
at last there is hope through prayer and meditation,
to get ready as the train pulls in to normality station.
The games are on in London!
All the athletes are prepared.
I hope they brought their brollies*
For their trainers** won’t be spared.
Security is spotty,
As Mitt Romney had to blurt;
But Cameron was reassuring,
Though quite miffed and curt.
For Londoners, the traffic jams
Are nightmarish and wrong.
To them, the games are going on
A week or two too long.
Competitors must all be psyched
With stomachs, though, like jelly;
The rest of us will watch at home,
In comfort, on the telly***.
* umbrellas ** sneakers *** television
The British in the past
Seemed to have more grit
The Londoners of old
Bombarded in the Blitz
Shook their fists in defiance
Such were the plucky Brits
People alive today
Would never stand for it
They’d shout about human rights
And probably serve a writ
A buffalo’s another name for bison,
Don’t you know?
But you can’t boil your Christmas pud
Inside a buffalo …
This is a pun on the word “basin”, which Londoners (and Aussies) pronounce “bison”.
It’s an English thing …
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.