Once Upon A Time
Still a child at heart
tho' older are some other parts
and only for a lark
back to my childhood here I hark
I remember a rhyme
in the far reaches of my mind
hickory dickory dock
the mice ran up the clock
the clock struck one
the mouse fell down
luckily the plucky other ducked
shucked and jived
escaped survived
got out alive
and ran away
to live another...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, animal, death, humor, humorous,
Form: Rhyme
Evolution
Once we were hunter-gatherers
tribes grouped outdoors
before the days of yore
now we're hunt and peckers
each cooped indoors
on personal computer keyboards
and way back when
we'd communicate
banging on the drums
yes since then
we've progressed
today we're all
fingers and thumbs
...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, computer, humor, humorous, word
Form: Rhyme
Gretna Green
Under eighteen
hot tears spilling
nowhere near serene
at the end of your rope
cannot cope
need fulfilling
please don't mope
there's always hope
here's the dope
find someone thrilling
you can soft-soap
who is willing
and won't say 'Nope'
to a clandestine marriage
on the slippery slope
of the blacksmith's anvil
hire the carriage
you prefer
defer the billing
and elope
...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, funny love, humor, humorous,
Form: Rhyme
Fore
Scots golfers do not 'golf'
as they say in the U.S.A.
invented in Scotland
it's as they ought
a sport the Scottish play
the first tennis player
known by name
(Louis X)
did not 'tennis'
when he played the game
even so I may one day
bend my elbow
consider the racket
and give it a go
looks like the language
is slowly downward drifting
and come this Christmas
you won't see...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, golf, humorous, sports, usa,
Form: Rhyme
Clowning Around
If I owned a circus
for you I'd play the clown
(Do jugglers ever tire of throwing up?
Only when they're sick of it.)
or if I had a rickshaw
I could run you round the town
if I were landlord of a bar
drinks would be on me
as proprietor of a restaurant
you would dine for free
and if I had a row...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, dream, drink, food, funny
Form: Rhyme
Allergic Reaction
When first invited
to The Land of Milk and Honey
where stars at night shone bright
and days there were always sunny
he demurred to go
Abraham was of a mind to politely decline
as wouldn't you know
he was lactose intolerant
and diabetic too so
the alleged Promised Land
would only guarantee
even more misery
but when he repented and relented
as his story unravels
more than 2,200...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, bible, humorous, travel, word
Form: Rhyme
Drums 'n' Guitar
Tho' right-handed
instruments the two do play
yet one is downside up
left-handed musicians both are they
or seem to sup
from a similar southpaw cup
and if you follow the trail of crumbs
they lead to Jimi
the Starr of guitar
and stick to Ringo
the Hendrix of drums
...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, celebrity, guitar, humorous, music,
Form: Rhyme
Caterpillar Wisdom
"If I were meant to soar up there with you,"
said the caterpillar to the butterfly,
flitting overhead,
"and not stay sitting earthbound here instead,
I would have been born with wings,
and it will be over my body when dead,
akin to a murder of crows,
before you'll get me up
in one of those
funny-looking flying things."
...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, butterfly, flying, fun, humorous,
Form: Rhyme
Identity Crisis
Long after midnight
in late December
woke one night in total fright
as where I was did not remember
but more importantly
couldn't see
the forest for the trees
and did not recall myself at all
or who exactly was this me
but when I could
it would feel so good
as then I'd be out of the woods
so instead of groping blind
did quite the obvious...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, anxiety, fun, humorous, inspiration,
Form: Rhyme
Hyenas
While on safari
(Kiswahili for 'trip')
in Tanzania
over the horizon in a downward slip
across the savannah
the sun had begun to set
thought I'd seen it all
and yet
out on the endless plains
known to the Maasai as 'Serengeti'
not laughing but
and don't think me petty
with leopard-like
rosettes dotted
some funny-looking hyenas
there were spotted
...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, africa, animal, fun, humorous,
Form: Rhyme
Oddly Enough
"Go along to get along" a wise man he once said
(altho' I don't concur)
but it occurred to me
neither follower nor leader be if you want to get ahead
and if the herd you stroll behind please do consider the view
(but not too closely)
yet what is worse yes you may curse
that which you step into
some believe the...
Continue reading...
Categories:
encouraging, philosophy, word play,
Form: Rhyme
Please Parse The Metaphor
Do you have a poetic licence
to park your pitiful purple prose
(alliteratively he wrote)
it even puts my poor feet to sleep
and gives me painful coma toes
(literally did he quote)
And have you paid your syn tax
to persist in paltry poetry
(a non sequitur perhaps)
as dabbling in sad scribbling
is how your paean 'ppears to me
(no storied scripts mere scraps)
Before...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, animal, fun, humorous, poetry,
Form: Rhyme
O, O, O - Heck
O, to be born mechanical
or to possess hands botanical
Alas, I find myself charlatanical
in the position of car salesmanical
Though there’s no...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, car, garden, money, word
Form: Monorhyme
June's TuneJune June June June....
is
out of
tune
with imploding
doom
unJe uJne Juen June....is out fo
nute tiwh lpidmgino
dmoo…
mdoo omod oodm mdoo...
si ni nuet tihw expoidnlg
oglom
doom doom doom doom...
is
in tune
with exploding
gloom
...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, dark, june, surreal, word
Form: Free verse
NiksatMy heart kneels
at the sight of her tribal marks
Bogoria’s geysers gushing
Love, splattering Blood
Parting her lips to split
the world between mortals and gods
I kiss her
to split her Soul,
create Life with her
destroy all her Fears,
let my intrusive Thoughts
claim Victory, fill her Void;
Diamanti sono per sempre, I
ignore her Flaws, put her above
the soi-disant amour propre, Belgard
her Sacred nature;...
Continue reading...
Categories:
word play, africa, allusion, black love,
Form: Free verse
Specific Types of Word Play Poems
Definition | What is Word Play in Poetry?