I have been having so much fun lately exploring rant poetry.  Poets have long written about the things that vex (annoy) them. The practice of ranting in poetic verse dates back to Ancient Greece, Rant poetry has flourished  through time. Rant poetry comes in all shapes and sizes, but it is most commonly defined as a free-verse poem written about an exasperating subject. They can be about any thing that aggravates, pesters, or otherwise drives you  crazy. This  poem is based on a frustration that  began in  my childhood and persists to this very day. C ere a l K ille r Alan j Wright It’s Saturday morning I’m awake And therefore I’m hungry I shuffle to the pantry I stare The shelf is bare There’s nothing there I’m old Mother Hubbard Once more at the cupboard I have a bowl A spoon Milk And there’s not a sign of Wheat Bix No packet No crumb I’m crestfallen, glum Somewhere out there Lurks a cereal ki...

There is so much more to poetry than haiku and acrostics. Yet, so many young poets never get to experience the rich breadth of poetry beyond these highly structured forms. Why? Primarily, it’s about their teachers comfort levels with poetry. We often teach to what we know, meaning that being adventurous and taking young poets into new realms is not part of the poetic landscape for many. This sells young poets and poetry itself short. Last week I had the pleasure to again work with a group of young poets from Derrimut Primary School grade 5/6 in Melbourne’s west. We have been exploring patterns and repetition in poetry. We have explored personification as a literary device to develop the writing of poetry. We delved into the idea of writing through a mask to provide inanimate and animate entities with a voice. They told stories in words from their own perspective. On this occasion we again went to the edges and began to explore poetry through themes. We discussed a ran...

I started out to write a rant poem and ended up here. It's a mild rant about the way some songs end up as unwanted refrains annoying our brains... The World is Full of Silly Songs They say Pop music is getting dumber That it’s written for eight year olds It’s simple It’s dumb With syrupy rhymes and grammar crimes Lame lyrics And little to ponder Sound bubbles blown out In monotonous tones Well, I’m not a kid anymore But I remember Yummy, yummy, yummy I‘ve got love in my tummy And I remember Someone left the cake out in the rain and I don’t think that I can take it  And I remember My girl Lollipop, she makes my heart go giddy-up Lame lyrics are not new They crisscross time These terrible tunes Get stuck in our heads Earworms bore into our brains Snippets of irritating pop songs On endless loops Buzz like mosquitoes An unbroken record Bopping around in the brain They say Pop music is getting dumber That it’s...