Skip to main content

Short, Sweet And To The Point Poems


Many years ago I read a wonderful and quite clever poem by Spike Milligan. It was a rather short poem, and it has stuck with me ever since...

Said Hamlet To Ophelia
Said Hamlet to Ophelia,
I'll draw a sketch of thee.
What kind of pencil shall I use?
2B or not 2B?

Spike Milligan

I have always enjoyed the challenge of writing short, pithy poems, ever since encountering Spike's poem. Here are a few examples of short form poetry. They are no less challenging than a longer poem. The economy of words means you have to make sure every single word pulls its weight. There's nowhere for any words to hide.  I encourage anyone holding, within, a desire to write short, pithy poetry to join in and have some fun with this short form poetry...

You Have Risen In My Estimates

You have risen in my estimates

You are now at 37

That’s a significant improvement

-You started at 11

Alan j Wright








Haiku Huffiness

Haikus get huffy

When you don’t play by the rules

Watch…

Alan j Wright







Move Along Now

If the humble snail

Was equipped with a sail

It would surely move faster

-without fail.

Alan j Wright          


Meltdown

My sister 

Threw a tantrum once…

It struck the wall

Bounced down the stairs

And knocked the cat over.

Alan j Wright

It is Poetry Friday and our host this week is Matt Forrest Esen wine. Please visit Matt to discover more...


Labels:

Comments

  1. KatApel - katswhiskers.wordpress.com12 November 2021 at 09:02

    So much love for short form poetry, that builds writing muscles, puts the spotlight on vocabulary, and creativity and very often prompts a smile. No surprises as to which one's my favourite, Al. Sails for Snails!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright14 November 2021 at 09:19

      Find myself in fierce agreement Kat. Glad the snail didn't fail.

      Delete
  2. Tire'12 November 2021 at 11:20

    You are right it’s such fun
    With the rain or the sun
    You are right , you’re so right
    You can’t help bring Wright

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tire'12 November 2021 at 11:23

    *****being ****

    ReplyDelete
  4. Matt Forrest Esenwine12 November 2021 at 23:44

    These are so fun, Alan...you have a kanck for pithy, witty light verse!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright14 November 2021 at 09:22

      Thanks Matt. Have to admit I very easily rise to the challenge it presents.

      Delete
  5. Linda B13 November 2021 at 01:14

    I love the snail, too, & because of Kat, but throwing that tantrum made me laugh a lot! Short is not easy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright14 November 2021 at 09:23

      Thanks Linda. The short form is both challenging and rewarding.

      Delete
  6. Janice Scully13 November 2021 at 03:15

    I love these! You always make me laugh! I too like short pithy funny poems. Never heard throwing a tantrum taken literally and now I wonder why hasn't anyone thought of that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright14 November 2021 at 09:26

      Thanks Janice. Laughter is a good emotion to evoke in a reader. Glad you enjoyed the tantrum poem.

      Delete
  7. Tim Kulp13 November 2021 at 07:25

    Thank you for sharing these Alan! I like the "threw a tantrum" poem. It made me think about how I could use figurative concepts like this literally in stories. Like, what did the tantrum look like? Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright14 November 2021 at 09:29

      Thanks Tim. It was fun to turn a tantrum into something concrete. Pleased it struck a chord for you as a reader. Personification of emotions is quite fun to tackle.

      Delete
  8. Linda Mitchell13 November 2021 at 09:31

    LOL! Each one of your short poems made me smile. How do I know? I'm catching up on Poetry Friday posts while waiting for my book club to begin on zoom and I caught myself smiling on camera as I read these fun poems. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright14 November 2021 at 09:31

      Pleased my short poems delivered smiles Linda. You have even provided evidence-I'm impressed.

      Delete
  9. Mary Lee13 November 2021 at 23:35

    Your huffy haiku made me laugh! Well done all the way around!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright14 November 2021 at 09:33

      Thank you Mary Lee. Glad the huffy haiku was a hoot for you.

      Delete
  10. Denise Krebs14 November 2021 at 00:44

    Oh, aren't these fun! I like the huffy haiku, and my favorite has to be that tantrum hitting the wall had me laughing out loud. So cute! Thanks for the challenge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright14 November 2021 at 09:35

      So pleased by your response to my short form poetry Denise. May you also find pleasure in writing in this manner.

      Delete
  11. Leigh Anne Eck14 November 2021 at 02:07

    Such fun poems! I love the huffy haiku! I think writing short poems is oftentimes more difficult than longer ones. These were fun to read!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright14 November 2021 at 09:37

      Thank you Leigh Anne. They are fun to write too.

      Delete
  12. Jone16 November 2021 at 13:44

    Your haiku poem is the best. You just can't play by the rules.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright19 November 2021 at 11:53

      It is what my dear Uncle often refers to as being 'quietly subversive,' Jone. Sometimes, it's fun to step into the naughty zone...

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Inspired by Images and Objects

There are many ways pictures and photographs can be conscripted to support the writing of poetry. Allow me to share a few ideas with you: Old photographs are a great source of inspiration. Cynthia Rylant explored this idea with great success in her book 'Something Permanent' where she employed the Depression era photographs of Walker Evans to add a new voice to the starkness to the lives of people experienced under extreme circumstances. I have used this strategy to spark many individual poems. In ' I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon,' I used a photo I had taken in 2004 while living in New York to inspire a poem. The poem was based on a story related by a friend who grew up in New York.  I regularly combined poetry and pictures in my writer's notebook, drawing on inspiration from the photograph and my personal memories. We can also utilize existing cartoons and illustrations to create ekphrastic poems. I frequently use the illustrations of Jim Pavlidis to co...
30 comments
Read more

Peter Dixon -Teabag Poem

Today I'm highlighting the poetry of Peter Dixon. Peter Dixon was not just a poet. He was a performer, educationalist and artist.   He grew up in London during WW2, and as a boy his schooling was far from successful. He struggled with spelling and the understanding of word, form and grammar, so he tended to write secretly at home, drawing and writing of things largely ignored by schools.   Despite this difficult phase of his life, Peter eventually became a school teacher and then a senior lecturer in education. It often mystified him as to how all of this came to pass. As a teacher, he strived to be unbiased and did not neglect the children who experienced learning challenges.   Peter Dixon became a full time children’s writer and educational consultant. His first book was published in 1978. Whilst living in Winchester, Hampshire, with his family, he   contributed to over 100 poetry anthologies and had seven collections of his own work published including Grow Your O...
18 comments
Read more

Poetry Friday 'Storm On The Island' Seamus Heaney

Given the fact that we recently celebrated St Patrick's Day, it seems appropriate that I take this opportunity to continue the Irish focus and recognize one of Ireland's leading literary figures... Seamus Heaney was born in County Derry in Northern Ireland in 1939 and died in 2013. He became a multi award winning poet. His first collection of poems, 'Death of a Naturalist' appeared in 1966 and helped to establish Heaney as one of the major poets of the 20th century. From that first anthology, I have chosen 'Storm On The Island.' This poem tells us about the stoic resistance of people and structures to an incoming storm. The island is not named. Poetic scholars believe this is a poem that can be taken literally, as a monologue on the life and attitude of island people facing a storm, or it can be understood as a  metaphor of political struggle on the island of Ireland. Heaney knew both worlds.  The poems of this first collection are grounded in the soil...
12 comments
Read more