This time I present for your edification and enjoyment, three examples of short verse. I have always been partial to this poetry form and returned to it quite often.  It possesses a pithiness that quickly resonates with a reader. Humour and incisiveness are frequent elements of this form. The challenge lies in the brevity of the poem. Something I willingly embrace.  Short form poetry has many supporters and you do not have to search far to discover them. Short poetry is actually quite diverse and comes in various poetic forms. -A variety of syllabic forms, rhyming verse like limericks, clerihews, couplets, synonym poems as well as free verse poems such as persona, list  poems all featuring quite frequently.  These 3 poems are part of an unpublished anthology of short form poems titled ' Taking The Short Way Home.' Hope you find them both short and sweet. Dog Days   There are those days When I feel I could Sit beside my dog And bark loudly At the ...

  Here are five of the most popular Poetry  posts for 2024. Thank you for your continuing support and interest in teaching poetry and all it entails. Here's a chance to reconnect with poetic ideas. Ideas you can easily carry forward into 2025. Just click the link... Trinet Poems Revisited In this post I turned my attention back to the Trinet, a seven-line poetry form based purely on  its word count. Trinets are terrific fun to write! Run Roger Run- A Docupoetry Delight When writing docupoetry, the poet may arrange lines or phrases from the source texts to create poems, convey their interpretation of the documents through original poetry, or write poems that fall on somewhere between these various objectives. This poem features Roger Bannister, an English athlete who forst broke the four minute mile. This form of poetry instantly appealing.  A Bit Of Short Stuff- Poems As Brief Encounters When writing short verse each word seems to carry an increased load. You do not ...

 This week I have been enjoying Billy Collins' anthology of short poems, .Musical Tables.' Short poems possess a jocularity and a touch of everyday life. Their brevity often comes with surprise and delight. Billy Collins presents over one hundred examples of short poetry that glitter and shine with both sad and funny observations of our world. ' Small poems are drastic examples of poetry's way of squeezing large content into tight spaces .'     Billy Collins  When reading 'Musical Tables' I began to think of my own connection to this genre. I have for many years included time for writing this distinct form of poetry which offers opportunity for both humour and reflection. A variety of syllabic forms, limericks, free verse and rhyming couplets have been extensively explored in the making of poetry. I'm with Billy all the way on this.   From an extensive collection I have selected three short poems to share.  Chimes In The Wind I wonder how the passing...

  Without a doubt food and poetry have been enduring passions for me. Both pursuits involve making and creating. I therefore felt quite blessed to be gifted the book, 'Eat This Poem' by dear friends who know me well. It is such perfect matching of reader and interest. 'Eat This Poem- A Literary Feast of Recipes Inspired By Poetry'  by Nicole Gulotta contains 25 poems and seventy five recipes that deliver rich words to the kitchen. The book allows the reader to access poetry while offering strong connections to the food we prepare and share. The poem I have chosen to share is the final poem in the book, 'How to Eat A Poem' by Eve Merriam.  The poem is a metaphor for life. Don't wait, bite in and enjoy life's abundant pleasures. Couldn't agree more. How To Eat A Poem Don’t be polite. Bite in. Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin. It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are. You do not need a knife or fork or spoon ...

 Well, it's Poetry Friday and this week our host is Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite Of Indifference. Tabatha's post is about Scheherazade, a character  from The Thousand and One Nights (also known as The Arabian Nights). I freely admit I love variety in my poetry- a variety of forms, indeed, but also a variety of line lengths.  I find it stimulating to mix up my approach to poetry on a regular basis. It helps to keep my attention sparked. This time I'm sharing a bit of short stuff.  When writing short verse there is an everpresent need for pithiness.  I immediately think of poets such as Edward Lear, Ogden Nash, Spike Milligan, Shel Silverstein who were great exponents of short verse.  When writing short verse each word seems to carry an increased load. You do not have the luxury of time and words when making your pitch. Those limitations become an engaging challenge.  I have noticed within myself a tendency to wander in the direction of humour and...

  A lunchtime announcement in a school often floats above the consciousness of its intended audience.  The noise of the playground, conversations among teachers across their often busy lunch break, all diminish the impact of the message. The words become wallpaper. As I sat in a school staff-room on one of my visits, the following announcement was shared over the speakers.  ‘If anyone has seen Ruby Delfonzo’s lunch could they bring it to the office please. The lunchbox is bright red with green tipped corners and a bright green handle.’  I grinned as I listened to this brief announcement. For me, it was brimming with potential. It was gold. My mind whirred into action. What a great name, I thought. Ruby Delfonzo sounds like a character in a novel. Distinctive, unforgettable. It's such a strong name. The lunchbox description built a strong visual image. And clearly this was no ordinary lunchbox with its contrasting colours. Probably hard to lose… RUBY DELFONZO’S LUNCHB...

 Last week I shared a rather lengthy Rant poem. This week I am journeying to the opposite end of the poetry terrain and presenting some much shorter poems. Variety is good for us... During my school days I loved athletics. I built a reputation as a sprinter. I could run run quickly over short distances, but longer forms of running such as cross country were very much a personal challenge. Maybe that's why I enjoy short poems so much... When we write short poems they require a certain sharp focus. The writer has less time and words in which to deliver the desired outcome. The aim is to be pithy and engaging within a few lines and leave the reader both satisifed and surprised.  So here are few examples of recent short form poems I have lifted from my notebooks and polished for readers to consider.  They quite unashamedly lean on wordplay and deal with totally unrleated subjects and have arisen arose organically in recent times.  They currently sit in my poetry vault aw...

 Travel Poems - Vietnam Verse Read, write, coffee - and carrot cake  @MiaCoffee, Hoi An   It is said, when we travel we  bring back memories and   stories...  We can also bring back poetry.  I have just enjoyed three weeks   travelling through Vietnam,   and among the things I brought   back was some Vietnam verse.   More particularly, verse   inspired by my travel   experiences in this culturally   and geographically diverse country.  This was my third visit to Vietnam. I visited some new places as well as some favourite and familiar places. Spent time exploring Hanoi, Hoi An, DaNang and Ho Chi Minh City. I took a handmade notebook purchased on a previous visit to Ho Chi Ming City -when I strolled along the city's renowned bookshop street. It felt appropriate to record my observations and collected words on local paper.   Here is a small sample of the travelling ...

  In my search for suitable text examples to share with teachers for shared reading, I found myself returning yet again to Valerie Worth's wonderful collection of short poems about everyday items- ' All The Small Poems and Fourteen More. '  Poetry along with other text types deserve to be represented in the texts chosen for shared reading. Valerie Worth's  poetry possesses much to inform young readers about writing and the ways in which poets play with language and structure. Valerie's poem 'Backyard' sets up a pattern of unrhymed couplets, where initially the first line is long and the second line short. This pattern continues through five successive couplets, at which point she reverses the order.  The poet demonstrates total control here, deciding when to flip the line length. We can infer from the poet's clever pattern change that she has done this to signify a change in the prevailing weather in the backyard, resulting from the hanging out of washin...

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 Mov...

When the Covid Pandemic spread across the world, I began a number of projects as a reaction to some of the pessimism that arose within my community and beyond. I became inspired by the incredible creativity that also arose at this time in various parts of the world. Some great diversionary tactics were called upon to stop a predictable descent into darker places.  I felt a need to act. One of my Projects was The Poet Tree which I have previously documented. I started this project in August 2020. At that time I decided to post a poem on a large eucalypt tree in the reserve directly behind our house. We are able to access this greened space via a gate. Every day people walk  along this greened, open area with their dogs, children, friends. The idea I had in mind was to share a short poem sprinkled with humour and optimism in the hope it would lift the collective spirits- mine included. Occasionally, other poets attach poems to the tree. I have also received feedback in the form...