It is Friday and I am feeling frivolous. Word play on steroids for me.  I am dropping in to drop this playful poem.  I am writing as the mood of the morning suggests. Yesterday was a day of serious contemplation, but today is about having a little light amusement with words.  Poetry allows us that freedom, that latitude- so I'm taking it, right here. right now. Drop what you're doing and read this...   Drop Everything It drops down Drops in Drops by I am in the drop zone A water droplet Followed by a slight drop of rain Merely a drop in the ocean A drop in the bucket But then the penny drops My jaw drops Everything drops into place I can hear a pin drop Today is drop dead gorgeous So, drop the dead donkey! Don't drop off a cliff Drop off a gift Goody-goody gum drops. Alan  j Wright It is Poetry Friday and out host on this occasion is Karen Edmisten who is focusing on the poetry of Arthur Sze. She has welded words from a couple...

I readily indulge in wordplay whenever the opportunity presents. I have no shame when it comes to puns, idioms and other word gymnastics. It's all about having fun and I find poetry as a most willing host. On this occasion I'm playing loose with anatomical attributes while indulging in a few monstrous manoeuvres. You could say I'm performing a version of the monster mash! Making Frankenstein’s Monster  Model Number 25 Let’s begin with A head in the clouds And the hair of the dog A few brainwaves Add the eye of the storm  A ton of cheek One sticky nose Ears of corn A stiff upper lip A sharp tongue And a cold shoulder A pat on the back The long arms of the law A little elbow grease The hand of fate A slap on the wrist Fish fingers Butterflies in the stomach The bee’s knees A leg of lamb A leg of ham The foot of the bed Two left feet Turned up toes And finish with a heart of gold.  Alan j Wright It is Poetry Friday and our host this time is  Robyn Hood Black. Robyn pre...

Tautonyms are  words containing two identical or similar parts that share a rhyme (a segment, syllable, or morpheme).  Tautonyms are also referred to as 'rhyming reduplicatives.'   These wonderful word pairs provide a poet with opportunities to indulge in a little word play. They are everyday utterances that deliver delight. So, without hesitation, I dived straight in for some tautonym tomfoolery. May I be so bold as to advise you to read the poem aloud? It adds to the experience of these tautonyms tripping off the tongue. Focus On The Hocus-Pocus Don’t shilly-shally Not even for an itty bitty. In the hurly burly, Just remember to razzle dazzle. Holy moly, It’s easy-peasy. Jeepers creepers, Use your peepers Don’t boogie woogie Or be arty-farty And all higgledy-piggledy. Forget the mumbo-jumbo Avoid double-trouble Don’t be wishy-washy And everything will be super-duper. Just make sure silly-billy Doesn’t get the heebie-jeebies When it co...

 Every summer Silver's circus comes to our town at a time when the numbers of visiting holiday makers and locals are at their zenith.  They stay for about a month over summer drawing crowds from all across the peninsula. Then suddenly, they are gone-off to their next location.   I have been inside the bigtop. Here is my poem to these annual circus visitors. I enjoyed the opportunity to indulge in a little wordplay... When The Circus Left Town When the circus left town  And the tent was folded away -The clowns cried The trapeze artist struggled to come to grips with the matter The fire eater contacted an old flame In search of a little warmth While the man they called the human cannonball Left with undue haste As if shot from a - For parts unknown The jugglers Couldn’t handle their despair  And all the while The ringmaster Walked in endless circles Intent on being stoic But still talking in a decidedly loud voice To anyone who would lend him an ear. ©Alan j ...

  May 24 On this day in 1830 the famous nursery rhyme  ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ was published by the Boston publishing firm Marsh, Capen & Lyon, as a poem by Sarah Josepha Hale.  It was possibly inspired by an actual incident. Today, two versions of the rhyme exist. A shorter version and the original onger version. This is my response which alludes slightly to the original.   MARY DINES OUT-The Punk Version   Mavis had a little lamb Then she ate some cakes Some Shepherd’s Pie A jug of milk And a bag of jelly snakes   The people in the café All feared she’d explode But, she let out a monster burp And landed on the road. ©Alan j Wright

 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...

Poets are frequently attracted to the notion of wordplay. It can be an irresistible force at times. I am happy to admit, I find wordplay compelling. I give into its call quite frequently. Furthermore, I never tire of its allure... It also explains why I enjoy the poetry of  Michael Rosen, Brian Bilston, Roger McGough, Shel Silverstein, Pam Ayres, Jack Prelutsky, Roger Stevens, Max Fatchen and Brian Moses.  Elements of their poetry radiate with language contortions and a fair degree of fun and humour.  Brian Bilston employs wordplay masterfully in his book , 'You Took The Last Bus Home.' Word play Defined A witty or clever form of verbal expression, meant for fun and amusement.  Commonly used in literature, poetry, and spoken word genres. It involves the exploitation of the meanings and ambiguities of words. There are many forms of word play techniques, e.g., pun, spoonerism, slang, acrostic, euphemism, and oxymoron, just to name a few. So, here are a couple of e...

As a poet I freely admit, I love an opportunity to indulge in a bit of wordplay... Wordplay is an essential  life-source for poetry. For me, it adds instant appeal.  This poem uses a list structure and relies on a host of names to add a dash of intentional humour. Hope you hear it as the roll is called.   Roll call In primary school when my teacher called the roll each morning to mark our attendance our names were called and we had to reply PRESENT! Once someone said, PRESIDENT -and everyone laughed   I can still recall many of those names those faces I remember them well, our teacher calling on each of them to reply as the roll was  marked. They return once more…   Ben Downe –a flexible fellow Phillip Yagob – always hungry Al Batross- a bird lover Robin Banks- collected coins Rick O’Shea – always bouncing off walls Peter Houtt- lacked energy Ken Tuckey- loved fried chicken Con Ickle– had a pointy head ...

Mood means a lot to a poet. It influences the very words they write. Sometimes my mood is reflective and serious, Sometimes I write out of frustration and disappointment.  Today though, my mood is clearly playful as you will see in these new poems I am about to share with you. I am feeling word playful. I am particularly pleased that they have emerged at a time when the world is facing a challenge. Let me explain... Some of my writing during this time has addressed these matters, but I also believe we need a dash of fun and optimism too. It lightens the mood. It feeds the human spirit. I believe this is vitally important. There are already too many gloomsters out there. I choose not to be one of them. Simple as that. For as long as I can recall I have enjoyed playing around with words and meanings. I am constantly wanting to have fun with language. I want to reshape it and make it do my bidding as a writer. It is a trait I keenly embrace. I love it so much, I practice even when I'm...

I am experiencing quite a productive writing time at present following a few slow writing days. Days where I felt I was pushing the words out and onto the page. The flow of words had diminished.   Part of the answer for my renewed writing energy may lie in starting a new notebook. I am always energized by the prospect of a new notebook. It is gleefully receiving my words across its unmarked, hungry pages.  It may also lie in the fact I have been reading lots of poetry. Poetry prompting me to think and consider form and idea. There has been much rehearsing of words in my head and lots of daily walking to clarify my thoughts and determine my preferred actions.  The extended Covid Lockdown has no doubt impacted my thoughts and responses of late. A range of heightened  and varied emotions have made my recent notebook entries range from more introspective pieces through to light hearted fun filled and frivolous entries. I recognize wordplay as a strong motivator for ...

  Today, for Poetry Friday, I want to introduce everyone to Roger McGough... Roger McGough is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry Please, as well as performing his own poetry. McGough's popularity, commercial success, use of humour, and the lack of pretension of his verse has tended to restrict appreciation of his work as 'serious poetry.' This amounts to a serious under-estimation of Roger's body of work. The early poetry of McGough has been characterised, as being reliant on play with words and their meanings. It has also been noted to exhibit a stylised wit, and, at times, a sadness based on themes of lost youth, unfulfilled relationships, and the downside of city life. Personally, I find my style most engaging. The form of some of his verse, has been influenced by his experience of writing song lyrics. You will find numerous examples of Roger conducting poetry readings on ...

A fair bit of grammatical word play in this poem. For me, word play remains a critical part of writing poetry.  I recall a wonderful story of two retired teachers, who regularly met for coffee. They both carried a stick of chalk with them just in case they had to correct the spelling, or grammar on various cafe noticeboards. As Ralph Fletcher wrote in his book, Pyrotechnics On The Page -  'Like most writers I know, I have always had an abiding interest in words for their own sake.'  I'm with Ralph on this. I indulge in wordplay for a number of conscious reasons. When I write like this, I am motivated by a need to be: Playful with words A bit surprising Deliberately irreverent Humorous Hope you enjoy this poem on Poetry Friday. The Grammar Police Anna Gram thought her teacher Miss Anthrop Was an undercover agent -for the Grammar Police. Anna feared for the words huddled in her notebook. …maybe her nouns were common And posses...