Good Rhyming Poems

Good rhyming poems obey the laws of meter. Here's one example about how to write modern poetry. The discussion of the form follows the poem.

Worser and Worser

Where is my coat?

I wondered, too.
In fact, I was just hoping you
Knew where I put it?

Hm, you don't?
Too bad,
...a new one then?

             You won't?

I'll wear the thin one from last fall
It might not

...freeze...

too much at all.

And by the way, I lost a glove
And that's because I always
shove them
in my locker at the school
Because
it isn't really

...cool...

to wear gloves
when you play football
Cause they get

...slippery...
and all.

I'm sad to tell you I

...forgot...

The calculator that you bought.

             Where did I leave it?

If I knew
then I would not be telling you

...I lost it...

But it could have been
inside my backpack.

Maybe when
I find THAT,
we will both know
where that thing went.

...And I hope so...
Because my books were in there, too,
next to an essay...

that was
...due...

And the cell phone that you lent? -
I'm sorry, don't know where it went.

The teacher said that you should

...call...

But since your phone is gone and all
she can't complain about those books...

I'm sorry though, it really
looks like maybe
I should
skip
today...
Can't get to school,
cause

...anyway...

my bike was stolen at the mall...

and

  things

    aren't

        going

                well

                                at

                                                                all.

Discussion

I adore good rhyming poems. Worser and Worser demonstrates iambic tetrameter - one of my very favorite forms. I decided to lay it out like a conversation, with visual cues for pauses - a device used by poets such as William Carlos Williams and e.e. cummings.

Let's analyze this poem.

My bike was stolen at the mall
And things aren't going well at all.

This is a couplet, because there are two lines and they rhyme. It is iambic, because the stress is on the bolded syllable. It is tetrameter because there are four feet to a line. "My bike," for instance, is one foot. Tetra means "four." There exists also dimeter -2 feet, trimeter -3, pentameter -5, hexameter-6, and I suppose, heptameter - 7 - though I haven't seen one of those.

Also, a fun technique called "enjambment" is illustrated in these lines:

Then I would not be telling you
I lost it. But it could have been
Inside my bookbag. Maybe when
I find THAT, we both will know

Notice line one runs into line two before getting to the end of a thought, line two runs into three, and line three into four. I get the biggest kick out of doing this. Why not try it yourself?

The inspiration for this poem comes courtesy of my grandkids, who can't seem to leave my house with all their possessions intact. Tell the truth, their parents are only marginally better, and for that matter, me as well. At least everyone comes by their absentmindedness naturally.

Inspiration for the general form and quirky style of good rhyming poems is Shel Silverstein. Those who have children or grandchildren or recently left childhood will recognize some similarity in the style. I absolutely, positively, adore his stuff. We will miss him. He left us May 10, 1999 and the world of the young is the poorer for his passing.

How to write modern poetry or good rhyming poems? Simple. Start writing. Keep writing. Edit. Tweak. Write a mountain of poems and before long, you will have an "ear" for it.

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