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nSincentoday’s the day to write and read bad poetry, you cannfeel completely free to express your thoughts in verse. After all, ifnit’s bad, that’s a good thing…today! And, who knows? Maybe, by notntrying to write a good poem, you may succeed in doing exactlynthat.
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nWhatnmakes some poetry bad? I suppose that one thing that jangles people’snnerves is when a poet tries too hard to make his lines have the rightnrhythm or rhyme. Some critics have said that poets “torture”ntheir poems in order to hold to a certain meter (rhythm) or rhymenscheme. n
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nHerenis an example of bad poetry, from a poem called “Mexican Food,”nby Michael Ryndak:
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nInlove Mexican Food
and Mexican Food loves me
Every time I eatnit,
I say Yippee!
The yummy ground beef and the meltedncheese,
once I’m done with one taco I say,
I’ll have anothernplease.
When it comes to restaurants,
Taco Bell is thenbest.
Once a month I go there for a crunch wrap supreme fest….
and Mexican Food loves me
Every time I eatnit,
I say Yippee!
The yummy ground beef and the meltedncheese,
once I’m done with one taco I say,
I’ll have anothernplease.
When it comes to restaurants,
Taco Bell is thenbest.
Once a month I go there for a crunch wrap supreme fest….
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nInthink that there is another way of writing bad poetry: when you ordernyour words in a complicated or weird way, or maybe usensuper-highfaluting vocabulary, the poem doesn’t make much sense. Inhate reading something over and over again and not being able to “getnit”!
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nElegynin a Spider’s Web
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What to say when the spider
Say when thenspider what
When the spider the spider what
The spider doesnwhat
Does does dies does it not
Not live and then not
Legsnlegs then one
When the spider does dies…
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n– Lauran(Riding) Jackson
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nBadnSong Lyrics
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nMynhusband doesn’t like song lyrics that throw in something that henfeels doesn’t belong, just to keep a rhyme scheme going. For example,nthe Turtle’s famous 1960s song “Happy Together” is about a couplenin love.
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n “Menand you, and you and me,
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n Nonmatter how they toss the dice, it had to be,
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n Thenonly one for me is you, and you for me,
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n Sonhappy together…”
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nAllnthose lyrics make sense, but my husband just hates it when, near thenend of the song, the Turtles are singing, “So happy together….sonhappy together….” and they suddenly interrupt with the question,n“How is the weather?” n
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n“Whyndid they put that in?” he asks (every single time he hearsnit!).
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nGoodnPoetry
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nSometimesnit’s not so easy to say why you like some poems or song lyrics andndon’t much like other poems or lyrics. Here are two bits of poetry /nlyrics that I do like:
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Thenastronomer gazes out
one eye at a time
to a sky thatnexpands
even as it falls apart
like a paper boat dissolving innbilge.
Thenastronomer gazes outone eye at a time
to a sky thatnexpands
even as it falls apart
like a paper boat dissolving innbilge.
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n – Katherinen Larson
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nIncrack a window
And feel the cool air cleanse my every pore
As Inpour my poor heart out
To a radio song that’s patient and willingnto listen—
My volume drowns it out.
Yeah, but that’s okay, ‘cuz I sound better than him anyway,
Anyday!
Yeah, my voice isnsweet as salt.
I search for comfort, and I find it where I’ve foundnit many times before,
Times before it could be forgotten…
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n– Maxn Collins (Eve 6)
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nWritenpoetry, bad or good.
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nRead poetry…
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nSing song lyrics…
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversary of the start of the Wilkes Expedition
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nAnniversary of the first child of English parents to be born in the Americas
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nDisappearance Day
