I Can Make Poems

Poking fun at poetry, because poetry doesn't mind. And fun at myself, because I don't either.

I can alliterate. I can make poems.

I can count syllables all the way home.

I can punctuate. Or I can enjamb.

I can make a full stop go on the lam.

I can preposition. I can stylise.

I can even (blame not) - plagiarise.

I can make adjectives sing stereo,

Do the vis a vis, and the dosi-do!

I can say a thing without the thing said,

And float that thing way out above your head.

I can allude, and I can construe ya.

I can elegize horny Neruda.

I can assonate. I can leave out rhyme:

"Free-ball" is me! I do it all the time.

Well, some of the time - I will rightly say.

Most of the time there’s no other way

But to couple the train and lay the tracks

Precisely spaced and properly backed

By ideologues with humour; and soul;

With topical causes; or none at all…

I can syntaxify. I can bend grammar.

Apologise. Analogise. Hammer

A point. Gild the lily. Stammer the count.

And I can waffle and have it amount

To conjunctivitis! Yes, it’s so true.

I can make poems and I am telling you

I can paint colours in bare black and white:

The sun may be up but I can stretch night

From margin left to margin right. Hyphenate

A long-winded line. And so subjugate

That delinquent thought, run off with its’ tongue,

Forsaking good form and having nude fun…

I can cry. I can bleed. And then proceed

To quote the dusty, worn out lines I read

On ‘rules’, on ‘rights’, on ‘technique’ and ‘freedom’.

And I can pretend that I don’t need ‘em.

I can articulate. Synonymise.

Illustrate. Lobotomise dotted “I’s”

And drop the “G’s”. Colloquialise

To have a character realised.

‘Coz I can make poems. And I can spell check.

I can rattle on with clunky accents.

I can cliché, and I can haiku, too.

I can lyricize, and I can loonacise true.

I can change register and in disguise

Choose a pseudonym with whom I can hide.

I can bawl a ballad and get it all rollin’

With fireworks enlightenin’ the old semi-colon!

I can abbreviate. I can contract.

Euphemise. Eulogise. Start an attack

On participles, and apostrophes;

Dangling like scraps where they ought not to be!

I can use English most frilly, or crude.

I can pre-amble and I can conclude.

I can reiterate: I can make poems.

I can make poems. I can. I can make poems.

 

Reviews

[Bright Ocean Star]

Jacob, thank you for directing my attention this way. This poem is hysterical fun. I love the 'couple the train and lay the tracks" only one of several favorite, clever lines. I do have a favorites file, and this is definitely going in it. Great job!

[L.E.Osborne]

This was so much fun to read! You certainly can make poems! :)

[charlie]

Thanks for reading, L

[MoriartyMesa]

You know what I love about this, it was the moving of the pieces. Well you can call them what you will; thoughts, emotions, truths, understanding.



I loved it. Now if I may pose a small riddle.....



Door is not a Door?

[charlie]

Thanks M.Mesa. ...and platano

[Jeremy G Hahn]

Really like this piece! Will be reading others you've got.

[rubie]

simply brilliant! was directed here by our mutual friend, jacob....he told me this was a "must-read"..high praise coming from him.

and i'm so glad he did, otherwise i never would have stumbled upon this stroke of genius that you have given us here.

"Do the vis a vis, and the dosi-do" and "pain colours in bare black and white" are my favorite phrases.

you have stretched the boundaries of language and the results are nothing short of amazing!

[Rene Salinas]

I got sent here Charlie and I can see why you took the words and streched them , hang them , mould them held them and I could keep going but in order to come to terms with this highly enjoyable writing it is important to emphasize how crafty you representation is. After all the point made is that you enjoy the creative process.

Thankyou so much.

[charlie]

(Sounds ominous: that you got sent here, Rene ... :) .Thanks for your words. I'm happy you were able to realise the enjoyment had by this author. Cheers

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"syntaxify" okay george bush....making up words, and using nouns as verbs...ha ha...

i love this....so so clever...

we "poemify" don't we?

with our poetic license....and our a*s-onance...

we do what we do....
and as an "axeman" you're a pretty damn fine poet!

if i did favorites this would go into my all-time list....

it's "enjambed" in my memory now.

[charlie]

Thanks a lot, jacob. That's a fine compliment, indeed.

[Wandering Minstrel]

Your wording is exquisite, the pleasure is mine!

[charlie]

Thanks for that, WM.

[Gaia Octavia]

I absolutely adore this and how you walk the fine line between dexterous and tacky without ever over-stepping your obvious talent. Lots of fun. Great job and supremely enjoyable!

[charlie]

Lol, I do wonder about that 'fine line' you mention. I thought I had trod rather flatly on the tacky side of things, and wanted to apologise in the authors notes: my first and last poem written exclusively for this site. If it was worth taking seriously, this might make an OK demo for someone to develop. I'm sure it's been done so many times before, though. But yeah: I had fun, too. Thanks G.

[Marie Anzalone]

you had me at "horny Neruda."
seriously.
I once wrote a haiku about my ability to haiku. this was far better.

[charlie]

Thanks for the time, Marie Anzalone.

[Marie Anzalone]

you're welcome