Tactics in witty poetry

by barefootrunner

Published November 29, 2011

In Poetry

Pen it as light as a sandstorm,
Write it as witty as a duck.
If we're not laughing,
We're probably barfing -
Being morbid is trying your luck.

Write a disgusting ballad,
Forget being politically correct.
You may gross us out,
Just don't rant on about
How that last ice-cream made you regret.

Bend your words with a spanner,
Knead your grammar like dough.
But don't make it too grand
For us to understand -
We're only human, you know.

Get us to grunt like hippos,
Get us to gargle like sharks.
If you can't do that,
You should eat your own hat.
If you can - then you've got full marks!

Comments & reviews · 6
User avatar
mastersanskar
Review
mastersanskar wrote a review Review · Dec 24, 2012

I Liked The Poem Though

User avatar
mastersanskar
Review
mastersanskar wrote a review Review · Dec 24, 2012

Bend your words with a spanner,
Knead your grammar like dough.
But don't make it too grand
For us to understand -
We're only human, you know.


The above paragraph was witty and worth it...
But the rest is too grand
For us to understand
We're only human you know...

No Offence!!! :P

creativityrules wrote a review Review · Nov 29, 2011

Hello there, Runner. I'm Rose, and I'll be reviewing this piece today!

This is a very cute, unique poem. Well, perhaps 'cute' wouldn't be the right word for it, but it's what came to mind immediately. I love the lighthearted feeling of this piece. It made me smile at some parts, and I always enjoy when a poem makes me do that. Very nice!

Write a disgusting ballad,
Forget being politically correct.
You may gross us out,
Just don't rant on about
How that last ice-cream made you regret.


This is definitely my favorite stanza, and I'll tell you why. It's the cleanest stanza of your poem, and it still sticks with the off-kilter feeling of your poem. I love the words 'disgusting' and 'ballad' together; I don't think they would've worked in any other poem than this one but somehow, they just work.

As much as I like this poem, I have a couple of criticisms, the first of them being the capitalization of this piece. It isn't necessary to capitalize the first word of each line; aside from it being grammatically incorrect, it makes the poem look choppy to the reader. However, if it's a strong personal preference of yours to capitalize the first word of each line, stick with it. If you like it, it's okay.

The second issue I find with this poem is the rhythm. I felt like you lost it at some parts, particularly in the next-to-last stanza. It's not a huge issue, but it's there. I might spend a few minutes thinking about how to make it flow better.

All in all, awesome piece. Always keep writing!

-Rose

User avatar
murtuza
Review
murtuza wrote a review Review · Nov 29, 2011

Hey, barefootrunner!

This is quite an interesting piece, especially because you've played with the words really well and the poem in itself is a good lesson. All trufax, no doubt that you've presented here and I hope more and more people will come to read this piece for its witty charm and message.

Talented. Keep the ink flowing!

Murtuza
:)

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AliyahPillage
Comment
AliyahPillage commented Comment · Nov 29, 2011

I think this is awesome, double for ryhming, something I can't do myself.

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misstoria
Comment
misstoria commented Comment · Nov 29, 2011

I very much enjoyed this poem, it is completely true. Poetry is about writing what you want to, and having fun with it. This poem really spoke the truth. Keep Writing! -Tori



akdsjfh you know that feeling where you start writing a scene but then you get bored with the scene so you move on and start writing a different scene and then you get bored with that scene so you move on to an entirely different WIP and then you get bored with that so you move on-
— AceassinOfTheMoon