The Rebels of Rhyme
The Rebels of Rhyme
A writer writes to right the wrongs,
A singer sings just to sing songs.
I jot down stuff that’s in my head,
Some things are better left unsaid.
It’s a little bit like singing blues,
Sounds better if you’re drinking booze.
Write a story, poem, or prose,
Pick a subject no one knows,
Fill it with such obscure facts,
Readers won’t know what it lacks.
Today’s media spreads B.S.
It’s why the world is such a mess.
Stand up straight and play the ball,
Obey the umpire’s urgent call.
What’s yours is mine and mines my own,
That doesn’t leave you much to own.
Accept the blame and take the knocks,
Don’t count the hours on broken clocks.
The night is dark, the day is light,
So why do different races fight?
I love to make my poems rhyme,
Even in these modern times.
Now free verse is more mainstream,
And rhyming poems seen as extreme.
Across the lake, you skim a pebble,
Writing rhyme makes poets rebels.
by John Hansen © 2019
For more works by this author visit John Hansen Author Page
More great works by John can be found at John Hansen on HubPages.
Longtime poet but not in the traditional technical sense. I enjoy rhyme but like to experiment and dabble in many different forms and maybe even make up some of my own. There is always a message or lesson I want to promote through my writing, for that reason, my poetry generally shies away from the abstract and obscure.
– John Hansen
Now I find myself branching out and experimenting with short fiction, and thoroughly enjoying this, especially flash fiction.
I have been fortunate to have two poems made into songs and recorded. The first "On the Road to Kingdom Come" by Al Wordlaw, and the second, "If I Could Write a Love Poem" by award-winning Israeli/British singer Tally Koren.
My services increasingly in demand as a freelance writer and I have ghost-written the text for a number of children's books and educational tutorials.
It has taken me many years of searching and restlessness to realise that my life's passion is to write. It saddens me that I wasted so many years not devoting to that, but thinking positively, the experiences gained over those years are now wonderful material for my stories and poems.
I want to try to bring a new focus on poetry and try to make it appealing to a new generation of young people and those who thought they never liked or understood it before.
- The First Word – A Flash Fiction Story - January 18, 2024
- Dawns Song ~ and Twilight Serenade - December 1, 2023
- Weave Me a Story - June 15, 2023
You have a nice rhythm and rhyme with this poem, John. It bounces right along and is fun to read. I enjoyed it. Well done.
Hey Phyllis, thanks for reading and enjoying this poem.
If this is the case John let’s get on our bikes and ride. I am feeling Suessical and rebellious. Jamie
That sounds like fun Jamie. I’m in 🙂 May the rebels unite.
I agree, my friend, holding onto the past art of poetry to me is important because I believe modern poets are lazy and lack the ingenuity of our contemporaries. Rhyme for me is still valid provided it is done with skill. Perhaps I am just a relic, but I stand for what I believe. Great work John.
I cannot agree more. I am and will always be someone who tries his hardest to rhyme his poetry. Call me a rebel or what you like, but I am that umpire calling strikes. This one right here was down the plate John. Excellent work on this one.
Thank you, Tony. I totally agree with your sentiments. It seems like with a lot of things in life poetry has suffered from the epidemic of laziness that has crept in. One of the major excuses I have read for rhyme no longer being taken seriously is that too few poets nowadays can do it well, and those that attempt it think that as long as the last word on lines rhyme it is a poem, thus cheapening it .
Editors therefore class rhyming poetry as being childish and unsophisticated. I feel that much prose poetry and free verse is simply normal prose broken up into short lines and presented as a lazy man’s attempt at poetry. That isn’t saying all poetry must rhyme, but it has to have a flow and metre to it.
I’m in agreement with you on the rhymes John – I still find them fun to both read and write. We are so lucky that poetry can be expressed in so many different ways; each wonderful and exciting to read and each a magical journey through our imagination
Thanks Ralph, yes I agree it is the diversity of poetry that makes it so magical and such a joy to both read and write. I will always choose to read a piece of poetry over a work of prose. Many people are missing out on a wonderful experience by saying they don’t like or understand poetry,
Wow…I bounced in to double check grammatics on something of mine that I just posted. Boom…this Poem hit me right between the eyes. TCE had this on a slide show of featured past works. So, I had to do a quick comment over to my writing Australian friend. Really enjoyed this…and the way you mixed it up with rebellious rhymes…jumping from thought to thought or truth to truth with ease and keeping the reader guessing as to what comes next. Well written Poem from someone (You) who knows how to bring it with Poetry, John. Regards.
Hi Steve, glad this jumped out in among the featured past works, and you had a chance to read it. I really enjoyed writing this one and appreciate your generous comment. Have a good one.