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Vernal
A Triolet about Spring The lion and the lamb compete And no one’s certain what to wear, We’ll either freeze or wilt from heat. The lion...
A Life In Limericks
A well-known person’s life story told in three Limericks Born in London, this lad was no fool, He was tutored at Oswestry School. Of...
Love Is
A poem beginning with: O my love is… O my love is like a dry, red wine That’s piquant, sharp and tart, A lass, alas, who rarely warms The...
Mnemonic
Verses to help children remember the sequence of the last eight US presidents Carter was a great vote catcher, Reagan cuddled up to...
Showtime
A well-known rewritten in a pompous and prolix style To men who would their nuptial chalice keep Forever with ambrosial nectar filled,...
Night Terrors
A version of the Lord Chancellor’s ‘Nightmare Song’ from Iolanthe for any member of the British cabinet When you’re lying awake, in need...
One For The Ode
An Ode on the Marble Arch Mound My knee aches, and a weary glumness drains All hope of ever climbing to the top Where from a grey and...
Art Noveau
A villanelle beginning with the line, ‘The art of (subject) isn’t hard to master’. The art of writing isn’t hard to master Most written...
Alpha to Zulu
Poor Romeo, his spelling was a matter of concern, An Oscar for his writing was a prize he’d never earn, And when he wrote ‘Dear Juliett’...
Take Seven
A version of Shakespeare’s ‘Seven Ages of Man’ as applied to a politician. All infants age and err, and err did she When, as a chaplain’s...
Universal
A poem on the subject of ‘The Universe’ The cosmos never featured in her life, She’d read no scientific articles Had Sitwell’s ‘Mrs...
Let's Go Round Again
A rondeau on a summery theme Across the mead a maiden fair, Adorned with daisies in her hair, Strolled through the grass with softest...
Canterbury Revisited
One of Chaucer’s Tales retold by another famous writer Wilt thou forgive those sins whereby, misled, A wonton wife, betroth’d four times...
Tutti-Frutti
A poem comparing a poet to a fruit A small shop window caught my eye today, Bright fruits of every colour on display, A harvest hymn of...
On The Dark Side
A famous piece of light verse rewritten with a dirge-like, hieratic tone Osiris, on whose judgement hangs our fate, A wayward couple’s...
Singular Sonnet
A Christmas hit single rewritten as a sonnet. Let carollers with cheerful voices sing Of new times coming as the old times go, And,...
A Bit Of Previous
A sequel to a well-known poem Go Madam, go! Desire hath long since fled, Too long it takes to get thee into bed. ’Tis wearying to wait...
Now We Are Six
A Poem about the Government’s Coronavirus Messaging They’re changing the leader at WestminsterPalace So backbenchers hope as they mutter...
Lead Alert
A rhymed poem leadenly prosaic in tone and content I telephoned the surgery to ask for an appointment Though not to get more prostate...
In Short
A well-known poem encapsulated in four lines A lover, a ‘great’ one – or so he insists, All the loves of his life in this poem he lists,...
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