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JOSIE'S POEMS

Writing in Rhyme


By Josie Whitehead


 

If you want to write in rhyme, my short advice to you is:  read, read, read and read more good poems which have perfect rhyme and metre.  The two things go together.  When I was a little girl, I can't remember having 'poetry lessons' at school, but I discovered the library in the town next to our village and there I found lots and lots of poetry books written by excellent poets, with poems that really appealed to my child's mind.  Without any lessons whatever, I wrote the only poem I wrote before my retirement years, at the age of 11.  This I wrote for our school magazine.  My Garden.   Getting no praise from teachers or feedback of any kind, this was the only poem I ever wrote then, but I did keep reading poems just because I loved the lyrical language.

 

It was the children at my local primary school whom I met well into my retirement, who encouraged me to write so many of these poems for them week by week and year by year, and how they showed me their thanks!!!!  Also my own grandchildren, Jessica and Daniel.  Thank you so much children.  Without writing to publishers, 3 educational publishers have published my poems, and of course I have also, on this website.  They go into 188 countries of the world, so Google tells me.  Josie   

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TO THOSE WHO WANT TO WRITE IN RHYME

By Josie Whitehead

To Those Who Want to Write in Rhyme
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To those who want to write in rhyme –

You lucky ones who have the time:

     Dictionaries can fill your minds

     With words of many different kinds.

 

The large words such as herbivorous,

And small words found in a thesaurus;

     The words that are quite in between

     And grand words such as king and queen.

 

Words that fill your mind with fear

And those that bring you inner cheer;

     Words that cause you agitation 

      And welcome words of admiration.

      

Words that tickle, tease or taunt;

Those for Halloween that haunt.

     Words that just won’t let you sleep,

     ie such words as bang or beep.

 

Words that gently kiss the mind –

There are lots of them I think you'll find.

     Try:  flutter, flitter, hum or buzz,

     Or soft-to-feel words: fur or fuzz.

 

There are so many words to choose,

So, come on now, don't sit and snooze.

     Absorb those words, yes, every sort,

     But poets, keep those poems short!!

Copyright on all my poems

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