Triolet #1

Tags

Australian poet, flammeus gladius, Formal poetry, poem, poetry, Tom Riley - poet, Triolet

Triolet #1

Tom Riley writes these damn things all the time!
I’m trying hard to write a triolet.
I’m working hard on rhythm and on rhyme.
Tom Riley writes these damn things all the time!
And his I have to say are quite sublime,
While this is not – I’m working up a sweat.
Tom Riley writes these damn things all the time!
I’m trying hard to write a triolet.

Flammeus Gladius

Invisible Disease

Tags

Australian poet, flammeus gladius, hypochondria, poem, poetry

My head is in a dreadful funk.
My gut has swelled. My chest has sunk.
My skin is covered with red scales.
Hair’s fallen out, as have my nails.
I pace at night. I never sleep.
Ears ring like bells. My nostrils seep.
My bones feel like they soon will break.
I sweat and shiver and I shake.
My sight grows dim. I’ll soon be blind.
My toes they tingle – hips they grind.
My knees they knock. My elbows lock –
So desperate, I saw the doc.
The doctor said: “Here’s what I’ve found:
There’s nothing wrong – your health is sound.
There’s no disease that I can find –
It seems that it’s all in your mind.”
It’s in my mind! The guy’s a quack!
Oh damn! I think I’ve done my back!
Oh no! That rumbling! Ahhh! I fear,
Here comes my chronic diarrhea!

{After reading Whiner}

Whitehouse Dwarfs

Tags

Australian poet, flammeus gladius, James Comey leaks, limerick, Limerick poem, Limerick poetry, poem, poetry, Tom Riley

The dwarfs have each brought an umbrella,
For there is a very tall fella,
Who’s inclined to piss
And unlikely to miss.
Here comes the rain, and…it’s yella.

{after reading Deep State Leaker}

Spenserian

Tags

Australian poet, flammeus gladius, poem, poetry, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet, Tom Riley

[for Tom Riley]

Oh who would write them? Only a contrarian;
That guy from Napa writes them all the time.
A stream of words quite perfectly Spenserian,
Arranged in ranks, each with the proper rhyme.
(They follow a precision paradigm)
I don’t know how he does it, I confess.
When I attempt them I commit a crime,
For mine are mostly an unholy mess.
But from this poem’s purpose I digress.
I wrote it for that guy from Napa see,
And that’s the point I really wish to stress:
This sonnet form, I think we’d all agree
Is difficult – damned difficult to do;
That guy from Napa – let’s give him his due.

Flammeus Gladius

Gloom Descending

Tags

australian formal poetry, Australian traditional poetry, flammeus gladius, limerick, Limerick poem, Limerick poetry, poem, poetry

Weather forecast – an overcast day.
Longer term it’s expected to stay
The same, with no blue skies,
And sentiment likewise:
Defeatist, depressing, and grey.

After reading Gray Cloud