Rhymes And Similar Poetic Devices

Memory

Once long ago

A man threw mud in my face

I don’t remember who it was

And my life went on apace

I bought a car one extravagant day

It was extremely expensive

I don’t know where on earth it is now

Even though my search is extensive

In the past I travelled

To many lands

Their names have gone from my memory

As my thoughts are like shifting sands

I once won a prize

But I can’t remember what for

I get no help from an abstract picture

Which silently hangs on my door

One terrible time I was lost

With simply no redress

I was so puzzled where to go

I forgot my home address

A beloved uncle died one day

A man of considerable fame

When I had to write his obituary

I couldn’t remember his name

I bought some goods at Woolworths

This caused a considerable din

There was a great fuss at the checkout

As I couldn’t remember my pin

That is not all

There is yet one very last straw

I locked my keys inside my house

And couldn’t open the door

Yet despite all this

There’s a memory shining on through the fog

It’s Charlie-Max-Tom-Rocky-Jake-Billy-JoJo-Fido

The name of my best friend, my dog

Poetry

O I have not yet read Chapman’s Homer

Yet I have travell’d in the realms of gold

For I have lived long with a passion for poems

The love of my life though I’m old

In the midst of boring inanity

Imagery can light rings of fire

Words in patterns of visual meaning

Paint pictures that humans desire

Mastery of metaphor

Is the sorcery bards know well

Poets who cast a spell with its charm

Have wondrous tales to tell

Alliteration is one more device

That purposely presents pure power

The lovely effect of letter repetition

Is like beautiful birds in a bower

Assonance adds the mystic glory of sound

Like a bell foretelling wellbeing

It’s the reader’s ear that does the work

Success is what we are seeing

Rhyme is often a part of a poem

It’s one way we get to know ’em

But there is no reason to ignore

The joy we get from blank verse

Repetition is a device

That drives the meaning home

I’ll say it again for emphasis

It drives the meaning home

The simile is a potent tool

A part of the poet’s plan

To give a very smooth meaning to life

Like a motor car made in Japan

Onomatopoeia is another use of sound

When the whistles whiz and the whip whirs

When the bells clang and the guns bang

We know clearly what occurs

Hyperbole is fun to use

Exaggeration may be your choice

Poetry can let you reach for the stars

Or speak with with a giant’s voice

Personification can be fun to use

As a poet you may talk with a tree

Or be given instructions by the wind

As you blithely set yourself free

So there you have it

Some things you can do as a poet

It is really possible to change the world

And it’s always your readers who’ll know it

So write on

You sons and daughters of life

And weave your magic thread

Give to the world your enchanted words

And rejoice that you are not dead

Trust

Trust it is a blessed thing

Beloved from pole to pole

It can bring true happiness

And play a vital role

When it is missing

Angels lose their wings

Innocents cry out in pain

And a death knell rings

So it was in the miserable past

When credence was betrayed

A nation sought to believe a promise

Only to be dismayed

So war drums sounded

And soldiers held their breath

Then millions of innocent people

Met an untimely death

That is why I say to you

O leader who courts my faith

If you continue to lie to me

You will fade and become a wraith

Your promises are like morning mist

Destroyed by the rising sun

Your deeds to save a troubled world

Have barely yet begun

So hear my words 

You immensely troubled soul

You’ll find no belief in the future from me

Embedded in a lump of coal

Your time has come

And listen to me you must

If you don’t amend your ways

My trust will turn to dust

A Work Of Art

A work of art is a thing of beauty

A joy forever

It is a gift to all people

Made by one or more of our fellows

It stands supreme

With its own integrity

Depending entirely for its existence 

On the artistry that created it

Its aim is artistic perfection

Not profit

Not conformity

Not political change

Not obeisance to simplistic formulae

It lives by its own magic

And triumphs in spite of everything

There is no bargaining with art

No compromise for personal advantage

No quest for irrelevant social status

It is where inspiration begins and never ends

Where human dignity

Is apparent to us all

So that we cannot hear the noise

Of undeserved reputation

Or fictitious claims of virtue

Art is a beacon of light

Thrown on the darkness of self interest

And its place in the world will forever be

A guardian of human fulfilment

So for art and its eternal welfare

With all the joy and wisdom that entails

Here I stand

Alas Poor Yorick 

Old age makes certain you have outlived many people

Friends and loved ones inevitably have died

Gone forever from your company

For this is the way of human existence

Edith Emily Marjorie for example

My mother

Who kept me warm

When the chill of life enveloped me

Alexander Cecil Royce

My father

Who opened doors

To the powers that developed me

Robert “Dutchy” Holland

Australian Test cricketer

Who made me feel comfortable in his presence

And spoke with me of his deeds

Charles Manuel

Headmaster of my first school

Who recognised my virtues

And worked on my deficiencies

Charlie Chaplin

With whom I spoke only in my dreams

And who taught me how to laugh

Not with contempt but with love

Pandora my dog

Who knew I was about to euthanise her

And forgave me

With deep understanding in her eyes

Judith Marian

A dead wife

Who walked with me once down the aisle of dreams

Gone now all of them

No longer reachable with words

But forever a part of my existence

All Is Not Yet Right With That World

People tend to hide the truth don’t they?

Cunning diversionary devices

False claims of virtue

Sprinkled with the allure

Of the greatest good for the greatest number

Jobs jobs jobs you hear triumphantly proclaimed

Even though the occupations murder our earth

A balanced budget’s another proud claim

No money wasted on the poor, the sick or the ignorant

Keep our nation safe is one more war cry

Weapons therefore are purchased at huge cost

And refugees imprisoned without trial

To keep our borders secure

Only validity is missing

Lost in the battlefield of false assumptions

Our nation’s place in the world is secure we are told

The economy is the protector of everything

As market forces thrive

With houses: the median price is rising

And few can afford a first home?

Mental health is a problem

But remedies to date are fine except when not applied

The virus has devastated university study

But people say time will remedy this

As education is a business

That free enterprise will protect

Lovely weather we’re having too

Apart from the odd drought, flood and wildfire

Scientists are warning about future danger

In their usual way

Not focusing on the dominant needs of the stock market

Reality though, is what must govern human existence

The achievement of the possible

Everyone values the integrity governments profess

In the best of all possible worlds

But nevertheless all, yes all is not yet right with that world

royciebaby