The Ode Less Travelled!

My wife and I are reading through Stephen Fry's new book, The Ode Less Travelled.

Subtitled "Unlocking the Poet Within" it attempts to teach everyday folks how to write their own poems. So, we're having a go.

Here's one I came up with using iambic pentameter. The rules are that it has to be 20 lines long without any rhymes. I cheated on the last two lines, but nobody's perfect :)

I Am Bic Pentameter

I do not have a poet in my breast;
No metaphors or trochees pouring forth.
The world is not poetical to me,
All dirt and shame and empty toilet rolls

That get recycled, burned or thrown from cars
By people unconcerned to keep things clean.
I could not coin a phrase to save my life,
Or pick the choicest word from lists of three;

Well read am I, and clever, to be sure,
But not intent on wasting precious time.
Poetic licences cannot be bought
Or won as raffle prizes at a fair...


You can read the rest of the poem by going to my Helium page here.

If you like writing poetry, you could do a lot worse than get your hands on a copy of Fry's book.