About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Monday, May 08, 2017

R is for RHYTHM and RHYME

A couple of weeks ago, one of my Grade 12 students had to write a slam poem with a lot of criteria involved.  First, it had to have a particular rhythm and rhyme.  Also, she had to incorporate literary devices like simile, metaphor, allusion, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and more. Then, she had to perform it in front of her classmates.  I'll find out on Wednesday how it went.  We worked on it for two weeks - her topic was racism.

As a result of working on this piece of poetry with my student, I got to wondering if I could actually write something like it.  Perhaps you'd like to see the result but please do not copy it as a friend of mine has told me it's good enough for the New Yorker magazine and is checking to see how to get it published.  For those who know me or my past, you might recognize the theme. Hah!  It's called "you". Let me know what you think.
                                                              

user, abuser,

con man and fraud,

charmer, disarmer,

cat not declawed.

beer bottles in cases,

white wine and red,

and vodka in places

where you could be fed.

words from your lips

or silence instead

or traces of spirits

say thunder will spread.

like lightning words fall

without any thought and

come to appall

and show me your hand.

but I never fear

and I do not pause

there may be a tear

but out come my claws.

now you have dared

to treat me wrong

you showed that you cared

naught for a song.

now you have left

and I in relief

am slightly bereft

but get on with the grief.

Two years later

I find myself glad

I am not a hater

Just still a bit sad.

I could point a finger

and say it was you

but I made a mistake

by believing in you.

red flags ignored

all was a sham

there’s the door

don’t let it slam.

too late for I’m sorry

I might have said fine

but never again

will I call you mine.

I now make my life

into what it should be

without any strife

I can be me.

I’ve turned a page

am happy to say

I’m not in your cage

And I won’t play.

now you have to pay

for your lying and cheating

and boozing, abusing.

Yes, you have to pay.

14 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

I have no poetry skillz, as they write these days.

Good luck to your student.

photowannabe said...

Wow, that's an amazing poem Leslie.
Having gone through that part of your life with you through the blog, I can see your healed heart and new lease on life.
Bravo!!

carol l mckenna said...

Quality poem ~ very creative and expressive ~ good luck with the publishing ~ there is a place for it to be published ~ worth it ~ thanks,

Happy Week to you ~ ^_^

Photo Cache said...

Got no poetry either.

My ABC WEDNESDAY

Ann said...

Yes I recognize the pain that you have experienced, the poem is really wonderful.
Ann

ellen b said...

Powerful. Glad you are way on this side of it now.

Anonymous said...

there's always a price to pay

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I do poems sometimes but without the rhyme.

MelodyK said...

Poems... I can't see the difference between one from a person who is known for it or who is not... its all a matter of the heart to me...
the words touch you ore they don't

You'rs is touching, I love it.

Trubes said...

No words minced there leslie,
Just right between the eyes
shot straight from the hip
to reveal all the lies.

No way do I speak in clichés.....

I am really so sorry you had such a bad time,
what a rat, and such a heartache to endure after
being so trusting and loving.

I do like your prose (btw)
love Di xx

Joy said...

Very good Leslie, love that punchy rhythm.

prince said...

play bazaar
play bazaar you may wind up keeping it. There are different alternatives,

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