When Rhyming Gets Slumpy
By Bill Kirk

 

Have you ever dealt with
A slump in your brain
That keeps you from writing,
Come sun or come rain?

A slump so lugubrious,
Nothing will help,
Not chanting or singing,
Not even a yelp,

Not saying words backward
Or running in place,
Not closing your eyes
Or gazing at space.

It won’t even help much
To vacuum the rug,
To sort all your laundry
Or bathe your pet pug.

Though looking to rhymers
To break your word jam,
Might seem the right thing
When your mind’s on the lam,

At times even tactics
Like these are no use,
To make your words flow--
To break your rhymes loose.

Then just when you’re ready
To give up the fight,
Your brains get unslumped.
You soon see the light.

Your ears hear the rhythm
Of iambic beat.
Your unrhyming ailment
Is now in retreat.

At last your line endings
Again sound the same.
As if it were magic
You’re back in the game.

So, if you get plagued
By words that don’t match,
You’re laying an egg
And your rhymes just won’t hatch,

Please don’t get all frazzled
And threaten to quit.
Just step back a moment
And let your words sit.

Remember when rhymes
Are just plain ol’ stuck,
The harder you try
The worse your luck… gets….

Bill Kirk is a freelance writer and children's rhymer in Sacramento, California.  If you like the sound of iambic beat and the rich texture of rhythmic stories of everyday action and adventure that will roll off your tongue, take one of Bill’s rhyming stories home with you.  Or you can check out some of his work on his web site at:  http://hometown.aol.com/rnbkirk/myhomepage/writing.html.

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