(Published in Absolute Write in May 2005)
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,
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 the author of There's a Spider in My Sink, No Bones About It, My Grandma's Kitchen Rules, There's a Beetle in My Bed, Circulation Celebration, and the mewly released A Midsummer's Dream. He also has five more children's books scheduled to be released in 2011.
Bill was born in Germany, has lived on four continents, and has traveled widely in South America, Africa, Asia, Europe and the U.S. He and his wife, Rita, have been married for over 40 years. They have two children and several grandchildren.
You can visit Bill online at http://billkirkwrites.com/.
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3 comments:
Great rhyming piece Bill. Told me the whole problem without missing a beat or a rhyming word.
You ROCK!!
Books for Kids - http://www.margotfinke.com
Very funny! And teaches, too. Great piece, Bill.
Thanks, guys. At the time I was a rhyming crit group moderator and had hit a point where I couldn't seem to get a rhyming story to fall into place for the life of me. Writing about it finally got the juices flowing again.
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