Hi everyone,
I just finished an interview for Renee La Tulippe. She told me to be silly so I tried. I’ll let you know when it comes up and you can decide if I made the grade.
One of the things that Renee asked me to do was write — quickly! — a couplet. I did that too. It was fun.
So let’s have some quick couplets by you today. Since the word of the month is line, how about some couplets on lines.
Ready? Go!
David
Children's Author David L. Harrison's Blog 
David L. Harrison , of course he’s sublime
I’ll try to write a couplet in rhyme.
Or maybe I’ll say he really is fine
so I can write this couplet on line.
Boys use lines as if we were fish
They could reel in–they wish! They wish.
or
Line up, folks, in a row,
You will all get in the show.
or
Something Brits all love to do–
Line up longingly in a queue.
Jane Yolen
My mother was my bestest friend.
i look to heaven and she still is.
my last line did not show up
my heart and my face can still have a grin
A couplet of lines, David, sounds just fine.
But my muse wonders .. . is there a deadline?
wow! Those lined up quickly.
Now I need to get on the stickly.
er . . .
I’ll be right back.
David
line em up bartender i said with a smile,
im gonna be drinkin for quite a long while
my favorite team of horses running in stride,
my left check line just broke now going in circles
lord what a ride.
Sets of lines that end in rhyme
Are pouring in in record time!
The mosquito represents a line
We could do without just fine.
Sometimes a verse, like a coat, needs refining–
reworking, rezippered, re-buttoned, relining.
from Jane Yolen
Oh that’s good. That’s really good.
His pickup line he thought would do it,
Alas for him she saw right through it.
Ah, David, I see you play tit for tat. Here’s a quickie in honor of your book:
There’s Cowboy Joe and Fran and Granny
all in line for the hootenanny.
At dinner time, if you had any doubt:
My mom’s two favorite words are “Take” and “Out.”
A POEM IS A PAINTING
A poem is a painting, a masterpiece divine,
Hanging on display inside the gallery of your mind.
Or, Charles, to keep with the theme:
A POEM IS A PAINTING
A poem is a painting, a masterpiece divine,
Hanging on display in the gallery on a line.
Your friend, the pedant, Jane Yolen
My fault, Jane,
I asked Charles, Pat, and others to join the fun but didn’t think to tell them that “line” was the magic word. But good fix!
David
Thanks, Jane. Love your “line.” And in keeping with the theme of getting away from pedantic poetry that’s hard to digest…
THE MFA PROGRAM-ED POEM
Life’s too short to eat another
Poem made of peanut butter.
Thanks, David. Didn’t know I was walking the “line.” Here’s one to make up for my misstep.
LIFE LINE
There’s nothing to this balancing act;
Just don’t look down and don’t look back.
This one stole my heart, Charles.
OLD MAN RUBBING HIS EYES
What is real, what is not?
I used to know, but I forgot.
POETRY IS NOT
penned to the page waiting for us to admire;
it is only a lonely thought caught by tears on fire.
Way to go, everyone. I’m having a fine time admiring your cleverness!
David
Pity that your fine toboggan
met its ruin on my noggin.
Hopscotch
Dash the lines in the dirt with a broken stick;
Hip hop, hip hop, quick, quick, quick!
It’s not my best, but I tried!
~Taylor McGowan
PS: if it calls me s’more lover again, sorry!
Hey Taylor! Good for you. I like your couplet very much!
David
The lazy life of a chinchilla—-
sippin’ soda with sarsaparilla.
It’s all very good and well
untill things get bad and better.
ok one with “line”.
I find it appalling and strangely appealing
when they trip on the line their body goes reeling.
Straight lines didn’t tempt him much,
preferring curves, a twisty touch.
My lineage is full of trouble,
Lost in Cossack-raids and rubble.
–Jane Yolen
My lineage bids me say adieu
to slender lines: Hello, au jus!
I’m a straight line, and it sticks in my craw!
Eh, but I guess that’s the luck of the draw.
If you step in line,
You’ll look just fine.
Alarm clock’s ringing, rise and shine,
Summer’s over, time to toe the line.
Pack your backpack, tuck your shirt,
Straighten the hemline of your new plaid skirt.
School bus’s chugging up the street,
You wait in line, then find a seat.
Kids are laughing, telling tales,
Punchlines fly, but you bite your nails.
First-day jitters, your stomach’s tight,
Will the bathroom line be out-of-sight?
Take a deep breath, squelch your fear,
Start the storyline of a new school year.
This just in from Sara Holbrook. Thanks Sara!
Eating ice cream on a park bench in D.C.
On the corner of 15th street and E.
And from Brod Bagert:
Oh the pain! Why put me through it?
An instant couplet? I will not do it.
Thanks, Brod!
I like to say, “That cat is mine,”
But nobody owns a fe-
line.
Excellent, David! Now THAT one is the winner!
The zipline harness jerked and bucked,
“I’m fine,” he said, and then upchucked.
The line went taut, I proudly beamed,
The shark surfaced, I think I screamed.
I laughed so hard it made me cry
To vision a surprised shark’s eye
Stunned am I by every line
Shot through thrice with rhyme sublime.
Jeanne Poland
The line in the sand made the great divide
Until it was erased by the tide.
How about a quatrain…?
there was never a line quite so sublime
as the one about hens working overtime—
cheeping and peeping on two skinny legs,
they spend all day pumping—pumping out eggs.
The day has set, these lines seem done
I came too late and missed the fun
Oh well …
Guess it’s the end-o-the-line for me 🙂
What a glorious day. My thanks to all who joined in. I’m going to leave this challenge up tomorrow. I’m not sure we’re done.
David
Pining for the cool sultry forest sweet
Emerging through the fiery golden heat
Glistening from limb to leaf
Searching for liquid relief
He stands affixed two eyes blazing
Tree, Sun, Lake and Storm surveying
Smiles,
Anna
http://helpfulannalisa.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/poetry-prompt/
BYE LINES
Like an old retired circus elephant,
I’m trying to be relevant.
Sounds about right, Charles. Poets are accustomed to working for peanuts.
David
Re: Elephants and Poets
To keep income steady,
We’ve trunks at the ready.
Jane
Ha! Yes, and all we ever wanted was a little tent of pure attention. 😉
Thanks again for inviting us all to play along here with your little litter of couplets.
I’m in the middle of writing a new four picture book series and this rare respite of rhyme has helped add a few smiles to the similes.
Nice, Jane, but methinks you left out a “line.”
Nope, I thought we were done with lines and i was a response to the elephant thing.And working for peanuts. But you could always title it:
CutLine for Another Elephant and Poet Rhyme
Thanks, Jane! “Cutline.” Perfect. BTW, can’t believe we haven’t met yet. Of course it’s my fault. I rarely leave my treehouse these days except for an occasional school visit … or trip to the circus.
Me on the sidelines, enjoying the show in Center Ring.
I’ve arrived late at the back of the line
Now the show’s over, the floor’s all mine.
Right you are, no need for pining,
Being last has a silver lining.
I can’t believe you got line in again, David. This is so much fun. We’ll have to do it more often.
Line Drive
Up and over the fence it goes,
And where it lands, nobody knows.
(Maybe Hoboken)
from Jane yolen
Ocean Liner
It wasn’t fun, not a bit nice
When voyage ended on the ice.
Line Break
Nothing funnier, nothing finer,
Here is the end of a snappy one line-
Clothing Question
Have you ever ever been
A dress that’s made of finest linen.
Help me. . . .I can’t stop! Need a 12-step program to end this
coupletation. (A textually transmitted disease.)
xxxxJane
Dear Jane,
Coupletationists Anonymous
12 Step Program
1 Destroy your computer.
2 Donate your smart phone to a kindergarten class.
3 Walk into the next room without a pencil secreted in your clothes.
4 Drive a mile without a writing pad on the seat beside you.
5 Donate your collection of rhyming dictionaries to Goodwill.
6 Ask a friend to hide your printer paper and refuse to tell you where it is.
7 Watch a baby animal without trying to think of what rhymes with it.
8 Avoid reading or saying anything in iambic pentameter.
9 When someone asks what you do, say, “I do not write couplets.”
10 If you feel an overwhelming compulsion to write a couplet, call a CA friend at once, day or night.
11 If a couplet spews from your mouth like green pea soup, go to confession. If you are not a catholic, become one immediately. They know about exorcism.
12 Stand tall and proud the moment you can say, “My name is XXX and I have not written a couplet in two days.
Oh dear, I have no smart phone, no pencil, and am Jewish. I am DOOOOOOMED!
Thanks for trying though.
All her rhyming dictionaries hurled,
She coupled with the phrase, “Goodbye, Cruel World!”
Jane
Truth is, I didn’t want the cure to work on you anyway. What would we do without you!
David
Here it is David. Silverstein has nothing to worry about but I had fun writing it.
LEARNED LESSON
I’ll line up with you anywhere
Except when playing truth or dare,
’cause honestly I cannot bare
To once again lose all my hair.
(c) Charles Waters 2012 all rights reserved.
Charles, you look very dashing with no hair. I would look like, uh, don’t want to imagine it. Just glad we don’t have to play truth or dare!
David
David, you looking dashing with hair and I wish for you to never be follicly challenged. 🙂
My best,
Charles
I’m sorry I didn’t post earlier — I’ve been busy getting ready for school. 😀
A line can be so quick and fine,
Or also thick and needing time.
Hi Rachel!
Many thanks for joining the fun and posting your clever couplet! Sorry to be slow in getting back to you but the past few days have been rather hectic. Good job and thanks again. Your appreciative friend, David
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