July 16 Workshop Information
Moderator: Norm Chichester		 Poetry form: Fun with Poetry List of all workshops

Fun with Poetry

Please pay attention to advice I share.
On wings of language fly to happy height.
Each poem filled with fun relieves some care.
‘Tis healing for the soul; you’ll feel all right.

Recall some fun which you had as a kid.
You must remember many funny things.
Childhood mem’ries of the things you did
Are fun-filled food for thoughtful poems to sing.

Now share a laugh or two in poetry.
Be careful, do not try to make us cry.
Expect these poems to spread some joy, and we
Forever will be grateful if you try.

Upon a peal of laughter we’ll ascend;
Now smiling ear-to-ear will never end.
The Rambunctious Rhymer, 7/15/2011

Have fun with poetry!

Writing poetry can be a serious activity. It often serves as a cathartic means of dealing with the “slings and arrows of outrageous
fortune” and parental, spousal, sibling, work-life abuses that we need to exorcise out of our psyches. It is amazing how much better we feel if we can turn all of that trauma into some funny poetry. You may remember a poem of mine: “How Waukesha Willy Lost his Eye Twice.”

The acrostic sonnet adapts well into a vehicle for humor in poetry. Any form is appropriate for a humorous poem. I remember
looking for humor in the dictionary and finding it listed between hummock and humoresque–title for another poem.It didn’t do well in the contest that year, but it was fun to write.

This is the final advice I offer in this workshop. We poets often take our writing seriously . . . and we should. The addition of some humor in our poems can make them more palatable to our audience and can also heighten the contrast with serious content.

Here are a few possibilities for humorous poems you might consider:

Animal adventures, real or imaginary Things you pets have done
Things your children have done Mistaken identities
Culinary accidents in the kitchen It happened on vacation
I can’t believe I said that! I can’t believe he/she said that!
I love my wife when she . . . I love my husband when he . . .
Something overheard at church Something overheard at home

You may choose one of the suggested topics or come up with one of your own and write a short piece of humorous, or light, or amusing poetry.