Well, it’s time for another Blow’em*. We haven’t done this in years!
Tonight’s Blow’em will be in Common Meter.
Common Meter consists of four lines which alternate between iambic tetrameter (four feet per line, with each foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable) and iambic trimeter (three feet per line, with each foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable), rhyming in the pattern a-b-a-b.
For example:
I turn to you, my Facebook friends
To join me at my game.
Combined, our talent knows no end.
Sometimes that is a shame.
So tell me what you’ve done today.
With whom did you converse?
Tell what you did at work or play
Both pleasant and perverse.
Still don’t get the hang of it? Sing it to the tune of “Amazing Grace” or “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Island.” You’ll catch on.
*Blow’em: (n.) A Blog Poem of collective authorship conceived in 2009.
BK
Some friends of mine too young before
To know about MySpace
Might feel this is a frightful chore;
They’re not that far off base.
But come on in, the water’s fine!
Let’s see what words you’ve got;
This is the chance for you to shine …
Is your brain tied in a knot?
Linda
I'll drag a phrase across the page
Attempting to be sporting
I'm not too sharp on this fine eve
My mind is out cavorting
Magnolia
My Facebook page has been restricted
Because I was a naughty girl
The Facebook Judges had convicted
So let’s give this new page a little whirl
Today I was a couch potato
Practiced Spanish, played some games
Ate my weight in barbeque slow smoke
And can only move via crane.
Brian
My Saturday's been nondescript,
But boring? Never fear!
The week was plenty exciting
That morning I hit a deer.
BK
You saw a deer in all its splendor
And you put your car in gear;
Then that deer was on your fender
Because the buck stops here.
Or did you hope to miss the thing
And try your best to swerve?
You yielded to the rights of Spring …
I’ll bet that struck a nerve.
Brian
In fact, the beast had other friends,
As four did interrupt my drive
Haha! I thought! I'd dodged the lot!
Then up sprang number five.
Linda
The bacchanal is in full swing
Conscripting to the verve
And even at our widest fling
Connecting with the serve
BK
The bacchanale is all we’ve got,
Or so it sometimes seems.
But I don’t think it’s all for naught,
I’ll settle for extremes.
Alan
You’re way better at this sort of thing
Than Terry or than I
But better to pen a bit of rhyme
Than have ketchup in the eye
BK
I’m glad you’ve joined us at our play
Although it’s after dark;
And as you know keeping ants at bay
Is definitely aardvark.
Terry
Our card game hadn’t gone down well
When I reached to move my rook,
O puddledegook and what fell hell
This line goes snippitysnook
But many a many a year ago
In a kingdom by the sea
A girl there lived who you now know
And back then that girl was me
BK
That Carroll, he spoke Jabberwack,
Face twisted with a sneer;
Withal he came galumphing back
But did so with a Lear.
BK
I must be shuffling off to bed
Because my mind is toast.
But y’all keep going in my stead;
It’s up to you, West Coast!
BK
We have another day to go
To see our wit laid bare;
And be it though pretend or faux,
It’s none of my affair.
Magnolia
Another Sunday full of chores
but it can go to heck
I'd rather lounge forevermore
And watch episodes of Star Trek
BK
To sit right back and watch some Trek,
That is a noble goal;
And though it’s cheesy and low-tech
It soothes my tortured soul.
Linda 2
Twas chilly on this Sunday morn
which thrilled me to the core
tho spring has sprung, the sun reborn
I dread what is in store
Not long till temps are in the red
Drenched in humidity
“You'll acclimate” they always said
As I sweat in misery
So now I type onto a screen
my offering of Blow-em
So now on Facebook to be seen
my silly little poem
Terry
This meter, as its name implies,
Is commoner than bread.
Internal rhymes are used at times,
And some rhymes are stilt-ED. (Ted? Where's Ted?)
