Types of Poetry - Part 1

You know me by now. I like my poetry to be accessible; that’s why the style and format is generally broad. I want it to be enjoyed by everyone. However, a few of my usual critics in the South-West Kent area (haven’t you got anything better to do Ian?) have recently suggested that this deliberate style of mine is in fact merely due to my apparently limited knowledge and understanding of poetry. Well now…

By all means, tell Malcolm Head that his poetry isn’t your cup of tea. By all means, tell Malcolm Head that his poetry sometimes drives a little too close to the hard shoulder of truth for your tastes. But please, for God sake, don’t tell him that his knowledge and understanding of poetry is limited. There’s only one thing I know more about than poetry, and that’s the History of Kent Police from it’s incarnation in 1857 to the current day and everything else in between (http://www.kent-police-museum.co.uk/core_pages/history.shtml)

Anyway, I thought I’d begin writing examples of different types of poetry. Not just to prove a point - frankly I don’t want to stoop to the level of these brainless doubters – but because it seems like a worthwhile exercise anyway.

I’ll run examples throughout various blogs, and will conduct the entire exercise in alphabetical order…

ACROSTIC:

The first letters of each line are aligned vertically to form a word…

Example…

Entertainer of the highest order

Dedicated to his work to the point of near-breakdown

Money is not the main motivation for him, it’s just a bonus

Obsessed with trying to bring joy into people’s lives

Never swears

Deal or no deal put him back on the map, although for my money he never left the map

Superb

ALPHABET:

Each line begins with the letters of the alphabet in order…

Example…

An elderly man shivered inexplicably as a raven flew by him

But he regained his composure to take a bite out of a Ginster’s steak slice, and it tasted odd

Could Mr Patel have forgotten to rotate his stock again?

Did this mean the slice was out of date?

Eventually he realised that the date was fine, so he carried on eating

Finishing the slice off with a small bottle of Yazoo

Good thing too, because his health was fragile enough without a dose of food poisoning

He walked home, stopping occasionally to look at traffic

It always amazed him to see how many people drove with improperly inflated tyres

Just imagine how many accidents must be caused by such basic incompetence

Ok… alphabet poems can run the full course of the alphabet but I think this is enough. More to follow soon.

M