Saturday, May 19, 2007

Now is the Time...to Rhyme?

A few things I appreciate in a good poem:
  • A creative, descriptive title that is NOT a line in the poem.
  • A title that is nearly as long as the poem itself.
  • Sass.
  • The word "tunes."
  • Poetry on taboo or unexpected subjects that makes me think, especially by asking an absurd question.
  • The phrase "long, lonesome Sundays."
  • Use of rhyming, esp. a rhyme scheme without sounding childish or idiotic.

Wait, what is this? Oh, lookie. Here's a little poem that happens to meet the above criteria. How lucky to randomly and unexpectedly stumble across such a gem! Yay!

A.E. Stallings

Triolet on a Line Apocryphally Attributed to Martin Luther

Why should the Devil get all the good tunes,
The booze and the neon and Saturday night,
the swaying in darkness, the lovers like spoons?
Why should the Devil get all the good tunes?
Does he hum them to while away sad afternoons
And the long, lonesome Sundays? Or sing them for spite?
Why should the Devil get all the good tunes,
The booze and the neon and Saturday night?