What Do the California Drought and NaPoWriMo Have in Common? These poems!

Since Governor Jerry Brown ordered Californians to cut back their water use by 25% on the dawn of National Poetry Month, I thought we might write some poems in honor of the drought to help motivate the masses. I've written a few rhymes which you may feel free to pass out for Poem in Your Pocket Day (Friday, April 24th). Or, use them as inspiration to write your own poem. If you need a bit of news to get your creative juices flowing, I recommend this article about how to survive a major drought or this one on water rights.

image by sritangphoto

Pure Genius

by Rachel Hoyt

One quite thirsty entrepreneur

bought water rights just to ensure

the world would drink up

his "thing", fill their cups,

and agree that one pays for what's pure.

2015 Drought

by Rachel Hoyt

The twenty-fifteen drought

made Californian's pout -

their golden state renewed,

their riches far eschewed.

Drought Acrostic

by Rachel Hoyt

Dollars can't buy more sense.

Rinse off your want for Earth.

Order can make times tense,

Unless you feel their worth.

Give thanks for every drip.

Hang on - firm, gentle grip.

To stay half full, don't slip.

Poems Copyright © 2015 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.

Are There Any Straight Answers Anymore?

Some Mouth

by Rachel Hoyt

image by Michelle Meiklejohn via freedigitalphotos.net

It seems there are no longer answers

to any perplexing questions,

only tongue twisting word dancers

with responses and suggestions.

The truth is stuck, obscured by the fog,

and some are brewing clouds -

small parts peek out (attention to hog)

as some mouth says stuff that wows crowds.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.

Is this how it's going to be every time there's a big breach of security?

US Sanctions North Korea for Sony Hack Despite Spotty Evidence

North Korea's Grudge Towards the US Grows to Grandiose Scale

Technorati Tags: Sony, North Korea, Poem, Rhyme, Thoughts, Poetry

Is Net Neutrality Just A Failing Fairytale?

A Failing Fairytale

by Rachel Hoyt

Image by cuteimage via freedigitalphotos.net

Once upon a time

Nothing changed on a dime

Because we couldn't hear

Or see the things not near.

We hardly knew the way

Others lived day to day

And rarely saw a view

Our shoes could not walk to.

Then one day, like a dream,

There came a way to beam

Data through outer space

To a digital place.

We knew not how it flew

Or burrowed its way to

Our screens, but we embraced

Sharing this neutral space.

Now he who plugged us in

Wants bribes or he will thin

Our vision, slow the speed,

Infuse neutral with greed.

We know that he will hide

The voices that abide

In cracks quite hard to find

And control poor great minds.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.

Click here to learn how you can help the fight to save the net

from becoming the pay to play place small businesses fret.

Technorati Tags: Net Neutrality, FCC, Poem, Rhyme, Fight, Poetry

Poetry Prompt - Crambo aka Bouts Rimés

In honor of National Poetry Writing Month, I'm bringing back a Friday tradition.  Bouts Rimés means "rhymed ends" in French and is a game or challenge where one person (me) makes a list of rhymed words and others (you) write the lines that end with those rhymes, in the same order in which they were given. It was known as Crambo in English and was quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Will you help me bring back this hip historical habit?

Wall

Drip 

Gall

Slip

Fall

Lip

Above are the words.

Get writing rhyme nerds!

There will be no winner. This is just for fun

and the joy of rhyming a smile for everyone.

Is Net Neutrality Just an Innocent Dream Fading With Age?

Internet Triolet

by Rachel Hoyt

(Image: Net Neutrality News Tag Cloud, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) 

image from  seanweigoldferguson's photostream)

It was created to unite us, bring equality,

Yet the creator's nature got stuck in its net.

It's aging and showing prejudices proudly,

Though created to unite us, bring equality.

Its innocence at birth nourished neutrality,

Until worldly wisdom showed fair is a fool's bet.

It was created to unite us, bring equality,

But its creator's nature is stuck in its net.

Copyright © 2014 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.

This triolet poem was inspired by changing net neutrality rules

and the worry that these changes will bury many Internet jewels.

Technorati Tags: Internet, Neutrality, Poem, Rhyme, FCC, Poetry

Friday Fun Day - Crambo aka Bouts Rimés - Spider

Bouts Rimés means "rhymed ends" in French and is a game or challenge where one person (me) makes a list of rhymed words and others (you) write the lines that end with those rhymes, in the same order in which they were given. It was known as Crambo in English and was quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Will you help me bring back this hip historical habit?

 

 

Spider

Abider

Beginner

Spinner

Cobweb

Ebb

Wee

Sticky

 

 

Above are the words.

Get writing rhyme nerds!

There will be no winner. This is just for fun

and the joy of rhyming a smile for everyone.

 

 

 

Friday Fun Day - Crambo aka Bouts Rimés - Tails

Bouts Rimés means "rhymed ends" in French and is a game or challenge where one person (me) makes a list of rhymed words and others (you) write the lines that end with those rhymes, in the same order in which they were given. It was known as Crambo in English and was quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Will you help me bring back this hip historical habit?

 

 

Tails

Swing

Trip(s)

Slip(s)

Tales

Sing

 

 

Above are the words.

Get writing rhyme nerds!

There will be no winner. This is just for fun

and the joy of rhyming a smile for everyone.

 

 

Wacky Word Wednesday - Sook

Sook

by Rachel Hoyt

image by Stuart Miles via freedigitalphotos.net

I would not want to be a sook,

finding adventure in movies and books,

determined to stay in one nook -

a cowardly person, a sook.

© 2013 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.

 

Every week I rhyme and define a new wacky word.

Come on over to indulge your inner nerd.

And, please let me know of any weird words you've heard.

 

Technorati Tags: Words, Vocabulary, Poem, Rhyme, Sook, Poetry

Friday Fun Day - Crambo aka Bouts Rimés - A Kiss

 Bouts Rimés means "rhymed ends" in French and is a game or challenge where one person (me) makes a list of rhymed words and others (you) write the lines that end with those rhymes, in the same order in which they were given. It was known as Crambo in English and was quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Will you help me bring back this hip historical habit?

 

 

Kiss

Remiss

Reminisce

Near

Appear

Disappear

 

 

Above are the words.

Get writing rhyme nerds!

There will be no winner. This is just for fun

and the joy of rhyming a smile for everyone.

Friday Fun Day - Crambo aka Bouts Rimés - Globe

 Bouts Rimés means "rhymed ends" in French and is a game or challenge where one person (me) makes a list of rhymed words and others (you) write the lines that end with those rhymes, in the same order in which they were given. It was known as Crambo in English and was quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Will you help me bring back this hip historical habit?

 

 

Global

Pole

Noble

Troll

City

Sea

Pretty

Free

 

Above are the words.

Get writing rhyme nerds!

There will be no winner. This is just for fun

and the joy of rhyming a smile for everyone.

Friday Fun Day - Crambo aka Bouts Rimés - Bird House

Bouts Rimés means "rhymed ends" in French and is a game or challenge where one person (me) makes a list of rhymed words and others (you) write the lines that end with those rhymes, in the same order in which they were given. It was known as Crambo in English and was quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Will you help me bring back this hip historical habit?

 

 

Bird

Squat

Third

Pot

Ranch

Old

Branch

Hold

 

 

Above are the words.

Get writing rhyme nerds!

There will be no winner. This is just for fun

and the joy of rhyming a smile for everyone.

Friday Fun Day - Crambo aka Bouts Rimés - Reflection

Bouts Rimés means "rhymed ends" in French and is a game or challenge where one person (me) makes a list of rhymed words and others (you) write the lines that end with those rhymes, in the same order in which they were given. It was known as Crambo in English and was quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Will you help me bring back this hip historical habit?

 

Abstract photo of a tree.

 

Mitigate

Deviate

Abbreviate

Reflection

Direction

Introspection

 

Above are the words.

Get writing rhyme nerds!

There will be no winner. This is just for fun

and the joy of rhyming a smile for everyone.

Friday Fun Day - Crambo aka Bouts Rimés - After the Fire

Bouts Rimés means "rhymed ends" in French and is a game or challenge where one person (me) makes a list of rhymed words and others (you) write the lines that end with those rhymes, in the same order in which they were given. It was known as Crambo in English and was quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Will you help me bring back this hip historical habit?

 

A tree stump burned in the White Fire this week.

 

Fire

Prior

Transpire

Bur

Confer

Saboteur

 

 

Above are the words.

Get writing rhyme nerds!

There will be no winner. This is just for fun

and the joy of rhyming a smile for everyone.

Thursday Thoughts - An Allegory for Reporting, Journalism, and Spying

A Fly On The Wall Allegory

by Rachel Hoyt

image by idea go via freedigitalphotos.net

Fireflies flew out of his mouth

and sparkled around the room.

Lucid eyes stared vacantly south,

hunting for things to consume.

Soft glowing lights made the eyes see

the shelf of sad, empty jars.

Pots growing hands grabbed them quickly,

like they were precious rocks from Mars.

Empty glass jars soon became full

of blinking lights held in jail.

Hands of sass screwed lids tight - heave, pull -

**boom** just turtles in sparkling hail?

© 2013 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.

It's not safe to be a fly on the wall

or possibly to know secrets at all.

Read here about reporting's fall.

Technorati Tags: Words, Journalism, Poem, Rhyme, Write, Poetry

Friday Fun Day - Crambo aka Bouts Rimés - Seal

Bouts Rimés means "rhymed ends" in French and is a game or challenge where one person (me) makes a list of rhymed words and others (you) write the lines that end with those rhymes, in the same order in which they were given. It was known as Crambo in English and was quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Will you help me bring back this hip historical habit?

 

A sunning seal in Spain.

 

Seal

Deal

Feel

Better

Wetter

Sun

Fun

One

 

 

Above are the words.

Get writing rhyme nerds!

There will be no winner. This is just for fun

and the joy of rhyming a smile for everyone.

Friday Fun Day - Crambo aka Bouts Rimés - Butterflies

Bouts Rimés means "rhymed ends" in French and is a game or challenge where one person (me) makes a list of rhymed words and others (you) write the lines that end with those rhymes, in the same order in which they were given. It was known as Crambo in English and was quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Will you help me bring back this hip historical habit?

 

Monarchs hibernating at Coronado Butterfly Preserve.

 

Butterflies

Beauty Sleep

Thousand Tries

Dreaming Deep

Precious Peek

Creature Can't

Let it Leak

Jubilant

 

Above are the words.

Get writing rhyme nerds!

 

There will be no winner. This is just for fun

 

Thursday Thoughts - Raw vs GMO Foods

Raw vs GMO Foods

by Rachel Hoyt

 

image by Maggie Smith via freedigitalphotos.com

 

Raw is raunchy,

untainted nature,

staunchly risky,

makes bodies azure -

the harm is in the handling,

and safety is quite costly,

on germs you're gambling,

and they cheat mostly.

It's just never pure

unless processed promptly -

Resist the allure.

Raw is raunchy.

Unharmed by herbicide?

Naturally, because herbs

can't cause a suicide -

it's only weeds they perturb.

Politically proven to be

not really that different,

yet unique and patent worthy -

basic biology, bent.

Still basically pure,

certainly not suicide -

Hear the allure?

Unharmed by herbicide?

© 2013 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved
 

 

Raw milk vendors are being criminalized while GMOs are allowed to thrive

although science can't justify either political drive.

 

Technorati Tags: Raw, GMO, Food, Poem, Rhyme, Poetry

Wacky Word Wednesday - Percipient

Percipient

(per SIP ee ant)

 

by Rachel Hoyt

 

image by smarnad via freedigitalphotos.net

 

Someone proudly percipient

Is an insight recipient,

Has wisdom not incipient,

And will ponder 'til omniscient -

The persistent percipient.

 

© 2013 Rachel Hoyt. All rights reserved.

Every week I rhyme and define a new wacky word.

Come on over to indulge your inner nerd.

And, please let me know of any weird words you've heard.

Technorati Tags: Words, Vocabulary, Poem, Rhyme, Percipient, Poetry

Friday Fun Day - Crambo aka Bouts Rimés - Thorns

Bouts Rimés means "rhymed ends" in French and is a game or challenge where one person (me) makes a list of rhymed words and others (you) write the lines that end with those rhymes, in the same order in which they were given. It was known as Crambo in English and was quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Will you help me bring back this hip historical habit?

 

Thorn

Adorn

Bumpy

Jumpy

Prick

Stick

 

 

Above are the words.

Get writing rhyme nerds!

 

There will be no winner. This is just for fun.

Friday Fun Day - Crambo aka Bouts Rimés - Puppy Jump

Bouts Rimés means "rhymed ends" in French and is a game or challenge where one person (me) makes a list of rhymed words and others (you) write the lines that end with those rhymes, in the same order in which they were given. It was known as Crambo in English and was quite popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Will you help me bring back this hip historical habit?

 

This was my parents' puppy's first jump into the pool. ever.  Let's write about this scene (or a similar one) together.

 

 

Puppy

Jump

Guppy

Rump

First

Splash

Burst

Flash

 

 

Above are the words.

Get writing rhyme nerds!

There will be no winner. This is just for fun.
If you will, rhyme a smile here for everyone.