Rhyme Me A Smile: news based poetry

Showing posts with label news based poetry. Show all posts

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Your Choices and Actions Affect the Whole World

Lifelong Exam

by Rachel Hoyt

image by ponsulak

One vote,

One voice,

One life to live.

One heart,

Two hands,

To get and give.

Your way,

Their way,

Whose is best?

Could we,

Can we,

Ace this test?

This poem was inspired by a variety of news

which reminds me we should be careful what we choose:

"Speak American". What About Speaking Something Else Too?

Obama Calls Out How Climate Change Will Wreck the Economy

The Real Meaning of Kim Davis

For assistance determining which presidential candidate you like best,

may I suggest ISideWith.com's quick and easy "test"?

Saturday, May 30, 2015

When Was the Last Time You Felt Awe?

Awe

by Rachel Hoyt

image by suphakit73

Along the way

wonder can stray,

end up on glassy ponds.

Amazing things

whip off of wings,

end up inside bird songs.

A night pitch dark

warms with one spark,

each light a sparkling hook.

Always around,

we seek, it's found,

each time we stop to look.

This poem was inspired by an article on Jezebel about the importance of experiencing awe. Recent studies have shown it can make you a nicer person.

Technorati Tags: Awe, Wonder, Poem, Rhyme, Nice, Poetry

Saturday, October 18, 2014

How We Learn So Many Things That Aren't True

Myth-conceptions

by Rachel Hoyt

Sometimes the plain facts

Don't seem enough;

Sometimes one reacts

By adding fluff;

Sometimes the teachers

Teach what they want;

Sometimes the preachers

Want words that daunt;

Sometimes what we know

Just became true

Because the "facts" flowed

From them to you.

This poem was inspired

by Neatorama, Science Daily, and Wired.

Technorati Tags: Education, Learning, Poem, Rhyme, Thoughts, Poetry

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Is Your Food Drought Tolerant?

Edible Advice

by Rachel Hoyt

Lettuce chop

our water use

eating crops

that don't abuse.

Orange you

a drop concerned?

Corn it be true

all chops are earned?

Olive Earth

is drenched with greed,

suckling since birth

where instinct leads.

Cheese, Louise,

we've chugged and chewed

all we could seize,

all sprouts and spews.

Beef or all

our fruits are dried,

sip a tall

glass of, "I tried."

California's almonds have been getting some bad press.

Some make it sound like they're the cause of my state's water mess.

Yet, if most looked at all that they ate and gauged it's water use,

they'd see that produce guzzles but only animals abuse.

Technorati Tags: California, Drought, Poem, Rhyme, Food, Poetry

Saturday, August 9, 2014

The Inconvenient Timing of Eureka Moments

Lost Poem

by Rachel Hoyt

image by MR LIGHTMAN via freedigitalphotos.net

Missing: one poem in rhyme,

Last seen Wednesday around nine.

Two lines in the shower came,

Then dribbled right down the drain;

Three feelings blew through at noon,

Then skipped off to hop the moon;

Four signs on my commute shone,

Then went dark as sunset moaned;

Five rhymes chimed in a bird's song,

Then were hushed by a ding-dong;

Six words sparkled in my eyes,

Then went mute like stealthy spies.

The lines vanished before my pen,

Somewhere between now and when.

Wired recently examined why creativity sprouts

when you're in the shower or out and about.

Technorati Tags: Creativity, Brainstorm, Poem, Rhyme, Thoughts, Poetry

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Miss Indiana Is Not Miss Average America

True Beauty

by Rachel Hoyt

image by Serge Bertasius via freedigitalphotos.net

Miss Normal would never

be granted the crown,

She can't reach the top shelf

at most shops 'round town,

Her thighs rub whenever

she's walking around,

She says she'll like herself

when she is less round.

If only she knew that

no crown need be worn

when you are the best you

that ever was born -

Then, even if you're fat,

they wish secretly,

they had the glow you do -

beauty all can see.

Miss Indiana's 'normal' body is actually nowhere near the norm

despite the fact many complimented her beautiful yet average form.

Technorati Tags: Beauty, Miss Indiana, Poem, Rhyme, Thoughts, Poetry

Saturday, April 26, 2014

What Does Trash Say to Mother Earth Each Day?

Trash Talk

by Rachel Hoyt

image by artur84 via freedigitalphotos.net

Our remnants talk back.

They smack and nag,

flaunting their right to still be:

"You're not my mother,"

says the old bag

floating deep down in the sea.

"I'm no man's brother,"

shouts the sharp frag

flying through space furiously.

"I'm no one's lover,"

grunts the worn tag

fuming within Mt. Debris.

This poem was inspired by the many piles of trash on Earth -

in the ocean, on the land, and in space - spoiling her worth.

Technorati Tags: Trash, Earth Day, Poem, Rhyme, Think, Poetry

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Music Medium Funky With a Side of Spicy Sauce

Flavorful Tune

by Rachel Hoyt

image by renjith krishnan via freedigitalphotos.net

I like my music mezzo funky

spiced like beef stew - meaty, chunky,

with dashes of garlic, pepper, and onion,

popping out like mysterious grunion.

My feet retreat to restful corners

when beats blend or break at the poles of order,

Yet if the stew simmers mezzo spice

I taste and dance without thinking twice.

They say they've found the perfect recipe
for casting a dance trance on you and me.

Technorati Tags: Music, Beat, Poem, Rhyme, Think, Poetry

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Working Long Hours Takes Years Off Your Life

110%

by Rachel Hoyt

image by Michal Marcol via freedigitalphotos.net

One hundred and ten percent

is not a wise investment -

One must keep a reserve,

some peace to calm their nerves.

One hundred and ten percent

costs days life had not yet lent -

One reaps a proper reward

by learning to save and hoard.

One hundred and ten percent

is a fair return on investment

but should never be paid for with life -

interest doubly correlates with strife.

This poem was inspired by new scientific evidence

that working too much does more than just make you tense.

Technorati Tags: Overworked, Work Hours, Poem, Rhyme, Life, Poetry

Saturday, February 1, 2014

We Can Export the Smoke Stacks But Smog's Still on Our Backs

Heirs of Air

by Rachel Hoyt

image by Paul via freedigitalphotos.net

The air is fair.

Nowhere can bear

A snare to care.

What's here goes there.

What's near we share.

What's bare can pair.

All tears will wear.

We're heirs of air.

This poem was inspired by the latest proof that pollution

is a problem that requires a global solution.

Technorati Tags: Animal, Creulty, Poem, Rhyme, Television, Poetry

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Animals Acting on Reality TV

Wishful Seeing

by Rachel Hoyt

Reality is what you see

away from your TV -

your personal monotony

that's mostly drama free -

No friends from Old Mac Donald's farm

wandering down Main Street,

No ostriches with sneaky charm

who could peck off your feet,

No six foot long constrictor snakes

hiding in your drain pipe,

No mysterious squeaks or quakes

that could be heard on Skype,

No toucans or parrots that talk

knocking upon your door,

No chimpanzees out on a walk

to the new corner store,

And even if these did occur

you probably could not snap

an action shot without some blur

unless you set a trap.

Reality TV with humans has never been my cup of tea.

Capturing creatures to act in such shows makes me beyond angry.

Technorati Tags: Animal, Creulty, Poem, Rhyme, Television, Poetry

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Valley Speak is Spreading to Men?

Valley Boys

by Rachel Hoyt

image by porbital via freedigitalphotos.net

Oh em gee -

How could it be?

A change in masculinity?

Like, what's the deal?

Is this for real?

Could valley speak have mass appeal?

You're joking, right?

Get out of sight!

Upspeak implies a lack of might.

As if, you know...

Like, dude, bro...

Male voices aren't all loud and low?

According to a new study, more California men

are speaking with an upward tone like I did way back when.

Technorati Tags: Men, California, Poem, Rhyme, Voice, Poetry

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Bitcoins Aren't Just Taking Over Wallets, They're Innundating the News

Ode to Bitcoins

by Rachel Hoyt

image by idea go via freedigitalphotos.net

That thin air chain of golden weight,

That cha-ching we can't hear or feel,

That incognito, tax free bait

with trendy pop appeal -

How big your dreams to change the world,

How grand your plans to keep wealth safe,

How strange your game is tightly twirled

with what makes wallets chafe -

Oh that your roots grow strong and deep,

Oh that your limbs bend with the breeze,

Oh that your leaves fall in a heap

and end this fiscal tease.

Many bitcoin stories inspired me

to write this little ode for thee:

The Bitcoin Survival Guide

Bitcoin's Fatal Flaw

Cleancoin: The Future of Bitcoin Regulation?

DDoS Attacks Make Bitcoins Cheaper

Technorati Tags: Bitcoin, Currency, Cash, Poem, Rhyme, Poetry

Thursday, August 22, 2013

A California Walnut Farm That Emulates Sustainability

Sustainability

by Rachel Hoyt

image by watiporn via freedigitalphotos.net

Sustainability

Understands what we need,

Supports the greater we,

Tames impatience and greed,

Asks the sun to shine free,

Invites the wind to blow,

Nurtures our trash with glee,

Annexes water's flow,

Believes in harmony,

Impedes daft destruction,

Looks for what should, could be,

Inspires waste reduction,

Tries to think like a seed,

Yearns for Earth to be freed.

This news about a California walnut farm inspired me

to write an acrostic poem about sustainability.

Technorati Tags: Sustainability, Farming, Recycle, Rhyme, Poem, Poetry

Saturday, August 10, 2013

A Poem Pondering Off-Shore Fracking

Sinking Feeling

by Rachel Hoyt

image by sakhorn38 via freedigitalphotos.net

I've got a sinking feeling

that we're sinking our own ship.

Although some hands are reeling,

on the sails they have no grip.

Pirates plunder the shallows

digging for buried treasure,

hoping the sea won't swallow

them and their sordid pleasures.

Nearby on sailboats, speed boats,

and yachts we sail along blind,

hoping that innocence floats

and ignorance calms the mind.

Deep down below bubbles hope,

a vital resource and glue

which bursts when prodded or groped,

dropping all it held onto.

I stand on land protected

by valiant hands dense with love,

gazing at seas injected

by greedy forces from above.

My ship is anchored, for now,

if yours sinks will mine follow?

Will the sea warn me somehow,

before it starts to swallow?

After reading of a sink hole that is slowly swallowing a town,

I was glad to know that nearby fracking was mostly shut down.

If only the ocean nearby was ruled by those whom it could drown...

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Thursday Thoughts - On Feeling Young and Growing Old

Still At Her Sill

by Rachel Hoyt

image by happykanppy via freedigitalphotos.net

She said flowers just attract bees

And flung them "where they fly".

She told me running hurts your knees

As two grayed gents jogged by.

She said biking was for young things,

Not folks who lost their poise.

She told me throats hurt when one sings,

And yard work is for boys.

She said hiking is perilous -

One might roll down a hill.

She sat her whole life querulous

'Bout all seen from her sill.

A scientific study has stamped it's approving seal

on the thought that you are as old as you feel.

Technorati Tags: Age, Old, Science, Poem, Rhyme, Poetry