I imitated two limericks :
There was an old man on the Border,
Who lived in the utmost disorder;
He danced with the cat, and made tea in his hat,
Which vexed all the folks on the Border.
___Edward Lear
There was a young girl on the sidewalk,
Who lived just to hear herself talk;
She yelled at the boys, and made fun of their toys,
Which bothered the men on the sidewalk.
___ Beverly Smith
There was an Old Man of the East,
Who gave all his children a feast;
But they all ate so much, and their conduct was such,
That it killed the Old Man of the East.
___ Edward Lear
There was an old man from the West,
Who gave all of his children his best;
But they tossed it around, til it fell on the ground,
Breaking the heart of the man from the West.
___ Beverly Smith
What a rather corny form can offer you as a growing writer is generative material. That is, the form (and you might try other such "closed" forms, like the villanelle and sestina) forces you into sometimes rather odd territory. You wouldn't have thought of the choice otherwise. Once you have that writing, however, then you might consider stripping away the form and allowing the piece to proceed more organically. Filling out forms can often just feel sort of "exercisey." Once you have some interesting writing, however, then you can move from there. How about this one:
ReplyDeleteThe young girl love to hear herself.
She yelled at the boys, and made light
of their plastic guns and awkward music,
the tan lines on their smudged faces.
The men who gathered at the end
of the block to smoke and curse
the government thought it all strange:
And then continue from there. I think you have a spooky little scene building here. The form, however, just cheapens that mood you're building. Let it breathe!