“Poems don’t have to Rhyme”
They told us that at school,
And we read some Hiawatha,
Then some Milton and some Armitage –
You know the stuff.
I shrugged, and ploughed along
To some Ezra Pound or other,
Feeling overwhelmed by culture
Till I just switched-off.
I guess it works for those for whom it works,
But all I found was faff –
It might as well be scat or freeform jazz
For all I cared.
I needed rocking rhythms in verse,
And lines that didn’t break in half,
I needed souls that used a regular rhyme
When they were bared.
They told us that at school,
And they dared us to disagree –
And they’re telling us still, with tuts and sneers
And humourless debate.
But we know what we like, and some of us like
For our verse to be less free –
So poems don’t have to rhyme, I guess,
But when they do, they’re great !
Rhyming Couplets 