Greetings, Isola Bertolucci
NOTE: Please remember that the following comments and observations are only one person's opinion. Take what you can use but never be shy about discarding what you cannot. Most important of all, keep writing, improving, and contributing to our wonderful community!
GENERAL:
Hi Izzie! Thank you for requesting this review!. I hope that you enjoy my comments. You have written a true account of an experience you had with the family pet, Henry. He takes a good photo ... Your unfortunate chain of events offers light humour mixed with lots of pain! The images you provide are a comedy of errors; I think you've expressed the unharnessed energy of a dog that has freedom and an excuse to take advantage of it. Writing a good humorous poem is challenging, and I think you've risen to the occasion. There are a few elements that make a funny poem a bit better than average. Personally, I like to write humourous poetry that is relatable to the reader -- as yours is -- and something that they may have experienced themselves. An example of a topic that has poetential to tickle the funny bone is marriage or relationship. The possibilities are endless, but when a poet pokes fun at how a husband hides in the tool shed while the wife nags about the height of the grass, an internal trigger is flipped. Making an ordinary situation extroadinary is another way to bring humour to a poem. A favourite of mine is the art of exaggeration. This convention is called hyperbole. It's when you exaggerate something to the point of being ridiculous. You know it is, your reader knows it is, but it exemplifies the narrator's depth of need, dislike, hunger, etc. 'Her scarlet nails were a mile long.' Naturally, her nails can't possibly be a mile long, but it demonstrates a point -- don't get onery with the nail-lady. A great way to complete a humorous poem is to have a crazy ending. Take a situation that seemed normal, and twist it with a surprise. The following is a link to one of my 'humorous' poems. It is an example of the kinds of elements that I've detailed above. "Besting David" This poem demonstrates irony, the following: "The Wife" is what I'd call more of a humorous poem.
CONVENTIONS:
A free-verse poem that is written in rhyming couplets. You do well with your end-rhymes, Isola. It can be difficult to match end-rhymes without them sounding forced or corny, for lack of a better word. The hardest convention to master -- and I don't really think it's ever mastered -- is rhythm. The rhythm in your poem is good, but it does need some tweaking to make it flow without pause. I don't normally suggest rewords in poetry because it's a personal thing, but I'm going to assume that you would want me to. I will give you an example below using one of your stanzas. What I like best about this piece is your descriptions to create imagery. I could see the entire debacle in fine detail: a bounding dog, an unfortunate Izzie struggling to right herself amidst army exercises, and the inquisitive meanderings of Henry. I see you're weaving more figurative language into your poetry, and it always adds another layer to the ordinary. I enjoyed the simile of the old lumberjack. Creating smooth similes and metaphors is a skill in itself, and you have a flair in this department. You can enrich a simile by simply rearranging a word, and I will give you an example of how this would apply to your poem below.
GRAMMAR/SPELLING:
These areas look great! You've used punctuation and capitals where necessary, and it makes your poem a much smoother read.
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
The areas I would suggest you work on is your rhythm. An example is in the following. Please feel free to take it or leave it; I'm merely suggesting an alternative. Only you know what is best for your poem.
"I placed my dog Henry on a leash for a run,
and thought it would be so tremendously fun.
We live out in the boonies, with no leash required,
so the leash law of town, it quickly backfired."
"I placed my dog Henry on his leash for a run;
I thought it would be so tremendously fun.
We live in the boonies; no leash is required,
but the leash-law of town, it quickly backfired!
I have made a couple of minor tweaks to your stanza, but I think it improves the flow. The italics adds a little sarcasm to your illusions of a peaceful experience, and the exclamation point adds drama to what transpired with Henry. Adding a little inflection or punctuation for empahasis adds drama to humour.
The following is an example of a simple way to enrich your simile.
"It met the ground hard with a crack!
Like wood in the hands of an old lumberjack."
"It met the ground hard with a crack!
Like wood on the axe of an old lumberjack."
I think the second version of your simile works better, and it makes more sense. When I think of wood cracking in the hands of an old lumberjack, I try to imagine him breaking the wood. This doesn't work as an example of hyperbole because the simile is meant to be literal. The crack of wood on an axe is a familiar sound that most have heard, and it gives itself to the reader easily. There's no need to pause and question the meaning.
FAVORITE LINE(S):
"I didn't notice, flew over him, and smacked the ground hard!
As I tumbled and "ducked, tucked and rolled",
This is an example of where the humour shines. I'm assuming that the ducking, tucking, and rolling is an exaggeration of what really happened, and if it is, that's perfect. You take an ordinary situation and make it extroadinary. Suddenly, the narrator is stuck in a bush with a leaf hanging out of her mouth. Great job!
Izzie, I appreciate the opportunity to review your poetry. I think your determination to improve your craft is admirable, and I don't have any doubts that you will improve with each poem that you create. Thank you so much for sharing! My regards to Henry and your pinkie ...
Creator of The Poetry Contest Corner and The Lucky Leprechaun Raffle,
co-founder of Passionate Mindscapes, and proud member of The Traditional Poetry Group, The Paper Doll Gang, Rising Stars, and Showering Acts of Joy.
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