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That slight, sweet surprise a poem can give you sometimes, by choosing a word that just isn't quite what you were expecting. Seán Rafferty in the poem beginning "I would be Adam" (he tended not to title them). It ends with his proposed improvement on the Almighty's plan:

He should have held his breath.
    Five days was plenty.
    Earth, sea ( Read more... )

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(and, perhaps, a way to avoid it)

I was chuckling over the Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes (first published 1899) of Capt. Harry Graham the other day. You'll recall that this is the chap who writes polished little epigrams in which the speaker or protagonist reacts to some awful tragedy with inappropriate levity, self-interest or indifference. ( Read more... )

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