You Can Write Lightning Verse!
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You can write poetry that will knock the socks off your children and other readers. If you were to ask this teacher of thirty-three years, what type of poetry has the biggest impact on kids and students, the thumbs up winner is light verse.

Light verse is defined as “poetry that is playful or humorous and usually rhymed.” If we extend the umbrellas of “light verse” to include such poetry as what we find in the late Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends or Falling Up, which is full of quirks, surprise rhymes, and free verse, then light verse is music to soul of most elementary students.

Children love the poetry books of Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, Judith Viorst, Bruce Lansky, Jeff Moss, and Kalli Dakoa. At first glance their poems look easy to write. Just pick a topic—any topic—from apples to zebras, and write a poem. You don’t have to worry inordinately about the rhyme scheme, as long as the words make sense and sound good being read. Don’t forget to use your delicious six senses, interesting word patterns, and line endings to distinguish your work.

Oh, yes, when writing these poems, poets draw heavily from the palette of their essential tools –similes, metaphor, alliteration, and onamopedia. Of course, whether the poet is a professional or a student, it will take more than one sitting or class period to finish a polished poem—that is, one worthy of posting or publishing.

Although it may seem easy to create short poems, experienced poets know it isn’t. Expensive gifts frequently come in small boxes, just like short gems of poetry. It can take many drafts to create a short, priceless poem. In the hands of those who love light verse, writing is a labor of love. Much time will be spent picking the right words, metaphors, and more.

When done well, light verse is lightning verse. Crack! Snap! Crack! Words comes out of the writer’s dark gray mind, ignited by a piece of conversation, an old photo or whatever sizzles, and they explode across the yellow lined paper or the well lit monitor, shocking the poet into paying attention to the cosmic images, voices, and feelings! Words are written or typed with zest that communicate with humor or seriousness the joys and challenges of being a child.

For example, this is from Picture Poetry on Parade!, “My ABCs Riddle”:

My ABCs are sticky.
My ABCs are icky.
My ABCs are germy.
My ABCs are a janitor’s nightmare.
My ABCs are found on desktops,
Chairs, floors, and more.
My ABCs,
have you guessed
them by now?
I bet you have—
Already Been Chewed gum.