Updated date:

Oct 4, 2018

The Boar and the Wolf: A Poetry Challenge for My Hubber Friends

Author:: Chris Mills

Chris has written poetry for 28 years though he focuses on short fiction. But watch out for the occasional twisted nursery rhyme.

The Boar

The Challenge

I had a visitor to my latest hub today by the name of Natalie Frank. I returned the read by visiting one of her hubs titled, Crazy, Fun Holidays in September You'll Want to Celebrate. In the course of reading this very fine hub, I discovered that September 1 is No Rhyme or Reason Day. In this part of the article, Natalie included a list of words with which no other words rhyme perfectly. So I took this list of ten words and wrote a poem.

I'm not a great poet. But I put together something with rhyme and meter that uses all ten of the words in Natalie's list. I'll share that below. I want to challenge my hubber friends to step up and give this a try. See if you can write a rhyming poem with the ten words I will list and which I've taken from Natalie Frank's article. I encourage you to visit Natalie's hub as well.

Ten Words That Do Not Perfectly Rhyme With Any Other Word

silver
purple
month
ninth
pint
wolf
opus
dangerous
marathon
discombobulate

The Wolf

The Boar and the Wolf

Deep in the forest so dangerous,

Lay a boar who was fat and ponderous.

He feared the sly wolf,

And to tell you the truth,

Considered the beast to be pompous.

In running, the pig was no paragon,

But challenged the wolf to a marathon.

On pasta the pig dined,

And drank down a pint

Of green beer he got from a leprechaun.

The winner would gain a trophy silver

Which the wolf thought he could pilfer.

When boar reached mile ninth,

He collapsed and pined,

For in his foot he had gotten a sliver.

The wolf over the pig did hurdle

With the trophy in a blanket of purple.

Pig was discombobulated,

Had misunderestimated*

That he himself was slower than a turtle.

The wolf labored and authored an opus,

Which he penned on a pigskin corpus.

In less than a month,

Pigskin he did punt,

In a challenge he had with a tortoise.

*Misunderestimated, a word created by former US President George W. Bush

The Pigskin

Yes, my poem is nonsense, but I'm kind of proud of it. Now it is your turn. Use all ten words in the list and write your own poem. Come back here with the link and I will make a list for others who want to read your creation.

Challenge Participants

John Hansen-Olympic Dreams

Ann Carr-Geraint the Siever

Shyron E Shenko-Sloth and the Weasel

Rinita Sen-The Last Capitan

Threekeys-Can be read in Threekeys' comment below.

Comments

Chris Mills (author) from Traverse City, MI on October 15, 2018:

Doris, If it was possible to be laughed off HP, there would already have been a meeting of the minds.

Doris James MizBejabbers from Beautiful South on October 15, 2018:

I love these, Chris. I'll try to get around to reading them all. I saw your challenge when it first came through, but as I say, "I'm not a poet and I know it." I don't believe I'm up to it because I don't want to be laughed off Hubpages.

Chris Mills (author) from Traverse City, MI on June 16, 2018:

That's fine, Threekeys. I'll direct people to my comments to read it. Thanks for getting back to me.

threekeys on June 16, 2018:

Hi Chris, thankyou for your lovely compliment.

Its all good if you are okay with my offering being here with you.

All the best. Cheers.

Chris Mills (author) from Traverse City, MI on June 16, 2018:

Threekeys, would it work for you to put that up as one of your hubs, and I can put a link from here to your hub? This is great. I am so amazed at what you have done with these words. "Cool opus, like the heady scent of roses." Come back and leave your link when you get this posted.

threekeys on June 16, 2018:

Hi Chris

here's my contribution to your poetic challenge.

the sign of the ninth month

stands in front

when my eyes

are pulled to the wood pile

where the silver crescent moon sighs

and mirrors a light-wise

upon the howling wolf surprise

which triggers a spinal song of highs

my cool opus, like the heady scent of roses

which serves to expose

and discombobulate my senses

leaving me to run a marathon of tensions

through my mind of memories

some about love, some about dangerous enemies....

Thankyou Chris for this fun exercise.

Verlie Burroughs from Canada on June 15, 2018:

Ha ha Chris! Nonsense is good sense, a recompense for too much intense and purposes. Felt like I was watching Saturday morning cartoons reading this, the kick-off to a great challenge.

Rinita Sen on June 15, 2018:

I so loved this poem and the challenge that I thought I would give it a try. My humble attempt at responding to your challenge is here: https://letterpile.com/poetry/The-Last-Captain-In-...

Shyron E Shenko from Texas on June 13, 2018:

Chris, I love your poem and I know that Natalie is proud.

https://letterpile.com/poetry/Sloth-and-the-Weasel...

Blessings my friend

Chris Mills (author) from Traverse City, MI on June 13, 2018:

Shauna, your funny bone has good taste in humor. Thanks for the visit.

Chris Mills (author) from Traverse City, MI on June 13, 2018:

Peg, If this was a Dr. Seuss, it would be called The Pig in the Wig, and it would have been a whole different story line. But thanks for the comparison :)

Shauna L Bowling from Central Florida on June 13, 2018:

Excellent job, Chis! Your poem flows well and tickles the funny bone to boot!

Peg Cole from Northeast of Dallas, Texas on June 13, 2018:

You did a great job in using all these non-rhyming words and created a masterpiece of fun. Reminded me of Dr. Seuss. Wonderful!

Ann Carr from SW England on June 13, 2018:

Great! I look forward to your response.

Ann