poetry form week 36, skeltonic verse

Named after its originator, John Skelton, skeltonic verse has a few simple rules:

• Lines are short with two or three stresses…
• …with irregular rhymes…
• …rhythms…
• …and bonus points for alliteration.

to dylan thomas, by Robert Lee Brewer


forgive me sweet dylan
if i sound like a villain
who’s out for a killin’
but i’m no father’s keeper
& i don’t fear the reaper
or the late night creeper
nor rage against dying
as the living are crying
& all self-denying
the world & its trying
way of defying
our hopes & our dreams
once more than it seems
in the glare of the light
on this fragile good night
when we burn & we rave
with our elegant wave
from the almighty hearse
as we cough & we curse
in our skeleton verse
we go gentle you know
with death not our foe
but a friend we must meet
& joyfully greet
for where younger ones rage
their elders just age
& reset the stage
for the beaus & the belles
with their swift villanellemots
as they open the play
with the bold words they say
against both night & day
as our lives fade away