Day 27 ~ “Terse Verse” for “30 Poems in 30 Days” #NationalPoetryMonth

Ever since I discovered this fun little poetry form 5 years ago, I haven’t been able to resist using it every year. Writing “terse verses” is so fun and quick, but it’s a bit tricky!!

It will put a smile on your face!! It takes a bit of figuring things out at first, but once you hang of it – it’s hard to stop creating them!!

A “Terse Verse” is usually funny. It’s actually a riddle with a two-word rhyming answer; basically a synonym . . . 

The tricky part is that the two words in the answer must also have the same number of syllables. So, if you use a one-syllable word for the first word, then the second word also needs to be a one-syllable word, or both need to be 2 syllables, etc.

Here are a few of my examples:      

RIDDLE QUESTION: What do you call a joke-telling rabbit?

TERSE VERSE (answer): “Funny Bunny”
[2 syllable word (fun-ny) & 2 syllable word (bun-ny)]
 

What do you call a miserable cat?
“Crabby Tabby”

What do you call a cucumber that can’t make up its mind?

“Fickle Pickle”

What do you call polite frozen water?
“Nice Ice”

        All of the above terse verses © Stephanie Abney

I think the Rhyme Zone tool would come in handy for this – it might be easier to approach this poetry form backward by finding a double rhyming two-word phrase with equal syllables and then create a question or riddle for it.

Here’s the Rhyme Zone tool link: http://www.rhymezone.com/

And here are a few from some of the past participants of “Poetry Month” – (used with permission) Check out their cleverness:

 

What do you call a dog that writes?
Blog Dog

                ~ © 2018 Connie Cockrell

 

What do you call an antique tire?
Rare Spare

                ~ © 2018 Sue Fullmer

 

What do you call a donut on social media?
Twitter Fritter

                ~ © 2018 Victoria Firth

 

What do you call laughing pennies?
Funny Money

                ~ © 2017 Peggy Barker 

 

Can’t wait to see what you come up with! Cheers!!

 

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ any poetry found on this blog, written by me, is my personal property and may not be used without my permission, other than sharing it as an example in a lesson or to read it to someone. The same goes for any poems that are shared in the comments of this blog or elsewhere online as a result of this challenge. They are the creative property of the person who writes them. These poems are their original work and no one may use them without their permission. It is understood that they own the copyright to them as soon as they post them. Thanks so much!

Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or your FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.