Hackers: Writing

Writing

I once set out to write a rhyme:

Something to do to pass the time.

I tried to write, but at each verse

My words grew dull, the rhythm worse:

And so I stopped.

I wrote a story, short and sweet,

Then tried to force it, make it meet

The standards of a classic book.

I lengthened it to make it look

A masterpiece, with gripping plot

Great characters and themes: the lot!

But cracks appeared after a while

That revealed a laboured style:

And so I stopped.

I sat down at my desk one day –

I had in mind to write a play,

A quasi-tragicomedy –

A timeless great my play would be.

I wrote from three till half past four,

Then found that I could write no more:

For I learnt that, during Act Two,

My hero had nothing to do:

And so I stopped.

I started my biography –

I set it out as poetry.

Each poem on a different theme,

Like love, life, friendship, and writing.

But on myself, I have no thought:

So I must end this too, of course.

                                         Gregory Walton-Green