One of the quickest ways to get lines of poetry out of my head and into words on a page, is on Twitter. In fact, the 140 character limit that Twitter enforces can help you get to the point and not “overdo” your use of language. It also lends itself well to whimsical thoughts…
So here they are. See what you think. Some poetweets on the subject of social networking first.
1. I’m a little tweeter, / short and stout. / Here’s my handle (@craig_hopton), / check me out. #poetweet
2. Twitter, 4sq, Pinterest, / Google+ & all the rest. / With so much out there I really can’t see / why it is you’re just on fb. #poetweet
3. Our luv has come a long long way but actions r louder thn words they say.So if u say u really luv me, cudn’t u give me a litul RT? #poetweet
4. Roses are red / Violets are blue / If I follow you on Twitter / Will you follow me too? #poetweet
Next, poetweets about sleep (I have an eight week year old son so maybe that is why I’m so interested in this topic?!)
5. Going to sleep / Counting sheep / You won’t hear from me / Another peep. #poetweet good night
6. I tried to sleep, / I tried to dream, / but ’tis not my destiny / it would seem. #poetweet #parenthood
7. The stars are out / The moon is too / I wish I wasn’t / but what’s new? #poetweet
8. The sun is still sleeping / but not me. / Oh well / what will be will be. #poetweet
9. The stars are out / The moon is bright / My rhyming has all gone wrong because *yawn* *zzzzzzzzzz* #poetweet
Next, some lovepoetweets.
10. I love you. / You love me. / Now let’s have / a cup of tea. #poetweet
11. A shade of you, a pigment, hue, / gives colour to everything that I do.#lovepoetweet
12. The leaves are orange, brown and gold. / When we’re young, / when we’re old. #autumncolours #lovepoetweet
13. If a butterfly was tangled in your hair / I wouldn’t tell you about it – / I’d leave it there. #lovepoetweet
14. Leaves, leaves, crunch under my feet, / And if you hold my hand / They’ll crunch under your feet too. #lovepoetweet #autumn
15. I am a person. / So are you. / But we are not a person. / We’re two. #lovepoetweet
16. The meaning of life / I know not, / But for a collection of atoms / You’re pretty hot. #lovepoetweet
Finally, a couple of reworkings of the poem “Twinkle, twinkle”:
17. Twinkle, twinkle little star, / I don’t wonder what you are. / I am in no doubt at all / you’re a burning gaseous ball. #poetweet
18. Twinkle, twinkle little star, / photons streaming from afar. / Deep inside hot helium forging / Coronal masses gas disgorging. #poetweet (this isn’t actually my poem! someone whose name I’ve forgotten tweeted it to me as a “scientifically correct” response to my version of Twinkle, twinkle, but I think it’s great!)