I watched the political debates,
With all Republican candidates
Neatly aligned in rows,
So their true color shows,
When grilled by Media heavyweights.
A boost to the TV rating slump,
As viewers tuned in for Donald Trump.
He didn't disappoint,
As he lit up the joint.
His language dominated the stump.
Should the women and immigration
Dominate the poll's conversation?
Worldly prospects of war
Could lead to so much more.
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Author Notes
I intentionally tried to steer away from specifics here, to only speculate on Trump stealing most of the spotlight, and how the Media focused more on that, than any other issues.
This Poem is a Limerick Sonnet.
Since I found none, I created this format myself.
The format uses the signature Limerick syllable count and rhyme scheme. A limerick is a form of poetry which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The oldest attested text in this form is a Latin prayer by Thomas Aquinas of the 13th century. The form appeared in England in the early years of the 18th century. It was popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century, although he did not use the term. Gershon Legman, who compiled the largest and most scholarly anthology, held that the true limerick, as a folk form, is always obscene, and cites similar opinions by Arnold Bennett and George Bernard Shaw, describing the clean limerick as a "periodic fad and object of magazine contests, rarely rising above mediocrity". From a folkloric point of view, the form is essentially transgressive. Violation of taboo is part of its function. Of course that's all debatable.
So, that is the form I modified to create this Sonnet. Since the Limerick uses a Quintet (5 line) structure, I elected to give it two closing couplets rather than one, in order to achieve the classic 14 lines. The frist couplet has 9 syllables. The second has 6 syllables. The Volta comes at the first couplet (lines 11 and 12).
The rhyme scheme is: aabba ccddc ee ff.
The syllable count is: 9,9,6,6,9 - 9,9,6,6,9 - 9,9 - 6,6
Being about politics, I thought the limerick a good choice of format.
This photograph is from Yahoo Images.
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