Write A Poem! Poem by Denis Martindale

I've racked my brains to get it right,
It's not that easy, folks!
The constant strain to stay polite
And not to share my jokes!
The battle for a turn of phrase
Nobody's heard before,
With syllables in perfect place,
Then count them to be sure!

The title takes at least a day,
The first verse takes a week,
With spell checks that I must obey,
Or else I'm up the creek!
With punctuation marks as well,
To set the record straight,
I tell you this, it's bloody hell
And I'm not kidding, mate...

My so-called Muse just comes and goes,
She prompts and prods then leaves,
Yet where she's off to no-one knows,
She's in and out like thieves...
She helped me write the other night,
Then left me in the lurch,
So there I was, when she took flight,
The final verse to search...

I don't get much for all I do,
I don't get paid a mint!
In fact, right there, you've got a clue,
Why every day I'm skint!
But I like writing poetry...
So why should I complain?
A brand new poem's come to me!
Oh, well, here goes... again...