The Grammar Lesson Poem by Steve Kowit

The Grammar Lesson

Rating: 5.0


A noun's a thing. A verb's the thing it does.
An adjective is what describes the noun.
In "The can of beets is filled with purple fuzz"

of and with are prepositions. The's
an article, a can's a noun,
a noun's a thing. A verb's the thing it does.

A can can roll - or not. What isn't was
or might be, might meaning not yet known.
"Our can of beets is filled with purple fuzz"

is present tense. While words like our and us
are pronouns - i.e. it is moldy, they are icky brown.
A noun's a thing; a verb's the thing it does.

Is is a helping verb. It helps because
filled isn't a full verb. Can's what our owns
in "Our can of beets is filled with purple fuzz."

See? There's almost nothing to it. Just
memorize these rules...or write them down!
A noun's a thing, a verb's the thing it does.
The can of beets is filled with purple fuzz.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Jim Dunlap 02 September 2005

This is a delightful poem. Villanelles are difficult to write, and the poet has done an excellent job on this one. The current poetry style in villanelles is to write something funny or something light. This certainly qualifies. All in all, a great job.

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