Poetic License (poem)

Reader:
What is this “Poetic License” authors use at will?
Is it comparable to James Bond’s “License to Kill”?

Poet:
“Poetic License” is one of the spices we use
While preparing a savoury dish of literary food.
“Poetic License” is one of the writer’s best tools –
It makes poetry enjoyable and memorable, not just “good”.
“Poetic License” is permission to take the Queen’s English
And make it yours; prepare caviar from the eggs of a fish.
“Poetic License” is a net to catch the wind,
It’s a tune to make your words dance like a fiend.

Reader:
I’m not certain, but I think what you’re trying to say
Is that it allows you to use words in your own unique way.

Poet:
Precisely! Instead of using the dictionary meaning, then,
You massage the words, wine them and dine them.
Instead of saying, “He just managed to beat the deadline,”
You could say, “He caught the tail of the deadline.”
An elusive sun “plays hide-and-seek with the clouds”,
Your teenage daughter’s music is “apocalyptic”, not just loud,
A falling item is “gravity’s guest” (especially if it’s really high),
A blazing white-hot sun shines like “God’s own eye”,
The full moon “caresses the bossom of the ocean,”
A group of stationary helicopters is a “nest” (if they’re about ten),
Torrential rainfall is “hellfire”, a ocean wave is a “scroll”,
A storm is a “holocaust” and cascading human hair, a “waterfall”.  

(c) Alex N Nderitu
http://www.alexandernderitu.com/

Buy Alexander Nderitu's prose and poetry books at: http://stores.lulu.com/NewShakespeare