Upside Down: an opposite poem

December 16, 2023

Upside Down: an opposite poem

Ladysighs is this week’s W3 Poet of the Week for the W3 Weekly Prompt #85.

Lladysigh’s prompt guidelines

Compose two verses according to the following specifications:

Opposites: The first and last word of each stanza must be opposites of one another.

The two stanzas must use different opposites.

No restrictions on form, length, meter, or rhyme.

Thematic: Write about emotions, attitudes, and/or moods.

I wrote my opposite poem UPSIDE DOWN in response to this up or down, north v south, east or west is best, opposite poetry prompt.

Upside Down

Upside Down

1.
Top of the morning the Irish say,
Top of the morning, 
says the leprechaun,
at the dawn of the day.
He lives with the fairies in my garden.
Pardon? That cannot be true!
I don’t believe you. Strewth! It must be a lie.
Ruth, I tell you the truth. Cross my heart or I die.
The fairies live at the bottom of my garden.
They live at the bottom.

2.
Poor, downhearted, down at heel and very sore,
The tramp tramped all night across Ilkley moor.
He didn’t know what to do,
To alter his circumstance.
(would you?)
By happenstance he came across a town,
Where he tramped up and hobbled down an old, cobbled street.
He was hungry and cold and had nothing to eat.
His energy spent,
He traipsed on and on, back and forth, he went,
To and fro, 
Nowhere to go, his energy spent,
Down and out, he tramped past some kids playing cricket,
Then he stumbled and fell down on the ground,
I bet you can’t guess what he found.
Yes! That’s right! He found a lottery ticket.
There at his feet in the old, cobbled street,
It lay there worth a million pound.
He looked at it and said f***,
 that’s lucky,
Although dressed in rags, and was mucky.
(and to tell the truth smelled rank)
He got up from his knees, 
And was ever so pleased,
(He didn’t know who to thank)
He brushed himself down,
And held his chin up,
scratched an old itch, and thought,
This is good fun,
I’m a son of a gun!
I’m up on my luck and I’m rich.


_{Lesley Scoble, December 2023}

NOTES

The featured photo
Sometimes, when I’m out and about tramping the streets, I like to take photographs. My eye caught this street art girl on a swing painted on the side of a brewery building. It advertises a beer called Courage and I like the message it portrays—and also, the upside-down girl somehow captures my present mood.

Credits
Credit and thanks to Ladysighs for her inspirational prompt. My thanks to David, The Skeptics Kaddish for his unwavering inspiration and poetic encouragement.

Photo Credit
Feature Photo by me: Take Courage street art advertising | Photo©️Lesley Scoble

Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright, (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.