Do I like to write in rhyme?
It certainly takes up all my time,
Just try and make the word: donkey,
Rhyme with anything, bar ‘wonky’.

But, if truth be known, I love to rhyme,
The rise and fall, the words that chime,
The flowing words, so lyrical,
Can make stories quite unpredictable.

Rhyme isn’t just fun to read aloud,
It’s benefits make me proud.
It nurtures children to read well,
Discover words and learn to spell.

It makes kids practice vocal skills,
Use their tongues, even learn to trill!
The melody shows them when to breathe,
How to phrase sentences with great ease.

Using memory, predicting sounds,
Spotting patterns, maths skills abound.
Rhyme doesn’t just improve linguistics,
It even helps with statistics.

But more than teaching all those skills,
Rhyme can give other great thrills:
Spending quality time together,
Cuddled on a sofa, in cold weather.

Reading stories filled with silliness,
Funny characters, daft but villainous,
Sharing excitement, belly laughter,
Memories of ‘happy ever after’.

Above all, rhyme helps you tired mums,
With left over fish fingers in your tums,
Longing for a glass of wine,
And the chance to recline.

For at the end of a busy day,
Read in rhyme, soothe and sway
Those darling monsters off to sleep,
Into a slumber, long and deep.

A Bogie

*Rhyme also very good for you tired dads too.