I was on deadline Wednesday, which made for slow pickings in the brain as far as poetry is concerned. See the Danvers Herald, www.wickedlocal.com/danvers, over the next few days, as I post what I wrote, and what my community editor Myrna Fearer wrote, and what a correspondent and others in the community submitted for publication in the newspaper, which is published on Thursday but finished Wednesday night. I am too full of news stuff to find a poem.

Well, maybe one… I am actually thinking of the Beatles’ song, “I heard the new today, Oh my.”

One might argue that it is not a poem. And yet, poetry is supposed to be rooted in the rhythm of the word, spoken or sung. That’s where rhythm started, after all, and rhyme helped people remember, before the widespread ability to read. After all, many of us today use mnemonic tricks to remember such things as names and telephone numbers  (I know I do).

Poetry remains rooted in sound, rhythm, and rhyme. It can be internal rhyme, and the rhythm can be syncopated or interrupted here or there. Still, there must be a flow.

So, here’s the Beatles’ song lyrics. See if you don’t see both rhythm and rhyme.

Actually, I had such a hard time reproducing the lyrics, by looking online, which I do often so I won’t have to retype the whole poem, I give up. Apparently, the Beatles aren’t wealthy enough, so they make it impossible (for me, at any rate, before losing patience) to reproduce the words.

Greed. 60s. All the phony baloney about “Imagine,” which I always thought was easy for them to say… I hated that song.

And, there’s Paul looking oh so cute and vital at Fenway Park last week.

Yeah. In short, I can’t get a copy of the song, “I heard the news today, Oh My.”

And, I can’t think of another poem that mentions the News. Can you? If so, please tell all, right here!