For Day 8 of Intro to Poetry, the topic is Pleasure. The device to employ is either anaphora or epistrophe. Both involve word repetition–anaphora at the beginning of lines, epistrophe at the end of lines. 

In the poem below, I have set aside the anaphora and epistrophe for another day. It was difficult enough to come up with things to say about a series of books by a very funny author who passed away over a year ago. His name was Terry Pratchett. These books have given me a great deal of pleasure over the years, and have provided me with humor when there was little to smile about. My poem attempt is a lowly little tribute to the art of a great writer, the Discworld he created, and the pleasure he has brought me.

*

The Discworld’s Stories

The smiles they elicit, the laughter they breed,

Every disaster a lesson indeed.

The magic is subtle, the living is rough.

More than 40 great books, but still not enough.

Terry Pratchett is gone now, no new Discworld tales,

Though his books live forever in readers’ regales.

There’s Granny and Rincewind,  and wiley Ridcully,

Befuddled old Death, and dark Vetinari;

Old Nanny, Tiffany, Grebo the cat,

There’s The Luggage, also a “wizzard”-ly hat.

There’s Watch Captain Vimes and his wife, Lady Sybil,

The Librarian, Cut-Me-Own-Troat Dibbler,

Adopted dwarf Carrot, and Colon and Noby, 

And werewolves and vampires, and zombies. There be

Goblins and dwarves and fairies and spirits,

Old-fashioned chores and failures and merit.

A world flat as a pancake with a river of slurry.

Many more characters, so many stories.

The knighted satirist has long gone away,

Yet left us his stories to pass merry days.

RIP, Terry Pratchett. 

##