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The Edward de Bono Creative TeamTM

BONTOS - Volume 38


There are specific forms of poetry like Limericks, Haiku and the Malaysian Pantun. Each of these have a very formal structure as to number of lines, meter, syllables etc. The meaning is often also tightly prescribed - especially the Pantun.

The Bonto is a new formal type of poetry for use on the net.
There are four lines in each poem.
Rhyming is aa bb.
Syllables: as yet undecided (5, 6 or 7)
Content:

  • First line: sets out some extraordinary behaviour. The more bizarre the better.
  • Second line: gives the explanation for the bizarre behaviour.
  • Third line: gives the result or outcome of the behaviour.
  • Fourth line: provides some "philosophical" reflection on life in general but arising from the situation.

    • God makes 'em double-breasted
    To keep men interested
    And still they want a sign
    Some things indicate design
    © Jim Duthoit & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    Got my life in reverse
    Started out in a hearse
    Just sussed the video
    The future's what we don't know
    © Jim Duthoit & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    Grew a second skin
    To keep the first one in
    Now I'm sluggish and dense
    Grow through experience
    © Jim Duthoit & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    I know I know nothing
    That doesn't mean I'm frothing
    It's called a paradox
    Logic is bol locks
    © Jim Duthoit & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    I am a contradiction
    A mix of fact and fiction
    Though it makes me insane
    Life isn't mundane.
    © Jim Duthoit & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    Dress in wool and fluff
    Say baa instead of woof
    And you'll be well received
    Men are easily deceived
    © Jim Duthoit & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    He jumped from a building in the sky
    Firmly believing he could fly
    A bad idea he quickly found
    He should have tried first, from the ground
    © Thomas A. Forsyth & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    I fed lawyers to a shark
    Thanks to a creative spark
    Lowered them in by their feet
    Some things even sharks won't eat
    © Enza Sgroi & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    I wear antlers on my hat
    To see what folk think of that
    I'm the brunt of jibes and taunts
    Grab your problems by the horns
    © Enza Sgroi & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    I respect the garden gnome
    He stands guard before his home
    What he's thinking we can't guess
    Don't dismiss such small largesse
    © Enza Sgroi & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    I use old tins for my bait
    So the fish are worth the wait
    Fishing is a test of man
    Tackle what you think you can
    © Steve Smith & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    John Wayne's horse rode John to town
    Beasts of burden tie man down
    John's horse suffers saddle-sores
    Every burden has its cause
    © Steve Smith & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    Godiva rides by bike
    This most men dislike
    Until she hits some cobbles
    Move fast, or risk the wobbles
    © Enza Sgroi & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    Joan of Arc liked bonfires bright
    For marshmellows skewered right
    Then she followed in their wake
    Martyrs have a lot at stake.
    © Enza Sgroi & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    Bontos often get absurd
    To prune line lengths word by word
    Then they just relinquish sense
    Wisdom's quite hard to condense
    © Steve Smith & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    Make cocktails long and wet
    To test your chemistry set
    A gut-ache soon will follow
    Don't mix your drinks then swallow
    © Steve Smith & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    Familiar bontos strike you
    To rival clever haiku
    Bontos therefore grow unkempt
    What's familiar breeds contempt
    © Steve Smith & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    Skydive into lion park
    For a challenge after dark
    Cats dispersed by nature's call
    Pride goes before a fall
    © Steve Smith & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    I squeezed babies as a toil
    To extract some baby oil
    They release the brownest crude
    What's refined begins less good.
    © Steve Smith & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

    I teach lemmings how to dive
    So they'll more or less survive
    It's a skill 'til now they've lacked
    Always make a big impact
    © Steve Smith & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1999

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