top of page
Writer's pictureMark Bird

Getting Shirty: A poem of puns, idioms, personification and wordplay

Updated: Jul 2, 2023

I love teaching figurative language: puns, idioms, personification and general #wordplay which are so much fun to explore through poems.


How many different types of #figurativeLanguage can you find in my silly poem called #GettingShirty? And how many words can you find to do with shirts?


Getting Shirty


Tonight

I’m getting shirty

Sleeve me alone!

I’m not yoking!

Button it!

Placket in!

Or I’ll dart off

and you’ll never collar me

cuf’ I’m quicker than you

and arm-hole lot stronger too!


We used to live

in each other’s pocket

We used to crease

each other up

but these days

we just can’t seam

to iron out our differences


If you see hem again

or do the dirty

I’ll take you to the cleaners

I’m at boiling point

because you keep

spinning the truth

that we’re all-white


And just because

I’ve been labelled inside

as the one who knows

how to care

I’m not sure

I can stop the cycle

of us shrinking

or fading


Mark Bird


Tie dye shirts hanging on a rail
Getting Shirty


23 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page