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An English word that doesn't seem to rhyme with anything is "orange", which is a bit problematic because that one word describes not only a color, but a fruit that is very helpful in preventing scurvy. Surely there must be many occasions in which one would wish to write something poetical about an orange or about something orange? What to do? What to do?

Well, one solution could be to slip in some kind of substitution for the word. Instead of the orange (meaning: scurvy preventing fruit), perhaps you could jot down "citrus fruit", which may throw off your iambic pentameter a bit, but who cares? When referring to the color orange, how about using the word "tangerine", which doubles beautifully as both a scurvy preventing citrus fruit and a color. That really isn't too much of a stretch, is it?

Another suggestion would be to use a non-English word instead. Heck, Spanish is practically the new English, so why not use the Spanish word for "orange"? It's "anaranjado", which has five syllables, but it sure is fun to say.

When all else fails, try writing the kind of poetry that doesn't rhyme. That's usually what I do!

Learn more about this author, Debbie Atwood.
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