Poetry by Rowan Evans

Author’s Note

Slim & Shady represents an intentional departure from my typical Neo-Gothic Confessional Romanticism style. While my work often navigates darkness, devotion, and the sacred intimacy of emotional intensity, this piece allowed me to explore playfulness, wordplay, and the rhythm of language in a more extroverted, lyrical mode.

The poem is inspired by the energy and craft of rappers like Eminem and Ez Mil—artists whose work demonstrates that poetry can exist outside the page, in beats, bars, and flow. Here, I experimented with pun-driven humor, internal rhymes, and clever metaphors, while still maintaining a personal voice and poetic precision.

Writing Slim & Shady was an exercise in flexibility and homage: to show that my creativity is not confined to one aesthetic, to embrace influences beyond traditional literary sources, and to honor the ways that music, modern lyricism, and pop culture inform the poetry I write.

This poem is as much a celebration of language’s agility as it is a declaration that my writing—while often dark, confessional, and intense—can also be mischievous, clever, and audacious.

Slim & Shady
Poetry by Rowan Evans

I’m slim and a little shady, 
but my name isn’t Marshall, baby. 
I don’t play games—I’ll show you, 
you’re all that matters (Mathers), maybe. 
 
I spit bars like Morse code, 
dots and dashes tracing your pulse in secret mode. 
A pun dealer, word-wrangler, lyricist on call, 
my syllables hit harder than a heavyweight in a brawl. 
 
I walk in soles, not just with souls, 
kickin’ rhymes while your world rolls. 
License to rhyme, no paperwork filed, 
parking my wit in your mind, untamed and wild. 
 
Cupid called—he wants his arrows back, 
I said “Sorry, they’re trapped in a pun-packed stack.” 
Knight of puns, Queen of quips, 
cocktails of cleverness sliding to your lips. 

I rhyme in circles, loop devotion, 
heart stuck on repeat in clever-motion. 
“You love me,” you say—I hear: 
“I’ll pun your heart like it’s fresh veneer.” 
 
I swing metaphors like a playground sword, 
hyperboles armed, similes stored. 
Shady? Maybe. Slim? Of course. 
I bend words like rivers, a linguistic force. 
 
I’m the mixtape of thought you didn’t know you needed, 
the chorus of chaos, perfectly seeded. 
I spit fire, not smoke—incendiary lines, 
crossword puzzle heart, riddled in signs. 
 
Your laugh? A semicolon in my sentence— 
pause, breath, then back to my pence. 
Double meanings double the fun, 
like two-step lyrics under the pun-sun. 
 
I slide in rhymes, slicker than gel, 
tongue-tied labyrinth, I’ll never fail. 
Slim, shady, sly, not Marshall but true, 
I pun my devotion, spelling it out for you. 
 
I’m the vinyl scratch in your mental groove, 
the hidden hook you never saw move. 
I take your name, make it rhyme, and spin, 
pun-demic heart—welcome, come on in.

Journey in the Hexverse

Feral Cathedral — Hex Nightshade
Dive into the raw, feral worship of desire in Feral Cathedral. A hymn to hunger, chaos, and devotion—where teeth, breath, and pulse become sacred.

Gold in Open Hands — Rowan Evans
A quiet liturgy for those who give without spectacle, who hold the weight of others’ lives tenderly, scattering hope like seeds and crafting a sanctuary in the cracks of the world.

Through the Shattered Glass — B.D. Nightshade
Enter the mind of a fractured soul, piecing together the aftermath of a night shrouded in blood and memory. Fragments of self, shadowed actions, and haunting reflections collide—leaving only one question: What have I done?

More Slim & Shady

If you are interested in reading the whole series, find it here: The Slim & Shady Series

✦ Poetic Commissions by Rowan Evans ✦

Every word I write is a devotion, a fragment of shadow and light carefully shaped into verse. On my Ko-fi, I offer custom poems, personalized rituals in language, and lyrical messages crafted just for you—or someone you wish to honor, surprise, or remember.

Whether you seek:

A poem for a loved one, friend, or muse

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A written reflection to say everything you struggle to

…each commission is approached with care, reverence, and the intensity of my signature Neo-Gothic Confessional Romanticism.

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