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Poetry by Rowan Evans

Tag: Rap-inspired Poetry

  • Slim & Shady IX: Gods & Monsters – Epic Poetry by Rowan Evans

    Rowan Evans

    Author’s Note

    Slim & Shady IX: Gods & Monsters is a reckoning—an apex of myth, chaos, and lyrical ferocity. In this piece, Olympus trembles beneath the weight of words, monsters roar, and gods are challenged not by force, but by rhythm, rhyme, and raw audacity.

    This installment celebrates the audacious collision of legend and rebellion, a tribute to the voices that have inspired my craft while marking the evolution of my own. It is a hymn for those who revel in chaos, who understand that power is not only in the divine, but in the sharpness of syllables, the precision of cadence, and the courage to rewrite the canon.

    Read it as you would a storm: let it crack the sky, let it shake the ground, let it echo in your bones. Here, I am both the shadow and the spark, the sinner and the saint, and the lyric that laughs while Olympus falls.

    — Rowan Evans

    Rowan Evans-inspired bard confronting gods and monsters atop a crumbling Olympus in epic fantasy style
    Step into the storm—Rowan Evans’ Slim & Shady IX: Gods & Monsters merges myth, rap, and chaos in poetic epicness.

    Slim & Shady IX: Gods & Monsters
    Poetry by Rowan Evans

    I step into Olympus like a burglar with a grudge,
    my words lightning—zip, crack, jagged—
    splitting the sky between divine and damned.
    Zeus blinks, Apollo spits fire,
    but I don’t flinch, I spit back in kind:
    “Your thunder is borrowed, your glory recycled.
    I’m the storm you whispered of in bedtime tales,
    trained in Multiverse & Madness, tempered in velvet venom.”

    Monsters crawl from shadows—Cerberus grins,
    Hydra heads nod,
    each spit venom in Morse code—“Bow or bleed.”
    I laugh, syllables slicing teeth like blades:
    “Bow? Please. Crowns are gutter trophies.
    Bleed? I bathe in ink, come out polished, primed, and lethal.”
    The echoes of Roses & Ruin taught me subtle cruelty; Olympus is my canvas.

    Athena steps forward, wisdom blazing, spear poised.
    I match her gaze, wordplay lacing her logic:
    “Brains without scars are brittle, goddess.
    Even Olympus cracks; silk & sin whispered the lesson—humility through surrender.”
    Her armor gleams, but I see the cracks—my verses find them, widen them, crown them.

    Hades smirks, shadows curling like smoke:
    “Child, you trespass in my playground.”
    I tip my crown, crooked, cocky:
    “Your playground is a grave. I’m here to haunt you tonight.”
    Each line a hammer, each pause a guillotine.
    Brimstone hums in my veins; Blood & Brimstone sang the prep, now I dance.

    Monsters cheer, gods frown,
    and I don’t care—
    I spit verses like bullets ricocheting off marble and bone.
    Word for word, myth for myth,
    I am the chaos in their canon,
    the question mark in every prophecy.

    Poseidon crashes oceans at my feet,
    but I rhyme tidal waves into whispers,
    turn floods into fountains that crown me in silver and ash.
    The monsters howl; the gods bite lips.
    Velvet & Venom drips from every syllable.

    “Gods of Olympus, Monsters of myth, listen—
    I am ink staining legends,
    the echo rewriting epics.
    You think in absolutes; I think in fractures.
    You worship power; I worship voice.
    You claim eternity; I claim truth.
    Bow if you must. Tremble if you can.
    I am both: shadow and spark, sinner and saint,
    the lyric that laughs while heavens fall.”

    Thunder cracks. Cerberus snarls.
    Hydra hisses in unison.
    Athena blinks. Hades pauses.
    And in the silence that follows, I roar:
    “Gods. Monsters. Try me.”

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

    And if you just want to read more of my work, you can find that here: The Library of Ashes

  • Slim & Shady: A Playful Poetic Homage by Rowan Evans

    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.

    Abstract art of a vinyl record surrounded by spinning words and ink splashes, representing lyrical play and poetic energy.
    Slim & Shady spins—a tribute to wordplay, rhythm, and poetic devotion outside the ordinary.

    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

    A ritualized or thematic verse for special occasions

    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.

    ✨ Special Offer: Use code NGCR25 at checkout to receive 25% off any commission until the end of the month. Let these words become your keepsake, your offering, your moment of devotion.

    Ko-Fi