More "Poetry" At Its Finest-ish-ish...
On more than one occasion in my childhood, I recall having sudden bursts of "creativity" and feeling compelled to draw, sing, write, or construct something amazing. Rarely did these projects turn out the way I envisioned them - and more often than not, I became so full of rage that they did not end up being completed. It should be noted that this cycle of behaviour often caused me to have Excessive Amounts of Concern...and I'm sure/I hope it may have caused those around me to feel the same way.
Aaaaanyway, on one such occasion I was inspired to become a poet. My neighbour gave me a special green spiral-bound notebook labelled as "Sarah's Poetry Book", and emblazoned with neon orange "IMPORTANT!" stickers...and off I went. I do remember this part. What I do NOT remember (or have perhaps blocked out) is actually writing the series of 26 Letter Poems. Unfortunately, they are clearly in my 9-year-old hand-writing...and some are even illustrated (again, poorly yet unmistakably by me).
As with the wildly popular " What Is Green?", written approximately 2 years prior, I seemed to have some difficulty with the concept of rhyming, as well as the small matter of style/uniformity/dignity/etc.. There is little else one can say to prepare oneself for reading this sort of rare literary treasure, so without further ado, I present Sarah's Terrifyingly Random Alphabet Poetry - and I use that last term (Poetry) very loosely. I would also like to point out that these were all written for my own enjoyment, and not for any sort of school assignment (I was SUCH a KEENER!!). I'm not sure if that makes it better, or worse...but, there it is.
A is for APPLE -
Red, yellow, green.
You must be kind
And never be mean.
B is for BAROMETER,
Up on the wall.
There is the mercury -
Don’t let it fall.
C is for CAT
With a very long tail,
And if you pull it
You’ll go to jail.
D is for DOGGIE -
Tiny or large.
They won’t fit in a baggie;
They’re not allowed on a barge.
E is for ELEPHANT -
Tusks, trunk and all.
They’ll fit in a jungle,
But not in your hall.
F is for FAMILY -
Parents and kids.
All families argue:
Didn’ts and dids.
G is for GROWN-UPS.
Sometimes they yell.
Sometimes they talk.
They’ll help if you fell.
H is for HORSE
With a tail and a mane.
Babies are ponies -
Kind of like a Great Dane.
I is for ICE -
All slippery wet.
If you fall, you will cry;
So will your pet.
J is for JUMPING -
Jump high and jump low.
You can jump in the sun,
But not in the snow.
K is for KITTEN,
With little slit eyes.
They’ve got little eveverything.
They don’t eat pies.
L is for LION -
A cousin of cats.
They’re a little bit bigger.
Their manes look like hats.
M is for ME -
I drove Mrs. Malenfant batty.
Now I think I’ll go home,
And bother my Daddy.
N is for NUTS -
They’re things that you eat.
You may hurt yourself cracking one.
They don’t go near your feet.
O is for OCTOPUS -
Skinny and small.
He looks like a rhino
Scrunched up in a ball.
P is for PUDDING -
Chocolate and plain.
They come in a can
You can eat on a train.
Q is for QUARTER -
It’s got a moose.
If you flip it over,
You won’t find a goose.
R is for RAT -
Mine’s name is Op.
Nobody likes her;
She really hates soap.
S is for SNAKES,
All slimy and scaly.
They don’t have any legs.
They don’t bite, well barely.
T is for TURTLE -
They’re very slow.
They swim or they walk.
If you fall, please make sure there’s no turtle below.
U is for UNDERWEAR,
Undershirt too.
They go under your clothes -
That’s what they do.
V is for VIOLIN -
Sometimes it screeches.
It’s got lots of strings,
But don’t play it on beaches.
W is for WALRUS,
With tusks that stick out.
It goes in the water;
It’s really quite stout.
X is for X-RAY.
It’s done very fast.
It’s a big, big machine -
You might need a cast.
Y is for YOW -
I got soap in my eye!
It hurts very much,
But I’ll try not to cry.
Z is for ZEBRA -
Black and white stripes.
It looks like a horse,
But it doesn’t get mites.
Quite impressive, really - and some very astute observations for a 9-year-old, I must say. It is tragically unfortunate that no one ever discovered my inner gift for poetry - but perhaps it's just as well. The fame may well have marred my otherwise neurotic, well-adjusted childhood.
Be kind to each other ("rhymes" with cover).
Over and out ("rhymes" with boat)".
Aaaaanyway, on one such occasion I was inspired to become a poet. My neighbour gave me a special green spiral-bound notebook labelled as "Sarah's Poetry Book", and emblazoned with neon orange "IMPORTANT!" stickers...and off I went. I do remember this part. What I do NOT remember (or have perhaps blocked out) is actually writing the series of 26 Letter Poems. Unfortunately, they are clearly in my 9-year-old hand-writing...and some are even illustrated (again, poorly yet unmistakably by me).
As with the wildly popular " What Is Green?", written approximately 2 years prior, I seemed to have some difficulty with the concept of rhyming, as well as the small matter of style/uniformity/dignity/etc.. There is little else one can say to prepare oneself for reading this sort of rare literary treasure, so without further ado, I present Sarah's Terrifyingly Random Alphabet Poetry - and I use that last term (Poetry) very loosely. I would also like to point out that these were all written for my own enjoyment, and not for any sort of school assignment (I was SUCH a KEENER!!). I'm not sure if that makes it better, or worse...but, there it is.
A is for APPLE -
Red, yellow, green.
You must be kind
And never be mean.
B is for BAROMETER,
Up on the wall.
There is the mercury -
Don’t let it fall.
C is for CAT
With a very long tail,
And if you pull it
You’ll go to jail.
D is for DOGGIE -
Tiny or large.
They won’t fit in a baggie;
They’re not allowed on a barge.
E is for ELEPHANT -
Tusks, trunk and all.
They’ll fit in a jungle,
But not in your hall.
F is for FAMILY -
Parents and kids.
All families argue:
Didn’ts and dids.
G is for GROWN-UPS.
Sometimes they yell.
Sometimes they talk.
They’ll help if you fell.
H is for HORSE
With a tail and a mane.
Babies are ponies -
Kind of like a Great Dane.
I is for ICE -
All slippery wet.
If you fall, you will cry;
So will your pet.
J is for JUMPING -
Jump high and jump low.
You can jump in the sun,
But not in the snow.
K is for KITTEN,
With little slit eyes.
They’ve got little eveverything.
They don’t eat pies.
L is for LION -
A cousin of cats.
They’re a little bit bigger.
Their manes look like hats.
M is for ME -
I drove Mrs. Malenfant batty.
Now I think I’ll go home,
And bother my Daddy.
N is for NUTS -
They’re things that you eat.
You may hurt yourself cracking one.
They don’t go near your feet.
O is for OCTOPUS -
Skinny and small.
He looks like a rhino
Scrunched up in a ball.
P is for PUDDING -
Chocolate and plain.
They come in a can
You can eat on a train.
Q is for QUARTER -
It’s got a moose.
If you flip it over,
You won’t find a goose.
R is for RAT -
Mine’s name is Op.
Nobody likes her;
She really hates soap.
S is for SNAKES,
All slimy and scaly.
They don’t have any legs.
They don’t bite, well barely.
T is for TURTLE -
They’re very slow.
They swim or they walk.
If you fall, please make sure there’s no turtle below.
U is for UNDERWEAR,
Undershirt too.
They go under your clothes -
That’s what they do.
V is for VIOLIN -
Sometimes it screeches.
It’s got lots of strings,
But don’t play it on beaches.
W is for WALRUS,
With tusks that stick out.
It goes in the water;
It’s really quite stout.
X is for X-RAY.
It’s done very fast.
It’s a big, big machine -
You might need a cast.
Y is for YOW -
I got soap in my eye!
It hurts very much,
But I’ll try not to cry.
Z is for ZEBRA -
Black and white stripes.
It looks like a horse,
But it doesn’t get mites.
Quite impressive, really - and some very astute observations for a 9-year-old, I must say. It is tragically unfortunate that no one ever discovered my inner gift for poetry - but perhaps it's just as well. The fame may well have marred my otherwise neurotic, well-adjusted childhood.
Be kind to each other ("rhymes" with cover).
Over and out ("rhymes" with boat)".