It is also, for me, SCBWI New York Winter Conference Friday. Hooray! This is my first conference in at least ten years, and I'm so excited to be back in the swing of things and to have a lot of projects in the works. I'll be rooming with illustrator Hazel Mitchell and meeting up with many other online friends. Please look for me, if you're there.
A couple weeks ago at The Miss Rumphius Effect, Tricia's Monday Poetry Stretch asked us to write a poem about shoes. Here's the poem I wrote. It is really for adults, although based on the children's nursery rhyme. I urge you to take a look at the other poems in the comments on Tricia's blog, as they are fabulous. I particularly like J. Patrick Lewis's clever poem.
Update, 11 a.m.: I should have included the original nursery rhyme for your reference. Here it is.
Morning Report
She lived in a shoe
so she said
and all those children were not starving.
You could see for yourself.
The pot of broth was there
if you looked
boiling and hissing back in the heel
its ladle angled out like a defiant elbow.
The children were taken away by car
while cameras clicked.
She had lived there a long time
faces coming and going
many fathers.
She was a hard-working woman
so she said
as they carted her away.
Her face was on the news the next day.
Copyright © Toby Speed 2011. All rights reserved.
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth without any bread
and whipped them all soundly, and sent them to bed.
Elaine is hosting the Poetry Friday roundup today at Wild Rose Reader. Enjoy!
In case you missed it,
Three for Tea
debuted on Monday
here at The WA.
17 comments:
Definitely not for kids! Have a great time at SCBWI. Wish I could be there, too!
Scary and sad! No wonder that nursery rhyme always made me uneasy. This is a strong poem nonetheless.
it's funny, because i can recite the first two lines of the original in my head... and i cannot remember how it ended, or if it ended. but from now on i'll never be able to remove the mental picture of her being carted away!
thanks for that. sincerely.
and as for it not being for kids, i don't know. i've hit some pretty rough grimm's tales lately...
YES, that always was a creepy nursery rhyme. Your version is exactly how it must have been!
Such a fine poem! Never quite considered possible consequences of living in a shoe with so many children. A strange nursery rhyme; like your modern day twist on it.
Have fun at the conference today!
I just updated my blog to include the original nursery rhyme, for your reference.
Alison, Andromeda, David, Ruth, Jama, I hadn't really thought about that nursery rhyme before, but it does seem to describe an environment we read about in the news too often. I recently reread "Trail of Stones" by Gwen Strauss, poems based on fairy tales that are stirring and creepy, and also not for children. That may have been the catalyst for this. I wonder if anyone yet has written poems based on nursery rhymes?
Nursery rhymes, like some Fairy Tales, have a certain dark undercurrent - your poem seems to have picked up on that. I love the ladle likened to a "defiant elbow" - that visual will stick with me!
I agree, a very strong poem. And thanks for the pointer towards Gwen Strauss's book; I'll look for it.
I've been meaning to tell you that I discovered that we OWN Two Cool Cows--how fine to make the connection between a beloved book of the past and virtual friend of the present! Wish I were coming to SCBWI, too.
This poem gives me the willies too...in a good way, that I can't shake. Actually, reading it today gave me a spooky deja vu moment, as I knew I'd read it before but saw you posted it today. What a relief to read and remember that I'd read it first at Tricia's blog. For a second, I thought that that woman lived in my HEAD!
Have a grand time at SCBWI. Please report!
A.
This poem makes me think of Jon & Kate Plus 8! I love the lines about comings and goings and many fathers. Wonderful. Hope SCBWI is wonderful too!
Tara, agree about the dark undercurrents. The story that nags at me to be used in some creative way is Hansel and Gretel. We used to have an LP of an opera version of it when I was a child, and it always thrilled and scared me.
Heidi, you'd like the Strauss book. And how cool that you own Cows. When our paths cross I'd be glad to sign it, if you'll sign my copy of your wonderful Pumpkin Butterfly. :)
Thanks, Amy. And I'll write up my impressions of the conference in upcoming blog posts. It's had its good points and those less so. Will sort it all out when I get home tomorrow.
Irene, I never watched the Jon and Kate show, but I heard about them in the news, when they split up. SCBWI has been a little overwhelming for this introvert, but I've enjoyed the speakers and panel discussion today.
Thoroughly enjoyed your 'Old Woman in a Shoe' rhyme. I still remember every nursery rhyme I was ever taught or learned. It's a shame so many people forget them and the faery tales too. Even my ten year old forgets. Perhaps I'm just a big kid who hasn't grown up yet ...Petra Pan perhaps!!!. We have a hardboard book of nursery rhymes containing this one that she cannot bear to look at because the line of children are either being spanked or are about to be.All of them are in tears! Anyway, I love parodies. Have you read the poem by Lynn Peters entitled 'Why Dorothy Wordsworth is not as famous as her brother'? It parodies the poem 'Daffodils' by Wordsworth. Best Wishes, Karen.
Karen, I'm so glad you stopped by and also very glad you started up your unique blog again. I had just started following it and was eager to read more. I'm also a sucker for nursery rhyme books and have a growing collection of them. Those rhymes contain important stories, told concisely and with wit. I haven't read the poem about Dorothy Wordsworth yet, but will look for it now.
How odd. I could swear I commented here on Saturday morning...something about the ladle's defiant elbow.
Oh, well. Glad I checked back on my way through (blog reading luxury -- ice day off school today). Love your take on an old familiar rhyme!
Thanks, ML. We're getting your ice today and tomorrow. Blecch!
I don't know how I missed this one (your poem about the old woman who lived in a shoe), but I loved reading it this morning -- love the tone, especially. Well done! Happy weekend!
Thanks, Jeni. This was one of the rare ones that poured out in about fifteen minutes, needing not much tweaking. "Pour" is my word for 2011, come to think of it.
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