Hi, everyone,
Steven Withrow is one of our oldest friends and contributors. When I started Word of the Month Poetry Challenge in October 2009, Steven was there with a poem. He continues to lend support and challenging ideas such as this one. He’s also a good papa and I love it that he and his daughter Marin together present us with this opportunity. If you have young people around you, I hope you’ll include them in the fun too. Thanks, Steven.
David, my daughter and I were listening to the Beach Boys on the radio, and we had a little fun with the lyrics. Below is a what-if poem and a song parody combined (it’s completely silly, and it works best if you sing it to the rhythm of the song). Either type of poem (or both) might be a fun challenge for the visitors to your blog. All best, Steven
Serpin’ U.S.A.
(a chart-topper from the short-lived “snake rock” craze from the early 1960s)
If everybody had a Kraken
Or a Leviathan
Then everybody’d be serpin’
Like in old Narn-I-A
You’d see ’em wrigglin’ their backbones
And their tail rattles, too
A scaly, scary long Hydra
Serpin’ USA
You’d catch ’em serpin’ on to Mars (Inside, outside, U.S.A.)
Never-Neverland
Wizard’s Oz and Xanadu
And Tolkien’s Middle-earth
All over Atlantis
And down the Rabbit Hole
Everybody’s gone serpin’
Serpin’ U.S.A.
We’ll all be mappin’ out a route
Where cows jump over the moon
We’re slitherin’ our serpents
With the Dish and the Spoon
We’ll disappear for the summer
And reappear the next day
Magic creatures we’re serpin’
Serpin’ U.S.A.
At Hogwarts and Earthsea
Prince Charming’s Palace Gates
Land of Eternal Sunset
Pellucidar and Prydain
All over the Dark Realms
Of Terebith-I-A
Everybody’s gone serpin’
Serpin’ U.S.A.
Yeah, everybody’s gone serpin’
Serpin’ U.S.A.
(With apologies to the Beach Boys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s4slliAtQU )
Steven Withrow
http://cracklesofspeech.blogspot.com
http://poetryatplay.org
Children's Author David L. Harrison's Blog 