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Split a line from a nursery rhyme and use the halves to open and close a poem. Post yours in the comments section below. This challenge comes from Joe Tessitore, who offers the below two examples:
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“The Farmer in the Dell”
The farmer
Raised a tower for his bell
With tools of power, he built well.
Now on the hour, hear its knell
In field and bower,
In the dell.
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“Mary Had a Little Lamb”
Mary had
A dinner party
And her menu, it was hearty.
For the kids, a can of Spam
And for Grandpa,
A little lamb.
.
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Ring-a-round the rosie,
The air is full of CO-vies
Achoo! Achoo!
We all fall down.
Here I go again writing another nursery rhyme about the pandemic!
(Ha-ha. I can’t seem to stop myself though.)
Really good!
I really like “CO-vies”.
Thank you Mr. Tessitore! That just came out of my head while writing. This challenge is a brain teaser and witty at the same time.
Ring around the rosie.
The air is free of CO-vie.
Batflu, Batflu,
Fauci’s a clown.
Another brilliant rule breaker! Some rules just beg to be broken.
Georgie porgie, pudding and pie,
Kept growing fatter, and didn’t know why.
Could it be pudding and pie every day
Or his penchant for a takeaway?
Here we come gathering nuts in May,
writing poems, poems in May.
Here we come composing rhymes in May,
on a warm and balmy day.
“What is the theme for our rhymes today?”
“We’ll have COVID for our theme today!”
We’ll send doctors to fetch COVID away,
fetch COVID away, fetch COVID away.
We’ll send nurses to fetch COVID away,
on a cold and frosty morning.
————————————————————————————-
Eenie, meenie, minie, moe,
Catch the tyrant by election rows.
If he wins then hear him say:
“I’ll make it great, the USA!”
Baa, baa, black sheep,
I’m in a state of mourning;
The haberdasher ‘s lost my veil,
The clothier’s are all too pale,
And the funeral’s down in Corning.
I’m at a loss and feeling frail,
My head with worries full,
So I’ve come to you with hope of sale:
Have you any wool?
Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,
Though highly pleasing to the eye,
Had a strange diet,
That caused ladies disquiet
(For a regime of parfait
Causes oral decay);
His parents were lost
(And the gals tempest-tossed)
By a charge that he’d always deny:
That he’d kissed the girls and made them cry.
“Will you walk into my parlour?” said the COVID to a guy;
“I’m the nastiest little virus that ever you did spy.
I’ll come in your parlour then you’ll catch me (yes, you’ll do!)
And I’ll do many ghastly things, even fouler than the flu.”
“Oh no, no!” said the cautious guy, “I won’t catch you like other men,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er come down again.”
This is my third poem about the COVID pandemic, only this time it’s taken from Mary Howitt’s poem “The Spider and the Fly.” In the opening line I’ve replaced the word “spider” with the word “COVID” and the word “fly” with “guy” to create a comedic effect on the entire poem.
Oranges and lemons,
Says the doctor quite clement.
Stay healthy and clean,
Says the makers of vaccines.
If you want a cure, pay me money then
Says the vaccine business men.
You must wear a mask,
‘Tis not a toilsome task!
Then you’ll be safe from the CO-vie,
Says the stern CDC.
And as you happily saunter to bed,
The COVID advances her dread widespread
Cough cough sneeze sneeze some poor man is dead!
Good gravy! This is my fourth poem about the COVID pandemic and I have no idea when I’ll stop writing about it! Like the previous poem, I altered the words of the last line to make the rhyme more comic.
The lion and the unicorn
Were fighting for the crown
The lion said to the unicorn
Get out of town!
So scorned he took his wife and horn
To the land where the sun never sets,
Where they dined and whined
On their troubles and strife
But could not agree on white bread or brown
And sadly took to prattling for their sorrows to drown,
Until all were fatigued with the impudent clowns
And drummed them out of town.
(To post or not to post,
I hope you don’t drum me out of here..
I love this site and all the glorious poems)
At least you’re a poet. If they drum you out of here, you’re welcome to join me in the peanut gallery.
Apologies for my unfunny joke. Everyone is much too nice to drum anyone out. It is me feeling guilty as I keep posting and I am not a member.
But Thank you Gail for saying I’m a poet.
Long Lives King Physics
An egghead? Humpty Dumpty? Not at all–
At least not by the law of dropping dead
Since any downfall from a wall too tall
Shall crack an egg or whack an egg yolk head
When Gravity his countless gravy bits
Commands in every bowl within the skies
To shell each eggy bit in one big blitz
Until a hardboiled matter plops and fries
While yet in sync the king at once compels
His saucy bits outnumbered in the earth
Charge up against his untold gravy shells
To proudly save intact an egg white girth–
And all the horses still with all the men
Eggs Benedict put not back in the hen.
The Wheels on the Bus
are turning
we spot the things they pass
landmarks we’re observing
as the people
walk en masse
London town
is glowing
with sights and smells and sound
and the bus we’re on keeps going
as the wheels
go round and round
Ding Dong Bell.
Nations not feeing well?
Get shots of endless boosters!
You will crow and be a sick rooster.
Calling for death of those who don’t!
Their choice stolen, by Mandate, the
Power Goat!
Little Miss Muffet
Has told me to stuff it,
‘Cause Jack is a much better find:
His life is not stressful;
He’s rich and successful,
Intelligent, handsome and kind.
She’s packing her boxes.
The trunk with her socks is
Already locked up in her car.
She’s slamming the door that
Leads out to make sure that
It isn’t left somehow ajar.
Well, after I’d blubbered,
I went to the cupboard
To look for a crateful of ale
But I only found dairy
Leftovers and scary
Green broccoli, cabbage and kale.
I’m not making dinner
For just one poor sinner.
It’s dairy leftovers today.
I’m going to rough it,
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey.
(A break up from years ago, I should add, nothing to do with my present relationship)
Row, row, row your boat,
Thinks Charon callously.
Poor damned souls did not know
Life is but a dream.
Very nicely thought!