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This is my playground for poetry written for children with ideas and inspiration for writing your own poems. Come on in. Sit for a spell, have a cup of words to swirl around and make your own cup of poetry. I'm so glad you are here. I hope you'll find the Kingdom of Poetry a fun place to be.

Friday, September 2, 2016

Alligator Pie and a Poem to Try

  As the saying goes, Life happens when you're busy doing something else.  Today I was doing some research for the presentation I'm doing at Poetry Camp (for grownups)  at Western Washington University in Bellevue on Sept. 30.  If you don't know about this fantastic, wonderful, first ever gathering of the clan you can find out more here.  It isn't too late to register for this fun weekend and you are more than welcome to come join the over 40 childrens poets who will be presenting and probably doing some hooting and hollering too. We'll definitely be doing a lot of laughing. It should be a grand gathering.

  Anyway, in my research, I stumbled across a fun poem called Alligator Pie by Canadian poet Dennis Lee.  You can read the poem here.  The poem starts:

Alligator pie, Alligator pie,
If I don't get some I think I'm gonna die.

I had so much fun feeling the words in my mouth, and acting them out that it got my brain spinning.
Dennis Lee has three verses to his poem , Alligator Pie, Alligator stew and Alligator soup.  So I got to thinking about other animals and other foods.  Here is what I've come up with.  (They do say imitation is the highest form of flattery.)

Orangutan cake, orangutan cake,
If I don't get some it would be a mistake.
You can have my shovel. You can have my rake.
But please don't take my orangutan cake.



Caterpillar hash, caterpillar hash,
If I don't get some, I think I'll crash.
You can take my hair and my mustache.
 But please don't take my caterpillar hash.



Rhinoceros slaw, rhinoceros slaw,
I love to eat it totally raw. 
You can have my sister, you can have my pa.
But please don't take my rhinoceros slaw.

Butterfly milk, butterfly milk,
It goes down my throat just like silk.
Give away my chocolate and things of that ilk.
But please don't drink my butterfly milk. 

Armadillo toast, armadillo toast 
It's the food I love most.
You can have your turkey, you can have your roast.
But please don't take my armadillo toast.

OK, you've got the idea of what I'm doing.  Do you want to try?  For your poetry challenge for today, pick an animal and a food then see if you can come up with three rhyming words to write your own verse.  Have fun with your creation and if you'd like to leave your poem in the comments, I'm sure we'd all love to read it.  Do have fun with this.  Maybe you'll have fun illustrating your poem. (Remember, due to COPPA laws, if you're under 13 years of age, please have an adult leave your comment for you.)



poetry friday button
   Today is Poetry Friday and I hope you're safely indoors reading poems.  Penny Parker Klostermann is hosting the round up this week, so you can hop over to her blog A Penny and her Jots to find more poetry posts.  Thank you Penny, for hosting us this week.

  Today I'll be as happy as a camel chewing dates.

18 comments:

  1. I'm not sure I have the stomach for your animedley. My imagination is a wee-bit too vivid. But I can live with a camel chewing dates. Especially because, for a while there, I thought it was chewing caramel. Mmmmm...

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    1. What an astute observation. I love the idea of a caramel chewing camel. I know there is a poem in there, or a yummy name for a sundae.

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  2. Very fun! I like the way you took this and ran with it :-)

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    1. I didn't run. These verses drug me by my finger tips to my keyboard. Once the idea struck, I had to play with it in several variations. I do have fun playing with poetry.

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  3. Who knew alligator pie could inspire so many yummy(?) concoctions. I love the idea of "butterfly milk"... =)

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    1. Just wait till you see what happens with tyrannosaurus tea. That is an easy one to rhyme. And then there is beans. I can hardly wait to play with a group of kids with this.

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  4. What fun, and thanks for the challenge! Here's my contribution:

    Slow sloth stew. Slow sloth stew.
    Takes all day to chew a bite or two.
    You can have the frenzied wild dance you do - but you better not eat my
    s-l-o-w
    s--l--o--t--h
    s---t---e---w.

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    1. Hmmm - I didn't quite format that correctly. But you get my p-o-i-n-t.

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    2. Oh Julie,
      I love this. Especially the ending which fits perfectly for the sloth. I really appreciate your playing poetry games with me.

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    3. Julie, I viewed your poem on my i-phone the first time and it formatted perfectly on the narrow screen.

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  5. Fun challenge, Joy!

    Koala juice, koala juice
    I sip it under the shady spruce,
    while sitting on my soft caboose..
    save me some koala juice!

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    1. Koala juice sounds yummy.
      Great poem, Buffy. Thank you for playing with me.

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  6. Come now, did the Alligators in THE ALLIGATOR'S SMILE put you up to this, Joy? I've heard you should never trust an animal that shows its teeth when smiling.

    Porcupine wine, porcupine wine
    fermented, aged, or off the vine
    you can have my paint or turpentine
    but please don't take my porcupine wine

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    1. Well done, Michelle. Ah, fermented porcupines. Another fun drink.

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  7. Ha! I'l take some rhinoceros slaw and armadillo toast, please! :) Love these, Joy. So much fun. Excited to meet you in WA! xo

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    1. Hey Irene. I love my fairy wings. I've mentioned you in my Labor Day post.

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  8. WOW! You took that alligator stew and made a FEAST! So much fun!

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    1. Well, come play, Mary Lee.
      I always love your poetry.

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