a Tri-le-key.
He has a triangle head,
the body of an eagle
and the feet and tail
of a monkey.
Who says a trilekey
can't be a regular guy.
With eagle wings,
he can soar and fly.
He eats snakes,
he spies on the ground,
and when he sees one
he makes a monkey sound.
hu, hu, hu.
That is the last of the manticores poems I wrote with the second grade students at Kapa'a Elementary School. I was re-reading the Afterword, X. J. Kennedy wrote for the 35th Anniversary Edition of THE REASON FOR THE PELICAN by John Ciardi. He mentions the made up characters of Lewis Carroll, and Edward Lear, and the Bugle-Billed Bazoo, the Brobinyak and the Saginsack of Ciardi. These silly characters opened the door to Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky to add their own wacky characters. Great fun to trace your silly poetry character ancestry back in history. So your challenge for today is to make up your own imaginary character and let us know what it does. Yesterday, on A Writer's Playground, in her blog post Linda Andersen wrote about socks getting lost in the dryer. Now there is a great monster I'd like to know. One that picks your socks off the floor and eats them. What would you call such a monster? Write your poem. Have fun.
The one who asks questions doesn't lose his way. African proverb
