MANTICORE VII

My manticore is
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

Manticore IV

My manticore is a go-ti-urtle.
He has the head of a goat
and the feet of a turtle.

With wings of an eagle
and a centipede body
painting his skateboard
is his favorite hobby.

   So we're still working on manticore poems.  Take the head, body and tail, wings or feet of three different animals and see what you get.  Can you make up a name for your creature?  What does it like to do?  Where does it live?  What does it eat?  Can you write your own manticore poem?
   You might also enjoy reading the poem "Eyeballs for Sale" written by Jack Prelutsky from his book PIZZA THE SIZE OF THE SUN. 

May you experience wonder.  May your heart sing and rejoice.

MANTICORE III

   This manticore has the head of a dog.  The body of a pentagon.  Cat feet and tail, and eagle wings.  I couldn't remember how to make a five sided shape, so I drew a five pointed star first, and then connected the points.  Hey, it worked.  I'm not that great an artist, but I'll always give it a try.  Just wait till I share the goat head.  I love how the kids stretch my abilities.  The name we came up with for this manticore was a Do-pen-at-le.

My dopenatle is named Jaxs.
He eats dogfood
with his friends
the dog,
eagle,
and cat.
His body
is a pentagon.
He flies in the air
and soon
is gone.  

   This poem was written with the help of second graders at Kapaa Elementary School in Kauai, Hawaii.  Can you try making your own manticore creature and then writing a poem about it?  Have fun creating.

   A poem and bubblegum have a lot in common.