WHEELS ON THE ROAD

The wheels on the car,
squish, squish
thump, thump
over the hot tar road.

The wheels on the pick up truck
squish, squish
bump,bump
over the macadam road.

The wheels on the dump truck
squish, squish
rattle, rattle
over the gravel road.

The wheels on the semi truck
squish, squish
swish, swish
over the highway road.

The wheels on the bus
squish, squish
jump, jump
over the wet, black road.

All the vehicles
come and go, come and go
splashing, bouncing
rolling over all our roads.


  There were a lot of cars out on my morning walk, and this is what I came up with.  If you're a fan of THE WHEELS ON THE BUS, you might see some similarities, except I'm going with different vehicles; and all of the tires go squish, squish.  Do you have an idea why?

   Now stick with me here.  I jumped from this idea to how I could take the same cadence of WHEELS, to my pet turtle.

MY PET TURTLE

The head on my turtle,
ducks right in,
ducks right in,
ducks right in.
The head on my turtle,
ducks right in,
hiding in his shell.

Can you see how the verses for the feet and tail might follow?  Now, jump back to a child going to bed.

GOING TO BED

The toes on my feet
tuck right in,
tuck right in,
tuck right in.
The toes on my feet
tuck right in
to my snugly bed.

  Then you could move to:
the feet on my legs, the knees on my legs, the shins on my legs, the thighs on my legs-- you name a body part and it can be tucked into bed.  And if a child doesn't want to go to sleep he could keep you going all night thinking of body parts to tuck into bed.

  So, here is your challenge--think of an object--animal, mineral, or vegetable, and write your own short verse using this repetitive cadence.  Have fun with this, you can be as weird and bizarre as you choose.  Just WRITE, and have fun with poetry.

WHAT IS POETRY?
Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.--Percy Byshe Shelly

  It is finding the truth, no need to lie.
  It's munching on watermelon and letting seeds fly.
 
  It's a letter that comes with a card in the mail.
  It's the lacy silver threads left by a garden snail. 
 
  It's daffodil trumpets covering the hill.
  It's a deer at the creek, drinking her fill.
 
  It's giggling and laughing and being absurd.
  It's reading a haiku and feeling each word. 

  It's a dragon who blows flames, loud and hardy.
  It's fairies in the garden having a tea party.

   It's the sound of a truck shifting its gears.


  
     I hope you are enjoying National Poetry Month.  Just for fun can you write an acrostic poem today using "Poetry" or any other word you choose? 


  OK, let's see if I can quickly do this.


Please,
open you heart, your
eyes and mind
to the wonder of words;
remember your
yearning to be surrounded.

   I think I'm going to need to come back to this again later.  Have fun with your own word experimentation.