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

ELEMONKOE

My ele-mon-koe
is amazing and neat
with an elephant's head,
a monkey body,
and two canoes for feet!

He trumpets his trunk.
Through the river he glides.
Splash and swish.
Eating peanuts and bananas
is his favorite wish.

    Are you tired of manticore poems?   I hope not.  I'm still having fun.  I enjoyed how the children thought canoes would make good feet.  Remember, I live on an island where children participate in canoe teams for paddling competitions.  This is a part of their culture and certainly good material for poems.

       Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day.  Did you carry a poem today to share with friends and family?

It is Poem in Your Pocket Day
and here's what I'll do,
I'll carry a poem
to share with you.

I'll take out my poem
and learn it by heart,
and then you'll think
I'm very smart. 

Eat more poetry!

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.

Another Manticore

This manticore has a squid head, turtle body and cat feet.  We called him a squiturat.  He also is wearing a tutu and glasses.

Sebastion, my squiturat
loves ballet,
except he's fat.

He can't leap
off the ground,
with cat feet,
he falls down. 

      This is another manticore poem, written with the second graders at Kapaa Elementary School in Kauai, Hawaii.  Can you tell I had a really good time working with the hildren? 
          Can you try making your own manticore poem.  Take three animals, or objects and piece them together and then give the creature you've made a name.  Where does your creature live?  What does it eat?  What does it like to do?  Have fun creating and writing your poem.

 
E mahalo kakou i ka mea loa'a.  Let us be thankful for what we have.  A Hawaiian proverb.

Thank You Esperanza Elementary Poets

Yesterday I visited with fine young poets from Esperanza Elementary School in Phoenix AZ.  This is a picture of the Princess of Poetry with their teacher Ken Slesarik.  We had a grand time learning former children's poet laureate Jack Prelutsky's poem EYEBALLS FOR SALE  from his book Pizza the Size of the Sun.  We made up our own manticores (a mythical beast with the head of a lion, the body of a human and the tail of a dragon or scorpion) and then wrote poems about them. 
     With the children's help I made a beaversaurus with the head of a beaver, the body of a boy, legs of a horse and the tail of a dinosaur.  We decided to call it a beaversaures and called it Mr. S. after their teacher.

So here is my lame picture of the beaversaures.

 

MY MANTICORE

Mr. S is my beaversaures.

He likes singing

in the school chorus.

He sings high.

He sings low.

He sings poems

where ever he goes.

(More verses to follow.)

     Have fun making your own manticore and writing a poem about it.  You can use your five senses to find things to tell about your creature.