 About this poem: When my niece and nephew were toddlers, my sister, Susanna, thought it would be hilarious if she told them that our parents have tails that no one ever saw because they kept them inside their pants. As my sister and her family lived right down the road, her kids saw a lot of their grandparents. But never enough of them to know if it was true.
Much to my disappointment, Susanna controlled her impulse and never actually told Chloe and Myles that Mom and Dad have tails. But when I had my own children, I wasn't so mature. They only believed me for a little while, but still, IT HAS NEVER BEEN VERIFIED EITHER WAY. PS: Prehensile is one of my favorite words. Appendages that can curl are prehensile, like an opossum's tail or a monkey's toes. I wish I had a prehensile tail I could write with.
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Terklington Fluffious Foresterhof,
My grizzled old hamster, is out of his mind. He’s convinced that he lives in a kingdom he rules full of fools. He’s half deaf and all blind. Terklington Fluffious Foresterhof sleeps all day and he parties all night. His gold wheel emits a high, terrible squeal That he pays me to fix with a bite. I scoop up his poop and I freshen his bedding and offer fat seeds he receives with delight. Terklington Fluffious thinks that he’s king! I’m glad that he’s not right. ABOUT THIS POEM: This poem was my entry for Round 2 in the 2019 MadnessPoetry tournament. I lost. But I lost by a very small margin to a very good poet, RJ Clarken. I admit, I didn't take full advantage of the prompt word, "grizzled," but once King Terklington got into my head, there was no budging him. I like the internal rhymes in this verse, and the fact that the hamster's "master" really thinks that he's the one in charge. I also just enjoy hamsters, even when they're cranky.  As you're dashing for the rainbow's end
to claim that pot o' gold, if the world holds up a STOP sign will you do as you are told? Well some folks would. And they're the ones whom no one'd ever scold. They'd stop and wait for a sign to GO cuz they're doin' as they're told. They'd never find the rainbow's end, just stand until they're old and watch their dreams evaporate, doin' as they're told. So when a STOP sign looms ahead, sure, do as you are told: stop. Look both ways. Then GO! Go find that pot o' gold. ABOUT THIS POEM: I was out running one morning and turned a corner to see this amazing rainbow. It ended right there in the field across the street, just beyond two signs telling me to STOP! I thought about how boring and primitive the world would be if everyone chasing a rainbow stopped when they were told to. Of course, it's always a good idea to stop at a stop sign, but it's important to never, ever forget to start going again! |
authorMs. Betsy's oldest surviving poem is one she wrote in the third grade. "Down in the Sewer" didn't make her popular, but it made a small group of loyal fans very cheerful. Some of the latest poems she's written, "Poems of Galapagos," appeared in Cricket Magazine's July/August 2020 issue. She hopes they'll reach a wider audience than her first poem did, and make more people cheerful...and possibly provoke some thoughts, as well. Archives
March 2021
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