Nonsense now and then

Flash back to college: I was sitting at my computer, chatting on AOL IM (remember that? when wasn't a college student in late 90s/early 2000s not on AOL IM?)  A friend was having a rough day, so I made up a poem in an attempt to bring a smile.  Line by line.  Like cheap beer from a keg, it flowed out of me with ease. 

The whole thing was goofy, funny, light-hearted, but did the trick for my friend.

I copied and pasted this poem into a Word document because I thought it wasn't too shabby for a non-English major.  Eventually, after spell check and some tweaking, it became "The Bestest of the Beastests", saved to a floppy disk and my PC's hard drive.  I guess it wasn't meant to last; my PC died and couldn't be resurrected and the floppy disk, when I went to open it, was "corrupted" or something bad.  I am now a loyal Mac user. 

I tried rewriting the poem several times and have two version that feel similar.  It's one of those times that something digital actually felt ephemeral.  I'm OK with it now, because it launch me into writing poetry as a kind of hobby or at least a way to be "artsy" in yet another way. 

Not long after Ben was born, the children of Shel Silverstein put out a book:  Everything On It.  I was "re-inspired" and even challenged by it.  I've since geared  a lot of my poems towards children, however I like to think that they can be for anyone.  As Willy Wonka put it: "A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men."

Here's an example:

Ben?

Hop in the tub Ben

The bubbles are piled high

Careful, don’t splash!

You’ll get soap in your eyes

Now-now sit still Ben!

Let’s scrub you back with suds

Calm down, don’t wiggle

That’s a lot of dirt and mud!

Please don’t whine Ben

Soon you’ll be nice and clean

Only a few more minutes

Then you’ll see mom isn’t so mean

Time to wash your hair Ben

Then we’ll cut those long nails

“Mom?”

“Yes Ben?”

“I’m over here…and I don’t have a tail” 

Ok, so please don't take this poem with out my permission, or worse, say you wrote it.  I'm happy to share my work with whomever (pretty much).