During our last third Thursday poets meeting, our state poet laureate facilitated an interesting activity. We went around the room several times, each thinking up funny-sounding words and phrases. We then wrote poems, using all or as many of the words as we wanted. Below is the list we came up with, and I’ll follow that with my poem.
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fliberty jibbet
bubble trouble
Stilton cheese
galloping goulash
cracklin crispies
zounds
boogie woogie
gibberish
knuckle head
flirty feline
zeitgeist,
yucko bucko
a little spittle
bloviation
fantasmagoric
calamity
grackle
yucca glauca
hunky poo
punky poo
***
A WIDOW NO LONGER WEEPS
A fliberty gibbet talks gibberish
to her flirty feline.
“You’re my hunky poo.
Am I your punky poo?”
She says the same to her yucca glauca.
Neither the cat nor the plant respond.
She wanders into the kitchen,
cuts herself a slice of Stilton cheese
which she eats along with
a serving of leftover galloping goulash
and cracklin’ crispies for dessert.
She longs for her true hunky poo
who ended up in bubble trouble
after suffering two strokes.
Seven years later, he died.
Now, she must boogie woogie alone.
It’s better to have loved and lost
than to be in love with a knuckle head.
***
As you may have figured out, the above poem is sort of the story of my life. Now, it’s your turn. Use the list of funny words and phrases above or make your own. Write a poem, story, or essay using any or all of them. If you have a blog, I double dare you to post the finished product. If not, you’re welcome to share below.
***
How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver
That’s Life: New and Selected Poems
Order That’s Life from Finishing Line Press.
Abbie–What a fun exercise! I will definitely add this idea to my “Poetry to Do List.” I thought that you would just use one or a couple of the phrases, but your creativity did a superb job of corraling the abundance of playful phrases. Have another creative day! Alice
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Thank you, Alice, I hope you also had a creative day.
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