Blogging My Way Through Beloved Snail...

In the sidebar, you can see a link to a great book I'm slowly reading on-line, Turn Not Pale Beloved Snail. The blogger who originally linked to it was so excited to find it again after having read it as a child because, you see, it is a book on writing for children; however, writers of any age would benefit from working through its fun exercises. But only. if. they. wanted. to. As was originally intended by the author, Jacqueline Jackson...

Chapter 1- Woodies
"Woodies" are poems from everyday life, captured by learning to listen to insightful, funny, ironic, etc comments made, esp by children. Here's my first attempt:

"Privileges of Age"

When I'm older
I'm gonna do whatever I want.
I'm going to make a whole batch
Of cookie dough and eat it
Without making any cookies.

-Melissa Muller, age 11, 1988


When I'm a grown-up
I'm gonna do whatever I want.
I'm going to stay up late
And eat popcorn
Every night.

-Jude Gorley, age 7, 2010 (son of Melissa)

"Now that's what we call hungry!"

(I wrote this silly poem when the big boys were little, about 2 & 3 1/2 yrs. old, I think, and I was just realizing how many hours of my life I was going to spend feeding them their favorites-of-the-moment!)

Daddy's cereal, Mommy's cereal with
Jude & John Paul's milk.
Pancakes with syrup, please.
Homemade mac and cheese,
Now that's what we call hungry.

Chocolate milk.

Yogurt in a cup,
Grapefruit all cut up,
Apple juice, red juice, any juice;
Snack mix- Goldfish, raisins, peanuts, no peanuts!
Peanut butter and jelly,
all in your belly.
Now that's what we call hungry.

Chocolate milk.

Lots of peas,
"Nohotdogs, pease."
Chicken in anything,
From Daddy's grill, everything!
Now that's what we call hungry.

Chocolate milk.

Do we have dessert?
Pinata candy,
Fruit snacks,
Melting popsicles leave summer tracks.
Now that's what we call hungry.

Chocolate milk.