Poetry to tap your feet to

Some poems get stuck in your head, like cheesy pop songs. Their rhythms enchant you, their alliterations seduce you and you find yourself saying them over and over in your head.

I recently had the pleasure of rediscovering some of my favorite childhood poems by Dennis Lee from Alligator Pie, Garbage Delight and Jelly Belly with a young friend of mine. Reading the poems out loud to her, I quickly realized how familiar the rhythms felt and the words and phrases of the poems welled up from my memory.

Here’s one of my favorites from Garbage Delight:

(Read it out loud to get the full effect.)

Suzy grew a moustache,
A moustache,
A moustache,
Suzy grew a moustache,
And Polly grew a beard.

Suzy looked peculiar,
Peculiar,
Peculiar,
Suzy looked peculiar,
And Polly looked weird.

Suzy got the garden-shears,
Garden-shears,
The garden-shears,
Suzy got the garden-shears,
And Polly got a bomb.

Now Suzy’s face is smooth again,
Smooth again,
Smooth again,
Suzy’s face is smooth again,
And Polly’s face is gone.

This is a great example of the brilliance of Dennis Lee’s children’s poems. Sound is the first and foremost component, even if it results in nonsense and the absurd. (Maybe especially if it results in nonsense and the absurd!) And it’s kind of weird too. I don’t know if this poem would find its way into a collection of children’s poetry today. And that would be a shame. Because my young friend giggled and giggled when I read her this one and it would be very sad to lose that.