Graham Denton - Sounds Delightful

Sounds Delightful
by
Graham Denton

Sounds of scary night-time creatures:
howling wolves and screeching bats,
wailing witches, cackling demons,
giggling goblins, keening cats;
ghostly sounds to make one shiver:
haunting screams and ghastly groans;
rattling chains and shrieks of horror—
noises that will chill the bones;
creaking floorboards, footsteps creeping,
voices from beyond the grave...
when they’re having trouble sleeping
that’s what infant monsters crave!

©2010 Graham Denton. All rights reserved.

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Graham Denton writes poetry (which often makes me laugh), anthologizes poetry (in collections that often make me laugh), and has even sent me email that makes me laugh. Then again, he sent an email that made things difficult for me, too - for 30 Poets/30 Days, he sent me around 20 poems and asked me to pick! My process went something like this: read first one and say "Aha! This one!" then read the next and say "No, wait - this one!" then read the next one and change my mind again and so on and so on and so on.

It is not true that I made my final choice by playing a game of chance. Instead, I chose Sounds Delightful because I love the point of view and absolutely had a blast reading it aloud. Try it yourself and see. Fun, yes? Now try it with kids present and listen to them laugh at the turn around in the last sentence and, depending on their age, see them giggle or squirm before then. Good times, indeed, and a poetic skill which is just one of the reasons I'm thrilled to have Graham Denton here as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.

Yesterday, Jacqueline Woodson gave us One of the Many Stories. Tomorrow, Listen/Escucha by Francisco X. Alarcón! For more on 30 Poets/30 Days and ways to follow along, please click here.