The Playroom Floor Writes a Novel
by
Heidi Mordhorst
Chapter One: A Fine Day for an Outing
a cozy Kleenex box
a stuffed caterpillar
a plastic slice of cucumber
three pennies
and a Spiderman motorcycle
Chapter Two: The Picnic
the same caterpillar
the plastic cucumber
a few stale Cheetos
a cheerful red bandanna
and a hard-eyed inflatable kangaroo
Chapter Three: The Attack!
the kangaroo
Billy Blazes’s axe
a length of string
a birthday candle and
a flaming red bandanna
Chapter Four: The Rescue
the caterpillar bound with string
the kangaroo brandishing
the last Cheeto
suddenly, a dozen rubber ants and
a boxing glove!
Chapter Five: The Champions
the kangaroo, deflated
a large cheese grater
a padlock from The GirlTalk Diary
the ants on the Spiderman motorcycle
with the caterpillar, wearing a crown
The End
©2011 Heidi Mordhorst. All rights reserved.
Heidi Mordhorst had me at hello... or, in this case, with the title of her poem. C'mon, now! Doesn't that just evoke a whole world in those six words (and two are articles!)? I had my own inklings of what might follow, but then she took her own idea and ran with it. I can see the whole scenario she describes play out, and I ask you, what former child can't?
Just like last time she was here, I find myself simply loving the perspective of her poems. There's a wonderful childlike point of view yet there's real skill in finding the details and images that let her pull the ideas off and make them into something bigger. Good fun indeed, and just one of the reasons I'm so happy to have Heidi Mordhorst here as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.
Earlier, we saw Carole Boston Weatherford's A BAT CAVE: An Abecedarian Bedtime Chronicle. Up next, Arnold Adoff with orien berg strasse! For more information on 30 Poets/30 Days and how to follow along, please click here.
Friday, April 15, 2011
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8 comments:
Oh, lovely lovely lovely!!!
I KNEW there'd be trouble with that hard-eyed kangaroo. The idea of the rubber ants and the boxing glove had me laughing out loud.
I love this.
Love this. Whimsical. Wonderful. My rubber ants are cheering!
I love it. Heidi, you have such fresh eyes. You make us see the world anew!
So glad you all enjoyed it--with 1 or 2 exceptions, each of those items really did live on our playroom floor at some point (and some still do!). None of us can remember where the kangaroo came from or where it went...
Thanks, Gregory, for inspiring me to get this out and polish it up some.
Heidi is as nice as she is talented!!!!!!!!
This is both terrific and true!
Just found your April poems and am so happy to be here.
Good one, Heidi. Any inspiration from D2, I wonder?? GT
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