The Evolution of the Toilet (A Brief History)
by
Greg Pincus
Hole.
Bowl.
Oh, come on now... you didn't really expect every one of my poems to be all empowering and stuff like the last one, did you? :-) Since writing this poem, I've actually had a lot of fun with the whole "a brief history" concept, using it as a writing exercise/prompt for myself. Perhaps you'll see more some time in the future. Or, you know, I could flush the whole idea....
This week's Poetry Friday roundup is up over at A Teaching Life. Head on over and check it out (and maybe there'll be other history lessons, too. You just never know....)
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Greg, a poem I can memorize! Thanks! :-)
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! My fourth graders are going to love this! And they will probably all have it memorized by the end of the day! Love it!
ReplyDeleteYou made me laugh at an early hour of the morning! I'm going to text it to my niece!
ReplyDeleteMy brief response:
ReplyDeleteLOL.
Thanks, Greg!
Lee
Hmm... I guess toilets have not evolved much in some countries where they are still holes. :-)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately it reminds me of a childhood toilet that had the 'hole' straight down & was so violent I refused to flush. Amazing how much poetry can do in its brevity!
ReplyDeleteI've already passed it on to all my toilet humor-loving friends.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great laugh this morning!
Crap.
ReplyDeleteTrap.
:D
Good one, Greg. :-)
ReplyDeleteNice.
ReplyDeleteI have a thing for poems where the title itself is an active participant in the punchline.
Jeff Moss' "Butterfly Jar" collection had a number of these, and those were some of my favorites in that book.
-Ed
Thanks, y'all. And...
ReplyDeleteYes, Ed, I agree about titles being part of the fun sometime. It's great when it works.
Katya - you're right. Evolution is a slow process (and I have a US centric experience at that).
Jama - thank you for The Functionality of the Toilet (A Half-Complete History)
And yes, indeed, I think this one can be memorized within a day. A victory!
I usually don't go for bathroom humor, but this is too funny! Thanks for some fun on Friday the 13th. (You too, Jama!)
ReplyDeletewow, this trumps the poem fleas ("adam/had'em") in brevity of syllables as well as words! it also makes me wonder if the toilet is finished evolving...
ReplyDeleteGreg, how I miss your 'insights'.
ReplyDeleteTo be ninth-graders again ... ;)
LOL! I love it.
ReplyDeleteGreg- love it, and also Jama's comeback.
ReplyDeleteSo, since you are finding household routines inspiring I have to ask if you've read Bill Bryson's book from last year, "At Home"- his remarkably well-researched and comedic take on every aspect of civilization in the home. Give it a look.
I like your sense of humor. Very similar to my husband's. Tonight we played charades and the first thing he acted out was, as my daughter guessed correctly, "sitting on the potty."
ReplyDeleteHahahahahaha! Are you one of my seventh graders? ;-)
ReplyDeleteHA!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great poem to teach kids the importance of the TITLE to the poem!!!
That one is RIGHT up my alley, as I wrote a whole book about toilets.
ReplyDeleteHi again, Greg! Thank you for writing back to the Diamond Miners (that's the name of our class).
ReplyDeleteHere's what we think about this poem:
14 vote yes, they like this short poem just the way it is. It's funny!
More soon!