Bowled Over - a homophoem/a food poem

Bowled Over (a homophoem)
by
Greg Pincus

Whenever he visited, they disappeared -
He was the person that every box feared.
From Froot Loops to Crispix to Bunches of Oats
They'd tremble with fear as cries caught in their throats.
Organics would quake as if made out of filler...
For no one escaped from the cereal killer.


A homophoem is poetic form in which you use a homonym/homophone (or many) to create a "plot twist" or unexpected punchline. I believe J. Patrick Lewis came up with the form, and the above poem was written in response to a prompt from him (over at The Miss Rumphius Effect). I'd never shared the poem here, however, and figured it was time!

This week's Poetry Friday roundup is over at Buffy Silverman's blog. Go on by and check out the poetry fun!

And if you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!