Friday, June 23, 2017

Poetry Friday -- History


Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Found Animals Foundation

CRICKET, ON KITCHEN FLOOR, ENTERS HISTORY
by Robert Penn Warren

History, shaped like white hen,
Walked in at kitchen door.
Beak clicked once on stone floor.
Out door walked hen then;
But will, no doubt, come again.




I won't suggest any possible parallels to The News of the Day. I'll let you chuckle to yourself and wish for whole flocks of chickens to clean up the kitchen floor.

This gem comes from You, Emperors, and Others: Poems 1957-1960 by Robert Penn Warren, the newest addition to my collection of poetry books signed by U.S. Poets Laureate.

Heidi has today's Poetry Friday roundup at My Juicy Little Universe, along with a shiny diamond of a poem written by her second graders.


19 comments:

  1. I envy your collection of signed poet laureate books! Love this poem. :)

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  2. Happy Friday to everyone in the poetry barn!

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  3. History needs to clean up! Like Jama, I am impressed with your collection.

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  4. I had to chuckle and wonder if the local news was close to home or country wide? May the white hen help clean it all up.

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  5. That surprises me as RPW's work, but maybe I don't know what I'm talking about! And I suddenly feel a little craving for crickets...

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    1. You do know. This was very different from all the others in the collection. I fell in love with that hen -- leave it to the women to walk right in and clean up a mess! All she needs now is a pink knitted pussyhat!

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  6. Bye bye, Cricket!

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  7. That is a perfect gem. Much like WCW red wheelbarrow.

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  8. You had me with the chicken! And now I will chuckle (and wait for chickens to clean up the mess) when I watch the latest news.

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  9. I'm embarrassed to say that I am not familiar with RPW's poetry, but I do like this poem. Clean up on aisle 45!

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  10. Yikes, big mistake, so here's my comment revised! That white chicken does return again and again, sad to say, and perhaps in different ways. Sounds wonderful to have those signed books, Mary Lee!

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  11. I'm totally not getting the joke behind this - probably because I'm not up on your 'New of the Day'. But that's okay. The poem has a certain mood and pizzaz to it.

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  12. How many signed books do you have by Poet Laureates? What a fun collection.

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    1. I have 18 different authors. (Multiples signed by Billy Collins because I went total fan girl when I got to hear him speak!) Besides Billy Collins, I have stood before Kay Ryan and Ted Kooser for signatures. Lots of the books were gifts from my brother. He lived in NYC and had time and access to good used book stores. I'm picking up the challenge on my own now. I'm working on completing all the Children's Poets Laureate, too!

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  13. Love this offbeat poem! Envy you your wonderful collection, Mary Lee!

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  14. This is a true gem - offbeat, but sharp as a tack!

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  15. Wonderful Mary Lee, love the pecking beat here too, thanks! I like Bridget's comment also about "Clean up on aisle 45!"

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  16. Anonymous3:32 PM

    Thanks for sharing this fun little poem. I love the idea of collecting volumes signed by our Poet Laureates. I think I only have Billy Collins, but now you've got me wondering.

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