2013 Poetry Month « April Halprin Wayland – Children's Book Author & Poet

In honor of Poetry Month, Easter, Passover,
and all things rabbity, my free-verse picture book,
To Rabbittown, originally published by Scholastic,
is 99 cents on iTunes, Kindle, Nook–yippee!

Download the free Kindle for PC
if you don’t have an eReader.
.

…for more children’s poetry links go to
this delicious blog:
Jama’s Alphabet Soup

Wait...what do you mean it needs some editing?????

No, I disagree...I really think the words, "severed head" work in this poem.

Yeah, well, thanks for your suggestions. Let me think about them; NO.

I do believe I'm entitled to a nap after an exhausting session ripping my poem apart..

This is Eli. Pronounced eeee-lye.

Hi there! Welcome to RuffDrafts.com–I’m glad you’re here!

My original poems, posted each day of National Poetry Month 2013, are imperfect. Messy. This is your chance to sneak a peek behind the scenes—before a poem is polished and published! (For my poems in 2010, 2011 & 2012, click on the Poetry link in the menu above.)

My friend Bruce Balan and I critique each other’s poems every day…so you’ll see Bruce’s comments on some of the poems.

Thanks for following so well. I’m tempted to take you to the dog park and let you romp off-leash… Ready? Let’s begin!

April 20

GOD, DOG and TEDDY

GOD, DOG AND TEDDY ~ rough draft
by April Halprin Wayland

God came by early this morning on his rounds,
carrying his latte.
He saw you sleeping on your blanket.

He saw Teddy.
Then he saw what you’d done to Teddy.
He couldn’t believe you’d do that, Dog.

He took a big, mad, gulp from his golden mug
and jumped, spilling espresso and foam down his white robe.
“Damn! I burned my tongue!” he said.

He stalked outside.
He stomped round and round
on the frosty lawn.

I don’t know if it was the cold air,
the latte, or just being God, you know,
but there was steam coming from the top of his head.

Why did you bite off Teddy’s leg, Dog?
God brought you Teddy
all the way from the Alameda swap meet last summer.

After awhile, He came back in.
He let out a big breath,
picked up Teddy and put her gently in his pocket.

I think he was singing the Beatle’s
“We Can Work it Out”
as he walked down the street.

I know it was God, Dog,
because it was 6 am
and he was very careful not to wake you up.

=================================
I am indulging myself with this one.

Eli has adored one particular stuffed animal since I picked her out at the swap meet in August. This one was in a special, protected class. She was saved while other, lesser animals were sacrificed. Suddenly, though, Eli turned on her and off came her leg. Now her insides have spilled all over our bedroom carpet. It made me very sad.

Bruce says:
“Liked this poem and the back story.
It’s a strange bizarre kind of poem and that makes me like it.
It does need some tightening up.”

Who, me?

2 Responses to “GOD, DOG and TEDDY”

Linda Baie says:

April 20, 2013 at 5:00 pm

When I read poems like this, I just settle in & relax with the story, April. It has such a voice, & if I was still teaching my middle schoolers I’m sure I would share with them. It’s as if you sat down with the audience (me this time) & said, “listen to this!” Great stuff!
April says:

April 20, 2013 at 5:02 pm

Thank you soooo much, Linda! This one was heaven to write.

Oops. Didn’t see that pun coming…

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2 Responses to “GOD, DOG and TEDDY”

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