Sunday, March 7, 2010

Epitaph for John Edwards by J. Patrick Lewis

J. Patrick Lewis is a master of writing light verse for both children and adults. I am always happy to post a "political" verse he sends along to me. Here's one he sent the other day:

Epitaph for John Edwards
(when the time comes)

But everyone kept telling me
to get Rielle!


If you like that verse--you're sure to enjoy J. Patrick Lewis's book Once Upon a Tomb: Gravely Humorous Verses (Candlewick, 2006). The large-format book includes "delightfully deadpan" color illustrations by Simon Bartram--which complement the sly humor in Lewis's text.

The "gravely humorous verses" tell about the demise of a number of individuals who


earned their living in different lines of work/professions--including beautician, philosopher, soccer player, gravedigger, movie star, tattoo artist, and poet.

One of my favorite poems in the book is School Teacher:

Knives can harm you, heaven forbid!

Axes may disarm you kid.

Guillotines are painful, but

There's nothing like a paper cut.


Click here to view a double-page spread in Once Upon a Tomb.

1 comment:

  1. Here's some more poetry -

    "At a nearby table was a man of about fifty
    Who had been drinking a lot and was rather tipsy,
    And after eyeing George’s group for quite some time
    Plucked up his courage and did thus opine,
    “Honoured Sirs, allow me to give you my name,
    Kennedy it is, and I’m proud of the same.
    I’m of Irish descent, as you can well see,
    So the drinking of Guinness comes naturally to me”.
    On hearing this George introduced his team,
    And declared at once that he would deem
    It a pleasure if Kennedy would join their table
    And enjoy a drink which would enable
    Them all to get acquainted better
    By indulging is some friendly chatter."

    from "The Adventures of George"

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