Scott and Dot: A Feminist Nursery Rhyme by J.Patrick Lewis

Award-winning poet J. Patrick Lewis was kind enough to let me post a “feminist nursery rhyme” that he wrote at Political Verses.

Scott and Dot

by J. Patrick Lewis

Scott and Dot ran up the hill
as fast as they could go.
Dot ran downhill very fast
and Scott ran very slow.

Scott said he was being nice.
He wanted Dot to win
“because she’s just a girl.”
Dot said, “Okay, let’s go again.”

Dot ran up the hill and down,
and said there was no joy
in running twice as fast as Scott
“because he’s just a boy.”

And here’s a parody of a nursery rhyme I wrote. It was included in the poetry anthology My Cat is in Love with the Goldfish and Other Loopy Love Poems:

Jack and June

by Elaine Magliaro

Jack and June went to the moon,
Crash-landed in a crater.
Jack broke his nose and seven toes.
(He’s a crummy navigator.)

Jack cried in pain. June tried in vain
To soothe her injured mate.
She bound his toes and kissed his nose
And asked him for a date.

Jack and June began to swoon…
Fell mad in love and they
Returned to earth, their place of birth…
And wed the very next day.