Hindsight Little Willies*
Ogden Nash
Little Ogden,
impishly,
Lost another spelling bee;
Spelled insouciance right this time,
But nuisance “nousiance” for the rhyme.
Theodore Geisel
Little Ted read Dick and Jane,
Found it (as did I) inane;
Later, when his muse got loose,
Saved our kids as Dr. Seuss.
X.J. Kennedy
Ordinary Little Joe,
Shaking up the status quo,
Declared—with swagger and cachet—
“Henceforward I shall be X.J.!”
Edmund Conti
Little Edmund, as a lad,
Called Mother “Mom” and Father “Dad.”
(Still disapproves of using two
Syllables when one will do.)
A.E. Stallings
Young Alicia, coiffed in curls,
Found boys were favored over girls,
Thus made her nom de plume “A.E.”
(Her homage to Joe Kennedy.)
Bob McKenty
Little Bobby wasted time;
Wrote a silly little rhyme.
Big Bob, who’s retired today,
Wastes his time the same old way.
Tailgaters*
(pace Shakespeare)
Premature?
Let’s choose executors and talk of wills.
How come? I only said I had the chills.
Hardening of the Arteries
I am not in the giving vein today.
Have them send the Bloodmobile away.
On Monica’s Dress
Out damned spot! Out I say.
You’re loaded with my DNA.
Bitter Forecast
Now is the winter of our discontent.
Our Florida vacation money’s spent.
Overdose?
Brevity is the soul of wit.
(Long before now, I should have quit.)
*Editor’s note: for more Hindsight Little Willies, see Spectrum: Little Willies in this issue. For more tailgaters–verses that begin with a line from a famous poem–see Light’s Summer/Fall 2015 Spectrum.
Bob McKenty has been writing poems for over 70 years and he still can’t write one that doesn’t rhyme. He took one poetry course in college (circa 1955) and got all the interpretations wrong. Determined to “do unto others” as he had been done unto, Bob took up writing the stuff and left the interpretations to others. He knows what they mean, but isn’t telling.