Mark Toney Poet Light Verse

Notes About The Poem

3/10/2019

~2nd Place (shared)~ Honoring Dr. Seuss Poetry Contest, sponsored by Michelle Faulkner

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Poetry notes:
03/10/2019

Poetry form: Light Verse

My tribute poem to Dr. Seuss.

Special thanks for this poem's inspiration to Theodor Seuss Geisel, an American children's author, political cartoonist, and animator. He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than 60 books under the pen name Doctor Seuss.

The lyrics in the above poem are my own, as are the names of the characters and locations, but they were inspired by "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," a song that was originally written and composed for the 1966 cartoon special How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The lyrics of that song were written by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, the music was composed by Albert Hague, and the song was originally performed by Thurl Ravenscroft.

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Green Eggs, Spam and Grits

Green eggs, Spam and grits
Sam and Pam had their fill,
Then made their way to Main Street
Down WhoDat’s Whatsup Hill.

Waived "Hi!" to their neighbors
To show them that they cared.
All smiled except two who
Just stood there and glared.

Hulu Q Hopps and
His shorter half-brother
They came from two pops but
Shared the same mother.

Hopps came at them fast
So they quickened their pace
Sam and Pam flew past him,
Boy, this was a race!

Hopps huffed and puffed, 
While shouting very gruffly:
"You better stop now, or
I'll treat you roughly!"

          "Just what have we done
           To make you so mad?"

"If you don't stop right now,
I'll do something bad!"

Pam and Sam finally stopped,
Turning right around,
Awaiting their fate while
Standing their ground.

Hopps wide-eyed and breathless
Finally stopped within inches
"Listen real closely now,
Your see Mr. Pinch is
Hot on your trail
Looking for retribution
Based on your failure
To give restitution."

          "We don't know what that means,
           We don't know what to say..."

"Doesn't matter at all,
Pinch is coming your way!"

Since Mr. Pinch meant
To slow cook their goose,
Pam and Sam agreed to do
What they learned from Dr. Seuss!

They asked all their friends
To lend them some help.
Eucalyptus, Betty Loo,
JaeJae and Miss Kelp.
Hortman, Octavius, and 
Hopps stepped up to bat.
Even Kat came back
And threw in her hat!

Off in the distance
The Catawampas growled
And soon after that
The Terrormasu yowled.

Down came Mr. Pinch 
From atop Mount Dumpit
In his impedimenta SUV,
Like it or lump it.

Rolling into town
Entering WhoDat's Square
Pinch shouted "Sam and Pam!
Are you hiding somewhere?"

"You must pay the piper,
I'm here to collect.
Excuses mean nothing,
Your pleas I'll reject!"

Pam and Sam stepped forward,
Friends forming a line.
          "Pinch, you won't get away
           With extortion this time!"

With that Betty Loo
Pulled out her didgeridoo.
The others pulled out
Their instruments too.

All began playing strong,
Singing loud and clear:

"You are hostile Mr. Pinch
And your breath reeks of stench
But we're stronger than you
So you can't make us flinch.
Mr. Pinch you are mean
So you better flee the scene
You're a nutter like no other, Mr. Pinch..."

They droned on and on,
A multi-stanza bonanza:

"You're a villain Mr. Pinch...

"You are sleazy Mr. Pinch...

"You are nasty Mr. Pinch...

"You're a nutter Mr. Pinch...

"You disgust us Mr. Pinch...

Mr. Pinch screaming loud
With hands to his ears,
Made a beeline to his
Impedimenta SUV in tears.

Then Pinch did the math
Calculating the odds
He wasn't going to get
Anywhere with these clods.

"You haven't heard the last of me!"
Fist pumping as he shouted.
When he left, all WhoDat cheered,
Disaster had been routed.

Sam and Pam thanked their friends
In a way that befits.
A WhoDat picnic serving them
Green eggs, Spam and grits!

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Line Gauthier May 24, 2020 at 1:32 AM It's obvious you had fun writing this one, Mark. Mark Toney July 30, 2020 at 12:31 PM A lot of fun, actually :) Thank you for your contest and kind comments that I totally missed back in May. Oh, well... ~Mark

Gershon Wolf May 14, 2019 at 10:49 PM Screaming good, Mark!! (More on the good Doctor another time). Congrats too on your win in the contest. :) gw Mark Toney May 15, 2019 at 11:51 AM Writing this for Michelle's contest was a lot of fun. Thank you for the "screaming good" rating, and for bringing a lot of positive energy to me today, GW. Cheers!

Michelle Faulkner April 13, 2019 at 4:32 PM What a wonderful story about friendship - congratulations on placing in my contest! Mark Toney April 13, 2019 at 11:29 PM Michelle, what a fun contest! The entries are all a delight! Thank you so much for my placement. ~Mark

Darlene De Beaulieu April 1, 2019 at 4:55 PM Hello Mark Toney, they were brave to face their bullies. Have a nice evening my friend.Enjoyed this poem. Darlene De Beaulieu April 2, 2019 at 5:50 PM Your welcome.Have a nice evening my friend. Mark Toney April 1, 2019 at 8:11 PM Thank you for stopping by, Darlene. ~Mark

Andrea Dietrich March 15, 2019 at 6:25 PM I loved the WHODAT name for the place and how they all yelled names at Mr. Pinch . GREAT rhyme and flow, Mark! Mark Toney March 15, 2019 at 7:53 PM Andrea, I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the encouragement! ~Mark

Caren Krutsinger March 10, 2019 at 9:54 PM This one has exactly the right amount of pizzazz to go straight to the top of the winners' circle in the Dr. Seuss contest, Mark. Mark Toney March 10, 2019 at 10:19 PM Caren, what a nice thing to say. At my age I’ll take all the pizzazz I can get :) I’m glad you enjoyed it. ~Mark

Quoth Theraven March 10, 2019 at 7:23 PM I like this poem. There is something very familiar about the characters... -Richard Mark Toney March 10, 2019 at 7:44 PM Richard, thank you for your comment. As mentioned, this is a tribute poem to Dr Seuss :). ~Mark