With a voice like yours, you were no Beverly Sills.
It was loud and booming, and gave me the chills.
Gloria, I remember your little sixties ditty.
It was a cute song although it wasn’t very pretty.
Your record could have fit into only one category:
Anybody would have considered your song a “novelty.”
It was all about your little dog named “Fluffy”.
Listening to the tune no doubt produced some tears.
Somehow, your recording has survived all these years.
The record may not have gone up too far on the charts;
however, it has a following as it touched a few hearts.
Thirty-four hours,
at the shore...
Thirty-four more hours...
Of skin burned raw...
Thirty-four layers
Of skin peel off,
Thirty-four square
feet, of skin to doff...
Thirty-four tubes
Of thirty-four creams
Resulted from
Thirty-four nights
Of painful screams...
Thirty-four ointments
Thirty-four pain pills,
Yet thirty-four times,
You scream out louder
Than thirty-four
Beverly Sills...
You've resolved,
you swear,
Thirty-four times,
Thirty-four times
you promise
to behave,
Even if you have
to live...
In a thirty-four foot
deep cave!
Twenty-six doctors
At my door (I gotta get rid of this darn door!!!!)
With twenty-six diagnosis,
And then, twenty-six more...
Twenty-six pills
For twenty-six ills,
My voice startin' to change,
I sound like Beverly Sills!
Think I'm more likely
To survive twenty six diseases,
Than twenty six prescriptions,
Bringing twenty-six sneezes...
Twenty six Dr. visits,
Each month alone,
Twenty six Doctors,
Twenty-six receptionists,
On twenty-six a phone...
Twenty-six things
He tells me,
Which I forget
In twenty-six seconds,
Twenty-six different
Medical futures,
It seems, beckons
Oh, I'm tired of this number thing,
How many numbers are there?
Must I continue till nobody does care?
Well, better yet, let me see,
If twenty-six beers,
Will be enough for me!
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.