gumball gumbo yum yum yum
don’t mind if I have a chew of gum
huge gumballs floating on the top
giving a sweetness that does not stop
gumball gumbo yum yum yum
stew as thick as pirate’s rum
We entered the Gumball Rally
My driver was “Backstreets” Tally
With his crazy fast car
We still couldn’t get far
Bad math, no gas, in Death Valley
There is an enormous gumball machine in this hair cutting place.
It was probably gleamingly shiny and beautiful once.
Possibly held three hundred thousand gumballs.
Yes, Virginia, it is that big.
This machine is pathetically empty now.
There are only enough gumballs to fill the bottom inch of her bowl.
I feel sorry for her.
Gumball machine you make me smile an old woman said
With your happy round balls in bright blue, yellow, pink, green and red.
Reminding me of the fifties when I thought everyone was kind.
Poodle skirts a turquoise fifty-seven Chevy, intact families in my mind.
Prayer once a priority, everyone attended some kind of church.
Those who did not were often left in the lurch.
Gumball machine, you remind me of malt shops and such.
Soda jerks and cherry Cokes, and I thank you so very much!
The red gumball machine was full of fun
A machine that knew she was number one
Other contraptions thought they were a contender
They were certainly not said my cousin, Sam Lender.
I have had this machine since nineteen-fifty-two.
I know that’s a lie, but Sam is often a liar too.
You were not even born until fifty-six, I say.
He and the gumball machine begin to play.
Chink! One quarter in the machine ...
Crank! Crank! Crank!
Gumballs tumble ...
Plunk! ... I got one! ... Open the door.
Why was it always ...
Never the color I wanted?
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.