Tuesday, May 01, 2007

The World According to Philip

Last week when the co-op was cleaning out before summer break, Philip's writing teacher brought me some of his work from the poetry class last semester. I stuck it in my notebook and forgot about it until the other night. I pulled it out and showed it John, and we both laughed our heads off! Philip definitely has an interesting take on the world around him, and it's funny because his observations are usually dead-on. Here, for your reading pleasure, are two illustrated poems by Philip, reflecting life with three brothers:

(editor's note: Senryu is a poetic form similar to Haiku, but while Haiku focus on nature, Senryu tend to be about human foibles and are often humorous or satirical.)

Senryu

When I try to go to sleep
I hear a squeak-squeak
My brothers, jumping on my bed

I try to stay asleep
but I hear an annoying beep-beep
John Mark!! Turn off the alarm clock!!


(editor's note: anyone living in our house would immediately be able to identify the scatterbrained subject of this poem as none other than John Mark!)

The Brother (a blues poem)

My brother has the blues
'cause he can't find his shoes
O, my brother has the blues
Because he can't find his shoes
He walks around all day
And all that he can say is....
FIND MY SHOES!!!

(In the illustration, notice that the younger brother is thinking where the shoes are, but he is saying HA-HA! And notice the oh-so-realistic frustration on the elder brother's face... brotherly love at its finest!)

1 comment:

Stephanie said...

Oh!!!!! Those are TOO funny!!! No only are the "dead on" but they really are quite poetic! Great job, Philip!