with thanks to Scott McCloskey for the inspiration in today’s #VerseLove at Ethical ELA. Scott suggested looking through the calendar of national celebration days (you can select a country) and writing an ode to one or more of them, as to why they’re important, or finding different meanings, serious or fun, or simply create your own celebration for the day – as in, Scott says, “to that misshapen paperclip on your desk, that threadbare left sock, or that broken pair of sunglasses in your drawer.”
For Day Eleven of National Poetry Month, here’s my poem on two celebrations occurring today (I KNOW some of y’all out there are going to get the reference and connective tissue here):
Ode to the Day: Of Pets and Old Songs
Here’s to dogs, ambassadors of love
constant comforters, day by day
warming presences on the coldest night
even if they’re not pets
even if they’re wild
as in the Australian Aboriginal legend
of sleeping in a hole, snuggled to a dingo
and should it be freezing
it might be a three-dog night
keeping warm
Here’s to singin’ joy to the world
all the boys and girls
and to all the pets that warm their hearts
and brighten their days
—of course now that song is stuck in my head
on continuous play
like an 8-track tape
which I confess to remembering, alas—
never mind, let’s just take today to celebrate
how, in the end, all things are connected
*******
April 11th is National Pet Day and National 8-Track Tape Day.
I combine them with a nod to Three Dog Night & “Joy to the World.”
Some of my pets from way back when 8-track tapes were not yet obsolete.
My black cat, Moriah, and my dog, Bagel.
The connection between the two of these made me smile. (Yes, I still remember my Village People 8-track.) And I really like the idea of taking two completely random and separate celebrations and bringing them together. After all, isn’t that pretty much what we do in poetry?
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It really is, Lainie…poetry knits the stuff of life!
-Village People!! I didn’t know they had 8-tracks!
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Fran, such a cute photo of your childhood pets. I remember eight track tapes and Three Dog Night! (Amazing how far recording music has music has come.) I was ten in 1972 and loved “Joy to the World!” I knew all the lyrics and still know most of them. I think I loved the song because of the “all the boys and girls” refrain and the reference to a “bullfrog” because I loved frogs and toads. LOL I agree that song stays in your head and I’ll be singing it for the next few days because I went on a YouTube excursion. I also loved the song “An Old Fashioned Love Song.” Love your connections of pets and old songs ode. Thank you for the connections to memories. So much fun!
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Finding the connection between these was fun, Gail – glad you enjoyed reminiscing! Time goes so fast…
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