Cookie Monster! [15 Words or Less Poems]

Hello, and welcome! This is 15 Words or Less Poems, a low-pressure way to wake up your poetry brain (guidelines here), and I’m very glad you’re here. 

Before we start, I want to share something. Longtime 15 Words or Less participant and fabulous teacher Margaret Simon (of Reflections on the Teche) was at NCTE. When she ran into me, she handed me this magnet:

By Margaret Simon
By Margaret Simon

I don’t know if you remember, but a while back, I had a an image of a cell tower or something on a 15 Words or Less day, and it kind of looked like a sparkler, and Margaret wrote this. So lovely! Every so often, one of you will send me news that you’ve published a poem somewhere, and it started out as a 15 Words or Less poem. Or that you took your poem and added even more creativity to it and shared it with other people. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me! Thanks, Margaret!

 

cookie monster cupcake
Photo: Laura P. Salas

A few weeks ago, I enjoyed this Cookie Monster cupcake. It was, of course, a chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake. What else would Cookie Monster eat? Don’t ask why he’s sideways. The photo is normal in my library of images but goes all wonky when I insert it into the post. Sigh.

This image makes me think of several things:

  1. Christmas cookies!
  2. The idiom “biting off more than you can chew”
  3. The Play-Doh extruder thingy from my childhood

And here’s my first draft. My sweet tooth took over this week:>)

cookiemonster 15wol

It’s your turn! Have fun and stick to 15 WORDS OR LESS! (Title doesn’t count toward word count.)

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41 Responses

  1. Thanks for the shout out. I was pleased with myself over this idea. Sometimes I have good ones. I managed to give away all 50 of the magnets I ordered. Spreading the love.

    I love the C shape of your poem. Cookies are appearing in the teacher’s lounge these days.

    Teaching
    is like a cookie
    at Christmas,
    a rare treat
    but so worth it.

    1. Margaret, I do remember your 15 WOL poem from the wording on the magnet. What a delightful way to pay it forward. A big shout-out to you and all teacher.

    2. Good for you for giving them out. I do things and then don’t hand them out. Yours is on my fridge, and it makes me smile:>) Love to see your enthusiasm–it’s a gift for your students and everyone!

  2. Delicious poem, Laura!

    CHILD’S APPRECIATION FOR HIS MOM’S COOKING

    Sinking in a bliss of blue,
    eating a cookie
    made by you.l

  3. Love that culinary “C”. Today’s picture was a mood-lifter in the aftermath of grading insanity. Who doesn’t love Cookie Monster? Thanks!

    Lessons from Cookie Monster

    Dive in with gusto
    no regrets
    Spray crumbs
    Smile blue-toothy grins
    Embrace your inner cookie!

    1. Today’s POEM is a mood-lifter. I love the energy in this–especially the spraying crumbs!

  4. What a cute poem, Laura. I love your play on “C”/sea in that second to last line.
    As Christmas rolls around, so do finals.

    I tried my best.
    Still got a “C.”
    Sure hope my folks
    aren’t mad at me.

    1. Oh, dear. As the daughter of parents who were happy with nothing less than an A+, I could sure relate to this. So glad I do not get graded anymore. Even though I get rejected regularly.

  5. Good morning all. Brilliance Laura, in title, rhyme and style. Cookie Monster looks sad and scared, but my little verse comes from one of your recent posts. He’s actually happy!

    Is She Here Yet?

    All alone
    on sterile
    white plate
    but from Scotland
    comes
    my favorite
    playmate.

    1. Aw, I love that. She’s here! She’s here! We picked her up at the airport last night. Thank you for letting Cookie Monster celebrate with us:>)

  6. Aroma

    Ginger, cinnamon, clove combine
    As Mom makes
    Dozens of discs of love
    Now a memory

    1. Lovely–the two-way meaning for that last line is just wonderful. Love the spices in line one.

  7. A little like a Zen koan, and all right, just a little weird! (Also, you made me hungry, Laura!)

    If cupcake eats cookie,
    what does cookie eat?
    Chocolate chips
    fleeing like mice.

    —Kate Coombs

  8. Love the C‑shape and title of your charming poem, Laura! And Margaret’s magnet poem certainly sparkles–what a wonderful reminder for all of us.

    Cookie Monster

    Moon-pie eyes
    gumdrop nose
    licorice smile
    frosted clothes–

    Too good to eat?
    Down he goes!

    1. Hahaha. Love the exuberance of this! I am with you. Nothing looks too good to eat. (I especially like moon-pie eyes here.)

  9. Your concrete poem looks like the handle half of a teapot to me.
    I actually made a Cookie Monster birthday cake for my son’s birthday when he was young. The blue monster food dye for the frosting turned everyone’s teeth blue.

    Eating Cookie Monster cupcakes
    When they are done
    Everyone is blue

    1. That blue frosting is disgusting, isn’t it. I LOVE frosting, but I hate the blue teeth and the artificial aftertaste lots of dark frostings have. Love your double-meaning of blue!

  10. Poem By Jessica

    Who Ate Santa’s Cookies ?

    Santa’s sad
    empty plate
    trilling crumbs
    mousses with
    purple mustaches’
    Santa’s laughing
    Ho-Ho-Ho

  11. Dough Way!

    The cookie flows
    through my flesh,
    faster than I can chew,
    flushing down the drain

      1. I have one of those stomachs.
        Nothing lasts forever.
        Let’s just say I know where they hide the bathrooms. ;>

        1. Awwww. My daughter and I were just talking about her “travel stomach.” :>/ I love the wry tone and sort of abrupt feel between lines. Like the pauses in a comedian’s act.

      2. And while I do not want to disturb the poets and readers here, I took one look at your prompt photo and I saw a cookie freaking out, a moment away from taking a spin down a porcelain toilet bowl.

  12. Hi Laura!
    I had a student’s poem that I think you will enjoy. Here is Cassie’s 15WOL:

    Cookie Monster
    good old friend
    I hear you eat
    veggies now
    not nearly
    as delicious

  13. My middle school creative writing club is back in swing, and we’re recovering from NaNoWriMo with some poetry! A little late, but here’s my 15 WOL poem for this photo!

    Blue

    mop-headed mutt,
    mischievous monster–
    for months
    my poodle matches
    the paint
    of kitchen walls

    1. Oooh, congrats on doing NaNoWriMo. Lots of novelists use poetry as a palate cleanser between long projects. Oh dear. This is what would happen if our dog Jack was present during a household project! Love the alliteration.

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