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You are here: Home / Poems for Teachers / Putrid Poetry: Day 6: If You Accidentally Swallow Ocean Water

Putrid Poetry: Day 6: If You Accidentally Swallow Ocean Water

April 6, 2016 By Laura

Louis J. Pasternak
Poetry Assignment #6: The List Poem

If You Accidentally Swallow Ocean Water …

you also swallow:

gloopy whale blubber
broken starfish arms
penguin poop
dead fish
sunken ships
lobster shells

and all the pee of
all the kids in the world,
even kids in Europe and Australia and Africa and
including my little sister, Daisy,
who don’t leave the ocean when they
have to go

Miss S – Have fun with your niece at the beach this weekend. (Don’t swallow the ocean!)

Thank you, Louis. The push and pull of the tides always reminds me of the mysterious artistic forces at work in our lives. May I suggest you read the poem “Seaweed,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow? Its dramatic and beautiful description of the ocean might be a good model for you to follow.  
 
Miss Sweetmallow read more poems out loud. But she did not read mine.
It was time to get sneaky. Like Doctor Savage: Stealth Surgeon on Plague Hive (best TV show in history), who goes around doing gross plastic surgeries on people while they sleep! Awesome. And when they wake up, they have some weird supernatural talent that matches their deformity.
I would be Doctor Pasternak: Stealth Poet.

Tagged With: Laura's poems, National Poetry Month 2016, Putrid

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Related

« Putrid Poetry: Day 5: Shh…It’s a Snake
Putrid Poetry: Day 7: Head Cheese »

MAY NEWS

All 3 of my 2023 books are out now! Thank you to everyone who's celebrated with me, shared the books, or read/reviewed them. <3

Right now, I'm recovering from National Poetry Month! I'm also working on 2 tricky picture book revisions, and I'm preparing for a bunch of speaking events and storytimes! Join Yvonne Pearson and I for two loon-themed outdoor storytimes on June 6 and August 1. And on July 14, I'll be storying up a storm at Robert Trail Library! Hope to see you there!

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