Listen up, good soldiers all,
I've such a tale to tell
about the man
of eight who ate
the Maurice Sendak card - *
the-not-quite-truth of which,
I fear,
was never truly told
nor how a character was bold
enough to write a tale for him.
So gather round,
my people here,
I'll seek to put that straight.
I had been early to my bed
on that auspicious night
and soon was dreaming -
as I almost always am.
I dreamed I met a Wild Thing
who'd brought a card,
hand drawn it was -
by Sendak, if you please -
especially for me
and meant for no one else.
I kissed the card.
I slobbered it
but Wild Thing said
to eat it would be best.
So that is what I did,
and when I did...
I floated up and out:
out of my bed,
out of my clothes,
out of my house,
out of my dream
and out into the weirdest world,
into a world much bigger than
the one that I had known,
into The Kitchen of the Night,
into a giant mixing bowl,
into a sea of dough.
Three bakers came
(dead ringers each
for Oliver the Hardy one)
who mixed the dough
with me inside
and placed us in the oven -
a fiercer one
than you have ever crept inside.
Half baked, I was,
or nearly done, when
by a lucky strike
the oven door flew open wide
and I escaped my fate.
I heard the bakers talking
of being short of mlk.
So from the dough
I made a golden eagle
and jumped upon its back.
We flew up to the high neck
of Milkpool Tower
above the clouds,
a bottle of Gold Top
that sent a fountain
of the stuff, pure white
and nourishing,
in spurts towards the moon.
The moon, I thought,
could do without.
I chose a jet,
deflected it
down to the Hardy men
who caught it in their hats.
By dawn the baking was all done
and I awoke to find the card
in Puppydum's front teeth.
(He is my favourite dinosaur
and was about to swallow it.)
I grabbed it just in time
and ate it as before.
Alas, this time
no magic was.
(My mother said
that magic
only ever happens
once.)
The prompt came from Brian Miller at http://dversepoets.com/ Diverse Poets in Poetics : Sendak and the Wild Things in tribute to the recent death of Sendak.
* Please follow the link to the prompt for the story about the card - and much else.
26 comments:
Loved the last line the most... :)
Well, magic has come from the same tale in your telling of it. Your story is fun and rhyme works well too. K.
What a send-off, Dave, waht a send-off! Where the Wild Things Are was one of the books I read to my children in Spanish using the original in English. I did the same with the Gruffalo and Dr Seuss. Difficult though it was, it was also a lot of fun.
Many thanks.
Greetings from London.
An excellent tale Dave and I think your mum was right...
Anna :o]
Your mother was indeed right. What a tribute to another master though - thank you.
i might just eat the card for such a trip as well...haha...i like your story on the card as well, fantastical...smiles...
Lovely because nobody has ever consider the boy who ate the card's thoughts! And i love you chose The Night Kitchen as your title, was hoping somebody would mention that!
Thank you for joining the wild rumpus!
What a delightful story...I like that you wrote it from the point of view of the boy who ate the card...Big smiles ~
A story well told
It certainly is wild, Dave! Reality exposed itself out of a dream in the morning. Many a time this happens. Great story and great write!
Hank
Quite imaginative! A great tribute to Mr. Sendak.
The dreams of childhood are always magic!
A truly enchanting tale Dave,
and a fitting tribute to the late Sendak:)
Marvellously entertaining and The Oliver and Hardy thing made me laugh really uproariously...feeling old Lewis Carroll reinvigorated and meaning business!!
A very magical and fun story indeed :-).
I enjoyed this, Dave!
brilliant Dave a worthy tribute indeed!
'I kissed the card.
I slobbered it
but Wild Thing said
to eat it would be best.'
Brilliant, I so enjoyed this, thank you!
What a fantastic adventure, Dave! I have enjoyed it a lot, thanks!
I would eat that card to live that wonderful experience too.
Yours is a nice tribute to that provider of dreams for children, especially for bad boys, his dear ones.
I love the idea of escaping from the dough in the oven when he was almost done, hehehe, after making an eagle and flying on its back.
The end with your fav dinosaur and your wise mum is lovely.
:)
intelligent, refined, rule-breaking, whip-snacking FUN! I love the mind that gives us these post/poems, David.
Warm Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
> < } } (°>
Loved this verse...
I floated up and out:
out of my bed,
out of my clothes,
out of my house,
out of my dream
and out into the weirdest world,
into a world much bigger than
the one that I had known,
into The Kitchen of the Night,
into a giant mixing bowl,
into a sea of dough.
Everyone
Sincere thanks to you all for your delightful and helpful comments. They are each and every one, very much appreciated. But please excuse the fact that I cannot reply to them individually on this occasion. I had to go for tests this morning and was very much delayed. Am now trying to catch up with myself!
To New Visitors
I extend a warm welcome and special thanks that you have stopped by to leave a comment.
Fanciful and wonderful!
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Like reading the book over again for the first time somehow, with the addition of new discoveries and thoughts. Well done Dave.
Dave- what a wonderful tribute to Maurice Sendak- I too loved his work and reading to my children.
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