Bad Poetry Monday

Nothing Like Being Late

Good Morning and Good Monday Cool Cats and Hot Kittens!

I trust your weekend was a smash and you’re ready for another rousing week to jump up, turn around, and get ‘er done. You may have noticed today’s Bad Poem wiggled into your inbox later than usual. But at least it’s still morning in the Rockies and on the West Coast, so consider this little treat arriving under the wire.

As a result, the theme here today is about being “late.” With a tad bit of inspiration from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and more. More on that, at the end, my friend, if you dare venture that far.

Have a great week and thanks for reading!

Nothing Like Being Late

by ZJ Czupor

Nothing like being late on a Monday morning,

When the rest of the world is up and forewarning,

Of speed bumps ahead and war oh, dread!

And Queen of Hearts threatens to remove her head.

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Nothing like being late for a very important date,

“Tis so easy to take the hook and bait,

That time is our friend from front to back-end,

With so many fences and offenses left to amend.

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Nothing like being late when your watch won’t tock,

Or tick or tap while you shake it and gawk,

The locks won’t work and the Wicked Witch just smirks,

While the work stacks up and the coffee won’t perk.

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Oh, there’s nothing like being late to start your day,

Whilst best laid plans oft go astray,

Guess I’ll jump off a bridge or eat ice cream from the fridge,

And hope tomorrow is better by more than a smidge.

Author’s Note:

English author Lewis Carroll (real name: Charles Ludwitch Dodson 1832-1898) wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865. I think I identify with Carroll for his poetry has been classified as literary nonsense, and he’s known for his word play, logic, and fantasy. If you like word play, I highly recommend you read his nonsense poem, Jabberwocky which he included in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass his sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

An oft repeated line is “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date!” which he did not write. That line is from the song in the Disney movie. Lyrics by Bob Hilliard and Sammy Fain. Carrol’s line from his novel, spoken by the White Rabbit, is “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late.”

Speaking of the White Rabbit, I always liked the song of the same title by Jefferson Airplane. Here’s where it gets curioser and curioser.

Grace Slick, lead singer of the Jefferson Airplane, wrote the song from Dec. 1965-Jan. 1966 based on imagery she took from Lewis Carroll’s works. She said Alice in Wonderland was read to her often when she was a child.

Slick said she wrote the lyrics first, then composed the music at a red upright piano she purchased for $50 with eight or ten keys missing. Lesson here is never let obstacles stop your creativity. She had no qualms about missing keys because she could hear the music in her head.

When the song was produced and heard on the radio many critics thought the lyrics were about drugs. But she claims the song is more about being curious. The line at the end “feed your head” is both about reading and psychedelics. She said, “feeding your head by paying attention: read some books, pay attention.”

She also said French composer Maurice Ravel’s (1875-1937) Bolero (1928) inspired the music composition.

There you have it. Now I’m late. Gotta run.