Poetry Friday and "Lunch with Laura"

The Poetry Friday roundup is here. Welcome! Please add your links to the Mr. Linky after David Moody's "Lunch with Laura."

David's poem first appeared on Chicken Spaghetti in 2006. He was a Cataloging Librarian at the University of Detroit Mercy, and although I did not know him well, I always appreciated his humorous contributions to an online reading group I belonged to. I was sad to read recently that he has since passed away. His poem still makes me laugh, so I'm featuring it again today. The inspiration, clearly, comes from the children's book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

*****

Lunch with Laura
by David Moody

If like Shakespeare you'd be makin'
Just pretend you're Francis Bacon
Frying up some Romeo and Juliet.
If on Updike you've been spying
Rabbits still are multiplying
And I do not think that they have stopped it yet.
If your name is Charles Dickens
All your characters will sicken
As consumption hits them with a hacking cough.
If you give a mouse a cookie
You're no literary rookie
And your name is Laura Joffe Numeroff.

If you think that John's the Irving
Who is truly most deserving
Say a prayer for Owen Meany and for Garp,
If with Hemingway you're writing
There'll be lots of bull and fighting
But be sure to take some time to catch a carp.
If you fish with Joseph Heller
Who's a funny kind of feller
Then a catch of 22 is not far off.
If you give a mouse a cookie
Then you're something of a bookie
And your name is Laura Joffe Numeroff.

If Fitzgerald had a Zelda
Still he didn't have Imelda
Just a bunch of stuff that hit him with the blues.
If Bill Faulkner's work is gnarly
His relationships are snarly
And it's difficult to tell just who is whose.
If you're munching on a pita
While devouring Lolita
Then I think that you are reading Nabokov.
If you give a mouse a cookie
There's no need to take a lookie
For your name is Laura Joffe Numeroff.

If you're Huckleberry Finnish
And your hair resembles spinach
Then some one has put a Mark upon your Twain.
If Tolstoy's your inspiration
You'll depict the Russian nation
And will probably wind up beneath a train.
If you feel that you must grovel
It's a Dostoyevsky novel—
Crime and Punishment of young Raskolnikov,
If you give a mouse a cookie
And you don't look like a Wookie
Then your name is Laura Joffe Numeroff.

If your brains begin to boil
Reading Arthur Conan Doyle
Then we can deduce a case of Sherlock Holmes.
If O'Henry makes a living
Then the Magi will be giving
And you'll sell your watch to buy those fancy combs.
If there's books of all description
Starting off with science fiction
Then you might be reading Isaac Asimov.
If you give a mouse a cookie—
Well I gotta tell you, Pookie,
That your name is Laura Joffe Numeroff.

*****

And now it's your turn.

Comments

[Michelle Kogan]

Love this delightful poem Susan, it's cleverness and smiles that it evokes! Thanks for hosting the Roundup today!

[Susan]

I'm so glad to hear that, Michelle! It is so fun and clever. I agree. Thanks for your link, too!

[Jane @ Raincity Librarian]

What a rollicking delight! One of the reasons I love poetry so dearly is the way it allows us all to live on, in some way, and touch people even after our earthly time is up. Thank you for sharing a bit of David with us this week.

[tanita]

Heh. I love this poem. I also love Laura Numeroff's books - they were some of the first picture books I shared with my whole family after grad school, even though none of us had littles at the moment. Thanks for hosting this week!

[Denise Krebs]

Susan, I love this poem. Thank you for sharing it. I'm imagining David and Laura having lunch. You have chosen a poem that really shows his humor and perhaps a bit of his personality. Nice that you could know him. Thanks for hosting today.

[Susan]

Jane, yes, absolutely to the work living on. Such a lovely idea. And isn't this just a real librarian's poem? So much fun with the various authors.

Tanita, you're so welcome! You're reminding me to get some of Laura Numeroff's books for my great-niece, who's almost 3. She'll appreciate them, I know!

Denise, thank you for stopping in. I always liked this poem and am happy to have a chance for it to keep building its audience. Such clever word play.

[Robyn Hood Black]

So wonderful to share this witty work in David's honor, Susan. Thanks for hosting! (I didn't get a post together for this week, but I left a signpost pointing this direction.) Happy Labor Day weekend!

[Marcie Flinchum Atkins]

What a fun poem! Thank you for sharing and for hosting!

[Karen Edmisten]

How delightful! I would never have thought of rhyming cough and Numeroff. :)
May David Moody rest in peace.

Thanks for sharing this, Susan, and thanks for hosting!

[Linda Baie]

David Moody, rest in peace, has left us all a table full of joy, Susan. I love this. Wouldn't it be fun to see it performed? Thanks for it, and for hosting this last of August!

[Carol Varsalona]

Susan, thanks for hosting today with a fabulously funny poem. I smiled thinking that this is the right poem for English majors. The rhyming was fun and the storyline filled with favorite characters. Cheers to you for choosing this poem to share.

[Rose Cappelli]

Thanks for sharing this delightful and clever poem, Susan. And thanks also for hosting today.

[Liz Garton Scanlon]

Ha ha ha -- those RHYMES!! Ohmygoodness, that was a great way to start the day.
Thanks so much for hosting, Susan...

[Irene Latham]

You can tell David had so much fun with this one...as an Alabamian, I am drawn to "If Fitzgerald had a Zelda"...because everyone here knows it was Zelda who had a Fitzgerald! :) Thank you for hosting! xo

[Patricia Franz]

So very fun, Susan! Thank you for starting my weekend with a poem to surprise and delight! And thank you for hosting us.

[Mary Lee]

So. Much. Fun. He nailed the rhythms and rhymes. Who knew so many authors rhyme with Numeroff (plus cough and off)?!?!

The world lost a wit when we lost David. But his words live on. Thank you for sharing.

[Susan T.]

Hey, all! So glad you're liking the poem. Thank you for stopping by and for sharing your marvelous work.

[Janice Scully]

It’s so fun to read this poem, remembering all these fabulous authors and their books. Yes, the rhymes and rhythms are spot on and fun to read aloud. Thanks for sharing this. It was new to me.

[Linda Mitchell]

What a warm and funny person Mr. Moody had to have been to write such a great poem. I'm sorry to hear that he's passed away but oh so encouraged that this librarian has such a lovely impact on you and many more students. Really, Christa McAuliffe had it right, 'To teach is to touch the future.' Thanks so much for hosting today! I'm loving some Labor Day Weekend Time!

[Tricia]

I'm so sorry to hear of David's passing. I started blogging in late 2006 after reading for a while, and I remember this poem. It's such fun to read.
Thank you for sharing it again and for hosting today.

[Ramona]

I smiled with recognition at almost every literary connection. Thanks for sharing and for hosting our poetry playground this week.