Ooh! Poem by Angela Lansbury (Cheerful Poem 10)

Rhyme of the day from Angela Lansbury

Ooh!

Oh, dear me, there's a stinky poo
Has it come from the dog, or me, or you?
It really doesn't matter who
Just get rid of that stinky poo.

Copyright Angela Lansbury Dec 24 2015.

You may quote me for non-commercial use with attribution and written/email permission. 

This was not written after any event. It just seemed to rhyme nicely. I was thinking of the sort of rhyme I or anybody else might make up if we went into an old people's home and started developing Alzheimer's. One of the signs is talking in rhyme. Oh dear!

After I'd written it, I thought, oh dear. Have I half remembered this from somewhere else, from Michael Rosen or another writer for children.

I often get this sensation of panic, if a poem is easy, not endlessly rewritten. I then google all the words. Often you get ten variations on a line, or a rhyme, everywhere from the bible to pop songs, articles about them, and more.

Yet even by changing one word the whole implication of the sentence has often changed. 

If I wrote, 'Has it come from the king or queen or you', that would have one meaning, probably humorous, to make toddlers hiccup, only half understanding, but seeing a parent laugh. But 'from the prime minister or you'  written from a member of one political party to another, on the occasion of a gaffe, or controversy, or court case, would be totally different, political commentary, satire, or even slander. 

Written with an illustration of an owner of a woebegone dog in the park, and a pooper scoop, it could be an advertisement for cleaning up after your dog, to keep dog owners and children on side. Written as, 'from the cat or dog or you', with an illustration of three cute, guilty looking pets, would again be humorous but totally different, a comment on animals, but a fond one. 

Angela Lansbury, author of Poetry Pets And Pests (lulu.com).