Thursday, December 11, 2014

Fun, fun, fun! Holiday Contest Poem

I had so much fun writing this for Susanna Leonard Hill's 4th Annual Holiday Contest. The premise:
350 words or less about a wacky weather holiday experience. Here's my take, hitting the word count right on the nose (whew!):

The Rumbledy, Jumbledy Holiday Feast


          The last week of school before winter vacation
Miss Chipper’s class planned a unique celebration.

“C’mon,” said Miss Chipper. “With your help, I bet -
we’ll make this a party we'll never forget!”

Ricardo piped up from the very last row,
“Why don’t we watch Rudolph and sing about snow?”

“Or maybe make gingerbread houses,” said Lee.
and string up some popcorn to hang on the tree.”

“But those are the same things we do every year.
There’s nothing unique about that!” said Jahir. 

“I got it!” cried Rachel. “Why don’t we include
“our family’s traditional holiday foods?”

“Super-fantabulous!” Miss Chipper sang.
“Our first international winter shebang!”

The next several days all the children were busy –
They fried, fricasseed and sautéed themselves dizzy!

At last the day came; they set up their displays
with casseroles, baskets, and platters and trays.

“Bravo!” said Miss Chipper. “This feast looks delicious!
Now tell me about all these wonderful dishes!”

Imani presented a round flattened bread.
“We call it Chapati in Kenya,” she said.

Jose brought pasteles, a savory pastry -
In warm Puerto Rico, considered quite tasty.

Mei-Lin made some dumplings to bring New Year’s luck
prepared with fresh chickens she helped her mom pluck.

When all had presented, they lined up to eat,
but just then a tremor rose up from their feet.

The ground shook and shifted; it shimmied and shivered.
It wiggled and wobbled and trembled and quivered!

Miss Chipper was heard above all of the shaking:
“Take cover, my dears, ‘til the classroom stops quaking!”

The chairs began sliding, colliding, and bumping!
On top of the table the dumplings were jumping!

The rice balls were bouncing; they fell to the floor.
They whizzed passed the children then flew out the door.

Latkes were launched in an eastward direction;
They toppled a chocolaty Belgian confection!

A baklava rocket whooshed into the air,
then landed in Annabel Sanderson’s hair.

At last it was over; they rose to their feet.
The table still held plenty goodies to eat.

“Wahoo!” said Miss Chipper. “Time to dig in.
Let the rumbledy jumbledy feasting begin!”


24 comments:

  1. How fun. I think I'd have launched myself in the air to catch that baklava. Yum.

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  2. Oh my goodness! A holiday earthquake! Glad it all ended well though.

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  3. What a delicious story! :)

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  4. Very clever! I love the idea and your brilliant way with words.

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  5. Very fun & multicultural to boot. :)

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  6. I really enjoyed the classroom setting and the way you brought in all the different foods from around the world. Way to go! Good luck :)

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  7. This is really good. This could be an excellent children's book where they learn about other cultures' foods. Good job!

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    1. Oh, and blogspot refuses to let me comment as me. My actual webpage is www.debbysplace.com. Sorry for the confusion.

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  8. Great rhyming story, and I like the multicultural aspect!

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  9. Yes, loved all the multicultural aspects and how unique to have an earthquake disrupt the celebration. Lots of great action words.

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  10. You've captured your inner Suess. Great writing. I'm enjoying your blog.

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  11. My mouth is watering with all those yummy descriptions. Nice job.

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    1. Thanks, Sylvia! There were so many foods I wanted to use but couldn't work in with the word count, meter, rhyme, etc. Researching the different holiday traditional foods was the best part!

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  12. Love your rhyming. Great story about different culture food traditions. Great entry.

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    1. Thanks, Patricia. I'm so glad you stopped by and took the time to comment!

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  13. This is WONDERFUL, Randi! I love the cultural diversity and all the different foods and traditions represented. And then to have a tremor jumble everything - great choice of weather - we didn't have a lot of earthquakes in the mix! Very clever, creative and fun! Thanks so much for joining in the Holiday Contest!

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    1. Thanks for your kind words, Susanna, and thank YOU for hosting such a fun contest; I am happy to be a part of it. It really got my creative juices flowing...exactly what I needed!

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  14. Delicious rhyme! I love the idea of a "international winter shebang"! =)

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  15. Thanks, Bridget! I'm glad you stopped by!

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