May 24 On this day in 1830 the famous nursery rhyme  ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ was published by the Boston publishing firm Marsh, Capen & Lyon, as a poem by Sarah Josepha Hale.  It was possibly inspired by an actual incident. Today, two versions of the rhyme exist. A shorter version and the original onger version. This is my response which alludes slightly to the original.   MARY DINES OUT-The Punk Version   Mavis had a little lamb Then she ate some cakes Some Shepherd’s Pie A jug of milk And a bag of jelly snakes   The people in the café All feared she’d explode But, she let out a monster burp And landed on the road. ©Alan j Wright

Recipes are written with a precise use of language. The application of action words in the form of vivid verbs is a feature of this form of writing. I love the clear intent of words such as: sift, dice, boil, sprinkle, sauté, blanche, pinch, muddle, chop, whip, slice, bake, season, salt, soak, plunge, dissolve, melt, boil. What if these verbs were applied to a non-cooking topic? Could we create recipes for animals, traveling, feelings and emotions, seasons, learning or many other topics? I recall a wonderful activity Natalie Goldberg presented in her book, 'Writing Down The Bones' (page 87, The Action of A Sentence) that coupled verbs one generally associates with kitchen actions with common nouns in order to create fresh new sentences and to increase writers awareness of the power verbs possess. A further possibility is creating a recipe for some wondrous, new, edible delight… Elaine Magliaro’s poem is a wonderful example of this approach. Elaine skilful...

I recently had the pleasure of conducting a workshop on Wordplay and its important role in growing writers. Here are some of the messages I was able to share with participants. Trust they add to your thinking around the teaching of writing... Wordplay is such an omnipotent thing. It is unavoidable. Conversation, songs, TV shows advertisements, literature , greeting cards, brochures magazines and newspapers all employ word play abundantly. Everywhere we go, it leaps out at us. In many schools however the study of words, has over time, been shrunken down to mean little more than reading and vocabulary knowledge. And yet, I still recall my teachers encouraging me to play with malapropisms, oxymorons, listen for tautology and wonder at the mystery of invented words in Lewis Carroll's poem 'Jabberwocky.' I recall the fun we had creating rhyming couplets and discovering palindromic words. At home, my father regularly engaged me in wordplay and riddles. There were also ...

Poets Use ALLUSION A poet uses allusion when the words in a poem they have written make a clear connection to another poem or story. The poet may use this device to honour the earlier piece, or it may be used in order to create a humourous effect.   In the poem posted below, 'Homework Haunts Hamlet', I have quite deliberately employed allusion.  I have linked the vexing issue of homework to the famous soliloquy (spoken monologue from a play) from William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. I am attempting to inject a touch of humour into an otherwise concerning matter.    'Homework Haunts Hamlet' appears in my latest book, I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon.  Homework Haunts Hamlet To do or not to do? That is the question. Whether ’tis nobler on the mind To suffer the slings and arrows of outraged parents and teachers And engage willingly in work avoidance, To look away from homework And towards fun and merriment. To do or not ...