Friday, December 10, 2010

An Original Fairy Tale Poem about Jack and the Beanstalk




I dug into my unpublished collection of fairy tale poems this morning to find something to post for Poetry Friday. I’ve had problems with the beginning of the third stanza of the following poem about Jack and the Beanstalk for years. I keep changing the first two lines of that stanza. I even rewrote them this morning. I'll probably rewrite them again some day.





Q: Do you know who robbed the sleeping giant?

A: Jack, a boy who’s self-reliant.
He climbed the beanstalk near his shack
And stole some gold coins in a sack.
He raced back home and spent the money
On chocolate cookies, milk, and honey.

In ten days he returned again.
This time he poached the giant’s hen…
A hen that laid bright eggs of gold
(All over-easy, I’ve been told).

Then in a month—and in a daze—
Jack climbed the stalk and cast his gaze
Upon the castle in the sky.
Nobody knows the reason why
The newly wealthy farm boy Jack
Became a kleptomaniac.
He stole the magic harp for fun.
He really had no need of one.
And lo, the giant never caught
The little thief! An afterthought:
A good boy tempted may not heed
The Golden Rule. Ah! Such is greed.

**********
Jama has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Alphabet Soup this week.

6 comments:

jama said...

Love your fairy tale poems, Elaine! The Q&A frame is clever. Third stanza reads and scans well :).

Elaine Magliaro said...

Jama,

Thanks for the feedback.

Tabatha said...

Elaine, I enjoyed your poem! I did stop a little at the third verse. Would it help to take out the first two lines and rearrange things a little:
Jack stole the magic harp for fun.
He really had no need of one.
Oh, hapless castle in the sky
No one knows the reason why
The newly wealthy farm boy Jack
Became a kleptomaniac.

I don't know if that is better -- just playing around!

Mary Lee said...

I chuckled at Jack being a kleptomaniac!

I agree with Toby: New form = Q/A poems!!! (maybe I'll try those with my students!!!)

Amy L V said...

You are funny, Elaine. These fairy tale poems really capture your wit, and the surprises are great (Jack is a klepto!)

Jules at 7-Imp said...

Love. Going to read to my girls!