Poetry Challenge #313-Gross and Gory
Pass the chocolates! Slice the giant peach! And BEASTLY school masters, get out the whipping stick! It’s Roald Dahl’s birthday!
Roald Dahl, creator of Willy Wonka, James and the B.F.G. was born on September 13, 1916. Talk about cool dude, he was born in Wales, went to boarding school—hello Harry Potter! —was a World War flying Ace—Yo! Snoopy! —and an intelligence Agent. Which in themselves are way enough, but get this:
“While Dahl was studying at Repton [a boarding school in England], the chocolate company ‘Cadbury’ would send boxes of chocolate to there to get tasted.
“This is where Dahl took inspiration for his most notable work ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ which was published in 1963.”—https://www.famousauthors.org/roald-dahl
BOY, TALES OF A CHILDHOOD is Dahl’s autobiography!
Highly recommended to readers of all ages and as a read-aloud.
Warning: It is not sunshine and lollipops…
Maybe the secret to Dahl’s success as an author and poet is simple.
He was not afraid to go THERE!
But not all the time. Here’s one of Dahl’s poems I found floating on the internet:
Here’s what Polly Barbour say about whether his stories are violent:
“Well, yes, they are people are eaten, children become lunch for a crocodile and a farmer becomes a nice juicy sandwich for a pig; eyeballs pop our as a result of too much television, and a stomach develops a vocabulary of its own when faced with extreme hunger.”- Polly Barbour
Poetry Challenge #313
Gross and Gory as Dahl
In her analysis of Roald Dahl’s poetry, Polly Barbour wrote that Dahl is a
“rare breed of author and poet who accomplishes the seemingly impossible; he writes stories and poems that children want to read and adults are delighted to read to them; his poems are just gory and gross enough for even the non-reading little boy to be captivated by, but they also contain a message or a lesson that pleases his parents.”
For today’s prompt, tap into that potty-humor-loving 4-5-7-10-11-year-old you used to be and write a poem that will shock and disgust adults—especially the buttoned-up teacher/preacher/granny type.
Let yourself go! Have fun! And if you’re so inclined, add it a devilishly Dahl didactic “message” at the end.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, Write It!
For more of Rold Dahl’s poetry click on the Roald Dahl fanpage!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2700+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
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All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
