On Ogden Nash

I have discovered Ogden Nash,

For I chanced upon a stash

Of his marvelous work all tucked away

That apparently my teachers did mislay--

Instead encouraging Fitzgerald and Shakespeare

And other such authors through each long year.

But Nash is ever more amusing

And I’d rather be perusing

All his poetry

on celery,

on Columbus and the common cold,

Than reading lofty lines on Troilus and Cressida, of old,

Or of Gatsby and Daisy, or Jake and Lady Brett Ashley

Who act so appallingly rashly

And aren’t delightful a whit.

(Though that’s not the only reason to read, I admit.)

I’ll rectify this deprivation

And start a long examination

Of his works with great elation

And then sit back in sated contemplation.

                       ~Leanna Coon

Nash's work, of which I've heard the odd quote over the years but never really read, is indeed a recent "discovery."  His style rather puts me in mind of a Shel Silverstein for adults.  I tried to follow his style a bit in the poem above with the varying line lengths and rhyming and all that.  In case you’re interested, his work is available for anyone's perusal at http://www.poemhunter.com/ogden-nash/poems/.