Reanimated Lavender Granola Switchblade Nun rides again.

Friday, October 21, 2011

The Plastictown Flood

Plastictown, Plastictown, lost in the flood!
The Resin River rose!
A plastic disaster of water and mud,
Bringing 1/24 scale woe!


Plastictown, fair jewel!
Molded by the hand of God--
We loved the sweet and rolling green
Of your old plastic sod!


Charlie, the police chief stood
On his sturdy polymer base
With a look of uncomprehending horror
On his painted plastic face!


To the stained glass of the First Plastic Church,
Where people sang Old Rugged Plastic Cross--
They peeled the plastic warning bells
And prayed all would not be lost!


Alas, too late the clap-on sun
In its lofty plastic socket--
Its light too weak, its warmth too late
Too stem the flood or stop it!

The cotton clouds, too thick, did bring
Calamity upon the land!
The waters swallowed dear Plastic High,
And the entire marching band!


Heroic Fido swam the current
To reach his master's boat!
Old Dobbin was already aboard,
Still munching plastic oats!


The Plastic Express went into the drink,
Likewise the Main Street trolley!
The Titanic sank over by the bank,
Despite the Plastic Guard's brave volley!


Plastictown, Plastictown, lost in the flood!
In the Spring of '92!
Not a trace of dear Plastictown now remains,
Though the sky's been repainted blue.

(from the book "Realistic American Disasters: A History In Verse" copyright 1952 by Herschel Wadsworth Whitman)


And, by popular demand...



20 comments:

  1. I must be having a dense evening. I loved the poem ("...on his painted plastic face" and rhyming socket and stop it--wonderfully witty), but then the note about the ancient book confused me.

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  2. There is no book. I made that up, too.

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  3. Some times
    poems begin with an inspired
    line,
    then blah blah blah...
    this was YOU
    at your unique best
    to the very end
    yes, including
    the literary
    hoax.
    You were so proud of this amazing piece
    that you got shy,
    Which is just one letter
    shy of Shay.


    Fond Aloha from Waikiki;

    Comfort Spiral



    > < } } ( ° >

    ><}}(°>

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  4. the clap-on sun line?
    spectacular.

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  5. hehe...and then a great lens appears in the sky and rays seer lines in the ceilings of plastic buildings...

    I HAVE COME

    and they shiver in plastic fear...in their plastic neighbor....in a plastic world...

    ok sorry its friday night...that is my only excuse...

    really a nice tale of woe rendered in your poetic greatness...i am tempted to enter it into a meme and not tell you...

    send you awards until your inbox is full just to keep you coming back

    dont worry i gave them to 382 other people too so if you catch something you will be in good company

    while i am at it i truly am sorry about the Tigers...i had hope...and i was rooting...just not hard enough...

    baseball is dead to me now...

    anyway, happy friday evening shay, may the sun shine on you tomorrow and cats cross the street just to see you.

    its a customary greeting in Yeahuhhuh a small country west of Jersey

    peace.

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  6. I certainly can't top brian's traditional Jersey greeting with my Chicago one ("hey you $#!@! Giddowda here--go take a @!#$! longa$$ walk off a short *&^$! pier!" traditionally exchanged between neighbors of an eventide) but I will say this is plastically fantastically derived from totally Shay-made materials and stamped on the bottom with the Not Made in Anywhere Oriental logo of a large dove in a bun carried by the bald eagle of peace. Choice.

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  7. Have I mentioned I like your Adele quote? I, too, have sinned, in that worst American way.

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  8. Okay, I AM gullible tonight. I went back and looked again, and I should have known---the combination of "Wadsworth" and "Whitman" should have tipped me off.

    Then my ears perked up when I read Hedgewitch's comment. Adele? I missed her. So I took more care and looked again. I, too, love the quote. I'd get big as a barn if I could sing like her...

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  9. A picturesque disaster, if there is such a thing. I wrote a couple poems of plastic... but they were sorta naughty. ;)

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  10. I love this so much, Shay! Agree with Brian that it should be sent far-and-wide into world. This is waaaay too fanplastic a poem to just sit here at your blog. You gave it life; now be a good mom and let it go find a Plastic Fantastic Lover!

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  11. Calamity upon the land!
    The waters swallowed dear Plastic High,
    And the entire marching band!



    The image along with your poem- wow, its creepy and disturbing, and yet makes you wonder of God.

    Great poem!

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  12. Verses kept getting better and better ~~ no plastic container large enough to contain my enthusiasm for this poem!

    The first thing I saw when I opened your blog - Adele! I love her.

    Brian ~ baseball dead to you? For shame.

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  13. This was fun to read. :)

    And Adele is so cool!!!

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  14. Loving Cloudia's comment as much as this little gem you pulled out of your pocket. Nicely done, amiga. What a joy ride!

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  15. i may be putting my life or sanity {HA!} at risk by admitting this, but i'm so gullable that i thought there was really a book.....

    LOVE this! i'd still like to crawl into your mind sometime, but i'd probably never find my way back out. {smile}

    hey, missy! did you take control of my mind for a bit last night and lead me to Adele's videos? be careful, the mess my mind's in might infect you. {smile}

    what kind of kool aid has Brian been drinking?

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  16. Interesting commentary. Love this creation with all it's plasticity.
    Love Adele.
    Please keep sharing yourself with us. I for one feel better after reading your thoughts and creations

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  17. Only you (as she shakes her head). Only you.

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  18. My Barbies have Herschel Wadsworth Whitman's book on their plastic coffee table in their deluxe penthouse.

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  19. Thanks for adding the song! It belongs here. :)

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