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Showing posts with label Poet: Bill Watterson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poet: Bill Watterson. Show all posts

My Mom and Dad -- Bill Watterson

Guest poem sent in by Priyadarshani Sarangi
(Poem #1408) My Mom and Dad
 My mom and my dad are not what they seem.
 Their dull appearance is part of their scheme.
 I know of their plans. I know their techniques.
 My parents are outer space alien freaks!

 They landed on earth in spaceships humongous.
 Posing as grownups, they now walk among us.
 My parents deny this, but I know the truth.
 They're here to enslave me and spoil my youth.

 Early each morning, as the sun rises,
 Mom and dad put on their earthling disguises.
 I knew right away their masks weren't legit.
 Their faces are lined - they sag and don't fit.

 The earth's gravity makes them sluggish and slow.
 They say not to run, wherever I go.
 They live by the clock. They're slaves to routines.
 They work the year 'round. They're almost machines.

 They deny that TV and fried food have much worth.
 They cannot be human. They're not of this earth.
 I cannot escape their alien gaze,
 And they're warping my mind with their alien ways.
 For sinister plots, this one is a gem.
 They're bringing me up to turn me into them!
-- Bill Watterson
           (from "It's a Magical World")

This is one of my personal favorites from the C&H poems. I got the poem from
one of my colleagues at work - there are a surprisingly large number of C&H
fans around me it seems!

I read this following line somewhere: "I tried to get in touch with my inner
child but he isn't allowed to talk to strangers." I have been a strong believer
of alien abductions, metamorphosis of aliens into humans, etc etc since
childhood, and this poem sure would have been inspiring had I read it when I
was 5!!

Regards

Priyadarshi Sarangi

Christmas Eve -- Bill Watterson

Guest poem sent in by Ajit Narayanan as part of the
'Authors as Poets' theme
(Poem #1369) Christmas Eve
 On the window panes the icy frost
 Leaves feathered patterns, crissed and crossed
 But in our house the Christmas tree
 Is decorated festively
 With tiny dots of colored light
 That cozy up this winter night.
 Christmas songs familiar, slow
 Play softly on the radio.
 Pops and hisses from the fire
 Whistle with the bells and choir.
 Trying now to fall asleep
 On my back and dreaming deep
 Tomorrow's what I'm waiting for,
 But I can wait a little more.
-- Bill Watterson
I wish I could scan the full-page comic from which I lifted this poem, and
put it up somewhere for all Minstrels people to admire -- it is truly a work
of art, with the one big picture of Calvin cuddled up with Hobbes vibing
perfectly with this poem, printed in Ye Olde Christmas font. The whole page
is a work of inspiration. It is in his book 'Scientific Progress goes
Boink', and if you have this book, or can get hold of it, do look up this
poem.

Bill Watterson's comic accomplishments with Calvin and Hobbes rather
overshadow some of the fine writing that goes with the strip. His many poems
include the oh-so-classic verses that Hobbes makes Calvin say when he's
trying to clamber up to the tree-house; that gem of a poem 'Yukon Ho!' which
appears on the frontspiece of the book with the same name; and the poems
that Calvin often recites about Hobbes while he's taking a nap (including --
ye Gads -- an alliterative haiku! :) ). [and who can forget that all-time
classic, the "very sorry song"? - martin]

Information about Watterson's poems can be found here
http://home.pacbell.net/bbavetta/watterson.html
  (some poems, with some background)
[broken link] http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/7879/poem.htm
  (two of the longer poems)
http://www.alloftheabove.net/cahr/poems.htm
  (a much more comprehensive collection)

The last site is also a great source of C&H trivia, and has a biography of
Watterson as well

Ajit