Thursday, February 18, 2021

Poetry on Thursday

I'll admit that last week's choice of a poem ended up being a little harder to decipher than I had originally thought, so this week there was no complicated overthinking. I picked a poem that simply made me laugh.

Cheerios
by Billy Collins

One bright morning in a restaurant in Chicago
as I waited for my eggs and toast,
I opened the Tribune only to discover
that I was the same age as Cheerios.

Indeed, I was a few months older than Cheerios
for today, the newspaper announced,
was the seventieth birthday of Cheerios
whereas mine had occurred earlier in the year.

Already I could hear them whispering
behind my stooped and threadbare back,
Why that dude’s older than Cheerios
the way they used to say

Why that’s as old as the hills,
only the hills are much older than Cheerios
or any American breakfast cereal,
and more noble and enduring are the hills,

I surmised as a bar of sunlight illuminated my orange juice.


Source: Poetry (September 2012)
You can read more about the poet here


I'm not quite as old as Cheerios (they are 80 this year), but I am older than Count Chocula and Hamburger Helper (both 50 years old) and the same age as Tang (64 this year).  


I wish you mindfulness, peace, good health, the sunlight illuminating your orange juice, and the power of poetry as this week winds down.

11 comments:

  1. Ha! This one gave me a good chuckle to start the day -- a most excellent way to start it!

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  2. Okay, I laughed! My "age appropriate" items include bubble wrap, Etch-a-Sketch, Chatty Cathy, and Proctor Silex!

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  3. This poem is perfect for me this morning, Bonny! I am a decade younger than Cheerios, but still! I laughed out loud. A whimsical poem for this week is really perfect. Thanks for the humor on a cold, dark morning. Happy Thursday!

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  4. Billy Collins is such a treasure! XO

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  5. Love it! I'm the same age as Barbie but thankfully I gave up those high heels long ago! :-)

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  6. I eat cheerios every single morning so this poem speaks to me on many levels :)

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  7. I love Billy Collins! Great poem this week. The only thing I know off the top of my head that's the same age as me is the Ford Mustang.

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  8. :-) all the hearts for Billy Collins. and - for Cheerios! they are the ONLY cereal aside from oatmeal that I eat!

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  9. Billy Collin's always tickles me!

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Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment! :-)