[Holly Martins]

Marilyn Taylor’s malapropism poem on TDE shows a howler skewing the world slightly, startling us into a different way of thinking - as poems often do. There’s an inexhaustible supply of boo-boos out there to write poems about - why not have a go? Here’s my starter:



CIRCUS POLKA

Stravinsky wrote the polka
for one of the younger
elephants in Barnum and
Bailey’s circus who had
commissioned the piece
Record sleeve note

O Barnum jumbo,
elephant rare,
commission me!
I’ve musical flair -
Stravinsky’s stuff
is cold and spare,
(he even steals,
March Militaire).

You’ll like my polka,
brass will blare
round circus rings
(round never square)
for I will write
with grateful care,
and you will dance
like Fred Astaire.