EATING MY WORDS

Inspiration for budding poets interested in wordplay.

As usual taking a lighthearted approach, Cleary helpfully includes “A Recipe for Poetry: “A quarter cup of rhyming pairs— / One pinch alliteration, / A dash of macaronic verse, / complete with full translation… / it’s time to eat your words!” He explores far-ranging topics, from grammar to technology and even toilets. Cleary writes in a variety of forms—acrostics, haiku, list poems, palindrome, sensory poems—all listed in the book’s index. Clearly, the author loves wordplay, as in his poem “Sleepover Party”: “The letters had a sleepover / with popcorn, snacks, and TV. / But drinking too much soda / made the elemno P.” He cleverly weaves puns into verses about love: “I’ll love you till the BUTTERFLIES / until the SUGAR BOWLS. / I’ll love you till the KITCHEN SINKS, / and CELERY STALKS the rolls.” One poem’s title—“WHAT I’D DO IF A BURGLAR BROKE INTO MY HOUSE”—is longer than the verse itself: “I’d / hide.” Friendly spot illustrations accompany most of the poems; people depicted are racially diverse. Budding poets will find the glossary of poetic forms especially useful.

Readers will gobble up heaping helpings of this humorous literary smorgasbord, but it’s also suitable for savoring slowly.