Newsworthy

NaPoWriMo Day 10: News

Update: What an honor to be featured participant: https://www.napowrimo.net/day-eleven-12/.

Today’s prompt is to write a poem based on one of the headlines, cartoons or other news items from here: https://yesterdaysprint.tumblr.com/. These are so hysterical, I decided to pick a few.

Animal Mayhem

The parrot causes a riot
it takes 80 men to quell.
The duck collects old shoes.
Its web feet wear them well.

The cat graduates with honors,
degree from Bowdoin College.
The dog steals lots of diamonds
and frolics with its haulage.

The snakes play popular tunes,
though won’t take a request.
The turtle listens to radio
and likes the waltz the best.

The gators drive a plow.
The lines aren’t very straight.
The chicken burns a haystack
because its feed was late.

Here are the headlines that inspired my poem. The one that had pictures are included above.

“Escaped Parrot Causes a Riot. It Takes 80 Men to Quell.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri, June 5, 1910

“Collects Old Shoes. Strange Freak of an Ordinary Duck,” The Coffeyville Daily Journal, Kansas, January 23, 1897

“Cat Went to College. Graduated From Bowdoin With All Honors and Great Dignity,” Kansas Farmer, Topeka, Kansas, February 6, 1896

“Dog Steals Diamonds. Frolics on Lawn with $14,000* Worth of Gems. ‘Deep Mystery’ is Solved.” The Washington Post, Washington DC, September 26, 1911 (*About $450,000 today!)

“Snakes Played Tunes. Old Colorado Plainsmen Heard a Reptile Family Rattling Off Popular Airs.” The Washington Bee, Washington DC, September 20, 1902

“Pet Turtles Like Music. They Flip Their Legs and Waltz to the Tempo.” Des Moines Tribune, Iowa, January 19, 1932

“Farmer Stobbins and His Team of Trained Alligators,” The Times, Philadelphia, September 27, 1898

“Chickens Burn a Haystack. Farmer Believes They Carried Matches and Pecked at Them.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri, April 11, 1909