poets, unite!

[rezendi]

I'm going to be Officially Godparented this weekend, and thought I might read/recite a short poem to/for my eight-year-old hitherto-informal goddaughter. It's an irreverent family (even though her father is a vicar) so I'm an inclined towards an irreverent poem, though that's not set in stone. Anyone have any poetic ideas

Comments

[lyonesse]

it's possibly too goddessy, but i adore neil gaiman's "blueberry girl" blessing.

[elusis]

That was one I had also. And "Instructions:" http://www.endicott-studio.com/cofhs/cofinstr.html

[fuzzyila]

I'm partial to Dennis Lee because I grew up with his stuff and have shared it with my own child who seems to appreciate him. The one there might be a little too childish for an 8 year old though.

You probably found the same crap I did if you did a Google search, but I found this which isn't so bad (though not irreverent) http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/why-god-made-little-girls-2/

I would have loved it if my god-father wrote me a poem. The best thing he did in my life was be the complete opposite of my father - he hugged me a lot and called me sweetheart and told me I was beautiful. After my dad died he came to visit (he lives in England now) and told me I looked like my father and that my father was proud of me. It does wonders for a little girl's self-esteem.

[foms]

Ooh, I didn't know that one. Lovely.

[hitchhiker]

i like this one:

"Fairies"

You can't see fairies unless you're good.
That's what Nurse said to me.
They live in the smoke of the chimney,
Or down in the roots of a tree;
They brush their wings on a tulip,
Or hide behind a pea.

But you can't see fairies unless you're good,
So they aren't much use to me.

-- Marchette Gaylord Chute

also silverstein's "inside a lion" was one i loved when i was that age.

[rdi]

I was thinking the Dennis Lee because it's shorter. Might lend itself better to performance as well.

[foms]

I'm torn all over the place. I like the idea of being the curmudgeonly old uncle who imparts appropriate cynicism but I also want the lesson to be otherwise valuable and to be pretty and witty and gay. I'm not finding the right so here are a few shots that miss the target.

The Dennis Lee minds me of Adventures Of Isabel, by Ogden Nash (www.poemhunter.com/poem/adventures-of-isabel).

This Be the Verse, by Philip Larkin (www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178055).

Teddy Bear, by A. A. Milne (www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/241534) on courtesy and acceptance.

Some shorter work by Hillaire Belloc and Stephen Crane has just the right amount of snide but the subjects are not what I seek.