A Poem for Dr. Seuss
by Esther D. Kustanowitz (2012)
Maybe you’ve seen it – it’s been in the news -
Today marks the birth of a Doctor called Seuss.
His masterful rhythm and superlative rhyming
Taught us much about meter and comedy timing.
From Sneetches to grinches and cats in chapeaus,
He gave us the stories that all of us know.
Zaxes who stood fixed and rigidly stubborn
And 500 hats for Bartholomew Cubbins.
A fox wearing socks made the creature seem mild,
While Things 1 and 2 ran free and ran wild.
From colors of fish to ham that's green-hued
A Seuss-style approach always lightens the mood.
Oh, the places we go, thanks to lessons he taught
In all of his books we found selves that we sought.
If we ran the circus, or spoke for the trees,
Seussian fun is what all people need.
He taught us to play with the sounds of our words
And develop new phrases that had never been heard.
And now a karate chop straight to the thorax
Hollywood heresy: they remade the Lorax!
But whatever the industry does to the story
Fans of the Seuss will inherit his glory.
Creatively frolicking in language's field,
We are his legacy; our words are his yield.
Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss!