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| When one thinks of poetry, only the Beatle fans would include John Lennon. On the contrary, Lennon was a fantastic poet with the fascination into the world of Lewis Carrol. John came out with three books in his lifetime all his own poetry work and his own art work. The first to come out was In His Own Write. The Sunday Times hailed it as "Fascinating...It goes down like pure whimsy and then back-kicks like a sick mule." Okay, so maybe not hailed. Actually, it's difficult to figure out what exactly that meant. But his mates were genuine in their praise. 'It was fun to be around John as we were feeding this comedy machine. He was funny then and the books are still great...Even our children find them just as much fun as we did.' (George). 'With one bound copy of In His Own Write John was free! He had made a giant leap out of the box marked "Pop Star". What a career move!...But from then on John was "the literary Beatle" and the halo shines on to this day.' (Derek Taylor). Works included in this particular work are: "Partly Dave", "Good Dog Nigel" "I Sat Belonely" (the one said aloud in the movie Help! by John and Ringo) and "Deaf Ted, Danoota, (and me). His second book was A Spaniard in the Works.Truly by this point, John had honed in on his poetry skills as he put forth a barage of silliness as "The Fat Budgie", "The Wumberlog (or the Magic Dog)," and "Last Will and Testicle." Ringo had this to say: 'John's inscription on my copy of A Spaniard in the Works when it first came out in 1965 says it all: "To Ringo with love, you dwarf bastard".' Nice one John. ("Ah, you have a inferiority complex haven't you?" "Of course, that's why I play the drums." ~George and Ringo in A Hard Day's Night) His final book came out in the 1970's after the breakup of the group and the marriage between John and Yoko. Skywriting by Word of Mouth is the most irreverent out of the three but entertaining in spite. He includes for the first time, a mixture of prose and poetry as he pens the autobiographical The Ballad of John and Yoko and no, it's not the song. The one most Beatle fans will recognise might just be An Alphabet. So, without further adieu, Bring on the poetry! The kiddies are getting restless. |
| Forgotten Poetry |
| Good Dog Nigel Arf, Arf, he goes, a merry sight, Our little hairy friend, Arf, Arf, upon the lampost bright Arfing round the bend. Nice dog! Goo boy, Waggie tail and beg, Clever Nigel, jump for joy Because we're putting you to sleep at three of the clock, Nigel. From In His Own Write by John Lennon 1964 published by Jonathan Cape |
| The Fat Budgie I have a little budgie/ He is my very pal/ I take him walks in Britain/ I hope I always shall. I call my budgie Jeffrey/ My grandads name's the same I call him after grandad/ Who had a feathered brain. Some people don't like budgies/The little yellow brats They eat them up for breakfast/Or give them to their cats. My uncle ate a budgie/ It was so fat and fair./ I cried and called him Ronnie/ He didn't seem to care Although his name was Arthur/ It didn't mean a thing. He went into a petshop/ And ate up everything. The doctors looked inside him,/ To see what they could do,/ But he had been too greedy/ He died just like a zoo. My Jeffrey chirps and twitters/When I walk into the room,/I make him scrambled egg on toast/And feed him with a spoon. He sings like other budgies/ But only when in trim/ But most of all on Sunday/ That's when I plug him in. He flies about the room sometimes/ And sits upon my bed/And if he's really happy/ He does it on my head. He's on a diet now you know/ From eating far too much/ They say if he gets fatter/He'll have to wear a crutch. It would be funny wouldn't it/ A budgie on a stick/ Imagine all the people/ Laughing till they're sick. So that's my budgie Jeffrey/Fat and yellow too/ I love him more than daddie/ And I'm only thirty two. From A Spaniard in the Works by John Lennon 1965 published by Jonathan Cape sorry if it's messy, had to crop it for room's sake! |
| An Alphabet A is for Parrot which we can plainly see B is for glasses which we can plainly see C is for plastic which we can plainly see D is for Doris E is for binoculars I'll get it in five F is for Ethel who lives next door G is for orange which we love to eat when we can get them because they come from abroad H is for England and (Heather) I is for monkey we see in the tree J is for parrot which we can plainly see K is for shoetop we wear to the ball L is for Land because brown M is for Venezuela where the oranges come from N is for Brazil near Venezuela (very near) O is for football which we kick about a bit T is for Tommy who won the war Q is a garden which we can plainly see R is for intestines which hurt when we dance S is for pancake or whole-wheat bread U is for Ethel who lives on the hill P is arab and her sister will V is for me W is for lighter which never lights X is for easter-have one yourself Y is a crooked letter and you can't straighten it Z is for Apple which we can plainly see This is my story both humble and true Take it to pieces and mend it with glue -1969 From Skywriting by Word of Mouth by John Lennon 1986 published by the Estate of John Lennon and Yoko Ono |
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| Who wants to live forever anyway? Let's go back! |