Author: Kenn Nesbitt

Sometimes poems don’t begin at a desk. They begin when you’re half asleep.

One night, just as I was drifting off, a ridiculous thought popped into my head: a dancing dinosaur in purple underwear. I have no idea where it came from. I wasn’t thinking about dinosaurs. I wasn’t thinking about underwear. But there it was.

And it made me laugh.

So instead of rolling over and going to sleep, I did what poets sometimes have to do. I grabbed my phone in the dark and typed a quick note so I wouldn’t forget it in the morning.

Then… I forgot about it anyway.

Well, not completely. The idea sat in my “poem ideas” folder for months. Every once in a while I’d scroll past it and think, “Hmm. A dancing dinosaur in purple underwear. That’s funny.” But I didn’t know what kind of poem it wanted to be.

About six months later, I looked at it again and started playing around with questions. Have you ever been here? Have you ever been there? And most importantly, have you seen a dancing dinosaur in purple underwear?

Once I found that rhythm of questions, the poem practically wrote itself.

This is one of those silly poems that exists for one very important reason: because sometimes an unexpected, ridiculous idea is enough to make you smile. And sometimes that’s all a poem needs to do.

Have You Ever Been to England?

Have you ever been to England?
Have you ever been to France?
Have you seen a dancing dinosaur
in purple underpants?

Have you visited St. Louis?
Have you visited St. Clair?
Did you see a dancing dinosaur
in purple underwear?

Have you traveled through the jungles?
Have you been to beach resorts?
Have you found a dancing dinosaur
in purple undershorts?

Have you trekked across the deserts?
Have you trudged across the snows?
Were there any dancing dinosaurs
in purple underclothes?

I suppose you haven’t seen one yet
but if you ever do,
then please tell me where you spotted it
so I can see one too.

— Kenn Nesbitt

I wrote this poem because Valentine’s Day was coming up, and I wanted a silly love poem that felt a little different from the usual ones. I played around with a few ideas first—like a teacher being in love with homework and quizzes, or my cat falling in love with my dog—but none of them quite clicked. Then I started thinking about how some people, especially teenagers, spend a lot of time checking their reflection, and it made me laugh to imagine what that might look like from a sibling’s point of view. Once I had that idea, the poem pretty much wrote itself. I hope you enjoy it. This is…

My Brother’s in Love with His Mirror

My brother is falling in love with his mirror.
At first, I had doubts. Now, it couldn’t be clearer.
He spent today gazing upon his reflection
while whispering words of romantic affection.

He straightened his hair and put on his best shirt,
then said, “Hey, good lookin’,” like some kind of flirt.
He waved at himself as he batted his eyes
then tilted his head and let out a few sighs.

My brother’s behavior is honestly odd.
He smiled at himself with a wink and a nod,
then blew a few kisses and started to blush.
The mirror is clearly my brother’s new crush.

I didn’t know why he was acting this way
when I saw him eyeing his mirror today.
I figured it out, though—it wasn’t that hard—
when I saw him give it a Valentine’s card.

— Kenn Nesbitt

I’ve always loved wordplay, especially poems that play around with the nuts and bolts of language, things like spelling, word order, and the way words look and sound on the page. Over the years, I’ve written poems that make silly use of parentheses, hyphens, and even the spacing between words, just to see what kind of mischief I could get into.

While I was thinking about other punctuation marks I might work into a poem someday—commas, question marks, slashes, brackets, and so on—it suddenly occurred to me that I’d somehow skipped the most obvious one of all. Exclamation points! They’re loud, they’re enthusiastic, and they have a way of making everything feel more exciting… sometimes a little too exciting.

This poem imagines what might happen if someone got just a bit carried away with exclamation points. And fair warning—this is one of those poems that really needs to be seen on the page to make sense, since the punctuation is doing most of the heavy lifting. So if it sounds a little strange out loud, that’s on me! You can read the poem exactly as it was meant to be seen online at Poetry4kids.

I’m Thrilled with Exclamation Points!

I’m thrilled with exclamation points!
I like them so, so much!
It’s awesome how they give my words
that extra special touch!!

Without some exclamation points
my words seem dull and dry.
But add a few!! Now, suddenly,
the writing starts to fly!!!!!

I wonder if it’s possible
to use them even more!!
like! every! word! could! end! with! one!
or! two!! or! three!!! or! four!!!!

Oh!! yes!!! it’s!! so!!! enjoyable!!!!
Instead!! of!! now!! and!!! then!!
I’ll!! add!!! a! few!!!! to!! every! word!!,
like! eight!!!!!!!! or! nine!!!!!!!!! or! ten!!!!!!!!!!

I’d!!! stay!!!! and!!!! tell!!! you!!! more!!!, except!!
I!!!!! have!! to!! leave!!! this!!!! joint!!!!
Besides!!!, I!!! think! it’s!!!! safe!! to!!!!! say!!
by!!! now!!!! you’ve!!!! got!!! my!!!! point!!!!

— Kenn Nesbitt

Before I decide what to wear, I often check the weather on my phone. How cold is it outside? Is it going to rain? Will it warm up later in the day? My wife thinks this is a little ridiculous and says I should just look out the window. Or better yet, step outside and see how it feels. But I like knowing what’s coming. A weather app can tell you if you’re going to need a coat, a hat, or an umbrella later on, even if things look fine right now.

One day, while I was thinking about checking the weather online, a funny idea popped into my head, an idea that felt like it belonged at the end of a poem. As often happens for me, I wrote that ending first and then worked backward, figuring out what kind of poem would lead naturally to it.

This poem grew out of that process, mixing everyday habits with a little imagination and wordplay. I hope it makes you smile, and maybe even think twice about how you decide what the weather’s like before you head outside. This is…

Warm or Storm?

I think I’ll stay inside today.
In here, it’s nice and warm.
Outside, I’m told it’s frozen.
There’s a frigid winter storm.

I heard that there’s a blizzard
with a ton of ice and snow.
Thermometers are saying that
it’s twenty-five below.

That’s way too cold to snowboard,
or to ski, or skate, or sled.
The news said, “Stay inside today
and bundle up in bed.”

I could have gone outside to see
how chilly it would get.
But I just looked online
and read it on the Winternet.

— Kenn Nesbitt