My Lunch Gave Me a Tummy Ache
A Funny Food Poem for Kids
From the book A Festival for Frogs
My lunch gave me a tummy ache,
a tummy ache,
a tummy ache.
My lunch gave me a tummy ache.
I really don’t know why.
I only had a sirloin steak,
a birthday cake,
a chocolate shake.
It wasn’t hard, for goodness sake.
I didn’t even try.
See, lunch was at this big buffet,
with fish fillet,
and cheese soufflé.
I even tried the crème brûlée,
and liverwurst on rye.
I might have had spaghetti too,
some cheese fondue,
a bowl of stew,
then wasn’t quite sure what to do.
I felt like I could cry.
But, still, I ate the roasted ham,
the leg of lamb,
the candied yam,
and, after that, some random jam.
I think I’m gonna die.
It feels as if I’m gonna burst.
It’s just the worst.
I must be cursed.
But, if I’m gonna die, then first…
I’d better try the pie.
— Kenn Nesbitt
Copyright © 2024. All Rights Reserved.
Reading Level: Grade 3
Topics: Food Poems
Poetic Techniques: Alliteration, Assonance, Irony, List Poems, Narrative Poems, Repetition, Rhyme Schemes
About This Poem
The reason I wrote this poem is that my lunch actually did give me a tummy ache. I had lunch at what seemed like a nice restaurant, but when I got home an hour later, my stomach was in terrible pain.
It wasn’t a buffet, like in the poem, I didn’t actually overeat. There was just something about the food that didn’t sit right with me.
As I was clutching my stomach in pain, the words “my lunch gave me a tummy ache” popped into my mind, followed by the rest of the first stanza. I immediately pulled out my mobile phone and jotted it down.
For the next couple of hours, even though I was not feeling well at all, my mind kept working on the poem and I kept jotting down more notes. Eventually I had written the entire poem.
So, you see, you never know where an idea for a poem or a story may come from but, when it does, it’s best to write it down. Here are a few other poems I wrote because I wasn’t feeling well:
From the book A Festival for Frogs
Use This Poem
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