Raggedy Ann and Friends Attempt a Poem
An Enchanted-by-the-Book contest memento for Ramona Grigg
This post is a bonus written to fulfill a whimsical agreement.
As regular Enchanted in America readers know, we’ve been having a little friendly contest. It ended Monday with the announcement of extravagant titles and prizes. The prompt was, “When were you enchanted by a book, poem, or story?” In the distribution of prizes, two people assigned me a book to discuss in a future post (coming in August). To another winner I promised a custom poem.
This poem for
honors her essay, “The Enchantment of Raggedy Ann.” 😊![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb1fe7d2-fd36-4dd5-9402-31c40e1866e3_5184x3456.jpeg)
Raggedy Ann and Friends Attempt a Poem 'Twas brillig in Ramona's room and, aye, throughout the home When Raggedy Ann proclaimed it time for dolls to write a po'm. She set the rocking chair a-go, a pen behind her ear And called on Teddy Bear to start. Ted grunted, "Po'ms are queer." "Well, yeah!" Ann answered, "over" Ted. She looked at lop-ear next. Raquel the rabbit shyly sniffed and said she'd do her best. So all the dolls -- yes, even Ted -- worked bravely through the night Until Ramona rubbed her eyes and all ceased to indite. "Spot, read the po'm!" they urged as one, the co-creative crowd. The wag-tail on the pillow spoke the masterpiece aloud: "We love you, human child," sighed Spot. Just five words pleased them all. Then Andy -- quick -- held up a hand At mom's step in the hall. 🙈 © Tara Penry, 2023
Many thanks to everyone who took part in the friendly competition. 🏆 Feel free to share or cross-post this (see the three buttons at the top) with anyone you know who was following the Enchanted-by-the-Book action.
Coming Next Week:
Enchanted in America issues regular posts on Mondays. Next week, in Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred, a late-twentieth-century California woman travels back in time to 1815 — and slavery. If you like your enchantments sweet, stick with Raggedy Ann and the Enchanted-by-the-Book essays for awhile. We’re going into some more challenging territory for the rest of this month. See you Monday!
OMG, I LOVE it! It's stunning and smart and funny and endearing and...
I LOVE IT!
Thank you!
I love it!! What a fun and beautiful thing to read first thing in the morning with tea. Going into the day with a smile and feeling a bit more enchanted. 🙏🙌