Orange Who?
Photo by Izy Gruye
Orange Who?
And a knock knock–orange you glad I didn’t
say banana? Which seemed uproarious
to me as young child, packed full of hidden
punch as in you wanna whole mess of
Hawaiian—which poured out neon red
as dye number four–a liquid lipstick
we could sip and smack, our grimaces ad
libbed ad infinitum, all puns our thick
intoxicants–going down so slow
first go, but then, in repeated flares,
fire krispies that snapped, crackled, popped, oh–
pop! pop! as in Hop On, as in where’s
the beef, Waldo, fee fie fofana talk—
(Orange you glad I didn’t say–knock knock?)
****************************************
A reading of the poem:
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Here’s a kind of silly (sort of) sonnet for dVerse Poets Poetics hosted by Kelvin S.M., and inspired by his lovely orange painting, and also for Real Toads, fourteen line poem prompt hosted by Kerry O’Connor, and inspired by Izy Gruye’s child photograph! (A lot of inspiring visuals here!) Thanks to Kelvin and Izy and Kerry.
Some quick process notes for those who did not grow up in my time frame in the U.S. — “Orange You Glad I didn’t Say Banana” was the last line to a very old (and one of my first) knock knock jokes (which involved answering banana to the first several knock knocks.)
“Do you want a Hawaiian punch” was another pun in an old commercial for a fruit drink. Red Number 4 was a very commonly used bright red dye.
Hop on Pop is a book by Dr. Seuss. Where’s Waldo? a series of popular books, Banana fana fofana -was a refrain from a famous song called The Name Game.
Explore posts in the same categories: poetry, UncategorizedTags: Izy Gruye image, Kelvin S.M. painting, knock knock joke poem, manicddaily, Name Game sonnet, sonnet re puns for children
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ManicDDaily 
February 23, 2013 at 8:02 pm
This made me smile. I guess because I spend so much time with a 5 1/2 – year – old who is constantly saying “knock knock.”
February 23, 2013 at 8:04 pm
Thanks, Mary – I think many will not get it – but glad you did. k.
February 23, 2013 at 8:16 pm
fefifofana…haha…got that stuck in my head now…def fun k…i rather like knock knock jokes…smiles.
February 23, 2013 at 8:21 pm
Me too. k.
February 23, 2013 at 8:17 pm
Same here with the smile K ~ And my daughter tells me Knock knock too ~
February 23, 2013 at 8:55 pm
Ah, childhood memories ! Fun
February 23, 2013 at 8:58 pm
..aww… this was fun Karin… it kind of resembles to me of a local version of it… haha… we have play here many called it ‘knock..knock.’ joke… wherein one would say ‘knock..knock’… the other would reoly: ‘who’s there..’… then the former would say a word or phrase of totally silly or slang or unusual… and the other would repeat the word or phrase with ‘who’ in the end… lastly the former would crack a song incorporating the silly word or phrase to replace a part of the song… haha.. really cool Karin… but oh… how did you know my surname? …
…smiles…
February 23, 2013 at 9:04 pm
Hi Kelvin – I am happy to take that out, sorry!
February 23, 2013 at 9:40 pm
…it’s all ok Karin… just a bit surprised for as far i can remember i only send my full name to Claudia but requested her to appear short… since my surname’s quite too long… other than that.. no problem if you put it full here… just wondered… hehe…
..smiles…
February 23, 2013 at 9:01 pm
love all the puns…brought back memories and my favorite was how you swung the end of the poem back around to meet the beginning again. fun! enjoyed hearing you read, too.
February 23, 2013 at 10:10 pm
That was so much fun!
February 23, 2013 at 11:12 pm
So much fun color in here, and bubblegum sweet.
February 24, 2013 at 1:36 am
I thought this was great fun, and the kind of ode to childhood which is sincere rather than silly. Your 14 lines held together very well, and I like the fact that you ended back where you began.
February 24, 2013 at 1:59 am
heh-heh, made me smile even though I didn’t get the puns 🙂 clever sonnet ~ esp liked ‘… poured out neon red …–a liquid lipstick …’
February 24, 2013 at 3:02 am
haha…very cool k – and thankful for the footnotes as well as i didn’t grow up in the country and not even knew what a knock knock joke is…ha..oh my…smiles
February 24, 2013 at 4:06 am
Wonderful childhood memories…like a collage, and the cute photo just added to this. Of course I needed the footnote to get all the references 🙂
February 24, 2013 at 4:36 am
yes, cute photo…nice bit of lightness here today and a memory or two;)
February 24, 2013 at 5:00 am
Thanks for a great giggle. You’re right, of course, in the innocence of childhood, the worse the pun, the funnier it is. How I wish (sometimes) I could return to that stage where someone just saying the word banana or sausage had us all in fits of laughter.
February 24, 2013 at 5:40 am
Aren’t you glad ……hilarious.
Living outside your culture, I am unfamiliar with most of the references to childhood growing up with food.
And I needed the sound to fully appreiate the fun.
You certainly let it roll…..
February 24, 2013 at 6:31 am
bright colour and flavour, hilarity. heady childhood =)
February 24, 2013 at 8:20 am
nice how you combined the two and brought humor to all
February 24, 2013 at 11:10 am
pop culture explosion.
this is great, karin. I knew every reference–
and the flood of memories is sweet.
sonnet! so subtle, so good. the form seems to
roll so easily out your pen.
I love the color and character of this.
have a lovely weekend-end.
jane
February 24, 2013 at 11:23 am
Ha. Thanks, Jane. In terms of the form, I cheat a fair amount – and here the slant rhymes are particularly egregious, but–I tell myself they’d get cloying if they really worked! (It’s a fine excuse!)
Thanks much for your kindness. k.
On Sun, Feb 24, 2013 at 11:10 AM, ManicDDaily
February 24, 2013 at 11:58 am
This is just delightful!
February 24, 2013 at 12:06 pm
Thanks, MZ. k.
On Sun, Feb 24, 2013 at 11:58 AM, ManicDDaily
February 24, 2013 at 12:13 pm
Too much fun!!!
February 24, 2013 at 1:58 pm
It took me a few minutes to get the rhythm right but I did in the end. Lovely and bouncy! 🙂
Greetings from London.
February 24, 2013 at 2:22 pm
Yes- there’s a fair amount of cheating and it is also very rooted in old U.S. pop culture. k.
February 24, 2013 at 2:33 pm
Very interesting rhyme and rhythm. As for the subject matter – well, my ears are assaulted by Knock knock jokes every day. Boo – boo who?
February 24, 2013 at 2:38 pm
I take it that you are a parent, grandparent, or teach!
February 24, 2013 at 3:54 pm
awesome.
February 24, 2013 at 4:03 pm
Ha. Thanks, Marian. k.
February 24, 2013 at 4:07 pm
Wonderful poem! This one really made me smile! Thank, I needed that!
McGuffy’s Reader
http://www.mcguffysreader.blogspot.com
February 24, 2013 at 6:19 pm
Love your poem!
You took me there…I was there ;D
I’m orange glad you shared this glorious gem!
Wondrous~
February 24, 2013 at 7:30 pm
I carrot imagine anything that would lettuce have a good chuckle like this did.
February 24, 2013 at 7:32 pm
Ha! I can see you understand the level! k.
February 24, 2013 at 11:10 pm
Cool! We have had a lot of moments laughing at that joke as giddy children tell and retell it.
February 25, 2013 at 12:16 am
I couldn’t help but giggle and want to squeeze that child! Wonderful ! as always K. muah!
February 25, 2013 at 4:13 pm
Thanks so much, Deborah. k.
February 25, 2013 at 4:56 am
Not my culture – but it brought a smile to my face as I remembered our own versions of the knock, knock joke and our delight in truly awful puns. Oh, to be young again …
February 25, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Sounds like a very fun childhood. I had forgotten a lot of these old jokes. It was nice to be reminded.
February 25, 2013 at 4:30 pm
Fun! A total immersion!
February 25, 2013 at 4:40 pm
I enjoyed this so much. I will read it to my daughter and it will bring back a lot of memories for her; especially the silly jokes she would tell. This was a trip down memory lane. 🙂
February 25, 2013 at 4:47 pm
Thanks, Judy. I hope she likes it!
February 25, 2013 at 8:49 pm
a liquid lipstick
we could sip and smack, our grimaces ad
libbed ad infinitum,
Sadly, I am familiar with all the references. This was a fun poem!
February 26, 2013 at 12:42 am
orange i glad i read this!
http://mryandrspace.blogspot.com
February 26, 2013 at 1:39 pm
I’m old school knock-knock! Loved this!
February 26, 2013 at 2:21 pm
Ha. Thanks. k.
February 26, 2013 at 2:45 pm
What a hoot to read and to hear, Karin. The references to commonly heard phrases from my childhood added to my enjoyment, as did the clipped, no-nonsense diction.
I like the audible option… may have to begin incorporating this into my own work.
February 26, 2013 at 4:12 pm
Thanks so much, Kim. k.