Ode To Rice Krispies: Playlist and Poetry Prompt

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The Ode has ancient roots tracing back to the Greek poets, Horace and Sappho. Traditionally, the ode was written in multiple quatrains, but over the years it has been flexed and shaped according to the whim of the poet. No matter its structure, the ode remains a celebration of who and what we love.

Check out this month’s themed playlist. We’re enjoying it so much we think it’s a bit like an ode to the ode. Listen along with us!

Speaking of what we love, is there anything quite like a bowl of Rice Krispies? If you think about it, it’s the only cereal that can hold a conversation. Its praises are shouted among the gluten-free. Marshmallow treats stir fond, sticky memories of childhood (or memories of the batch you made last Tuesday). Who among us pours a midnight bowl of crisped rice, or has chosen it for dinner instead?

Poetry Prompt:

Write a poem about Rice Krispies, or your favorite cereal. What makes it stand high above the crowded shelves of the grocery store? The structure can be the classic quatrain, or you can choose to write it flowing free— right from the box.

Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Here’s a recent poem by Maureen that we enjoyed:

Red Dust, Spanish Lace

The bull cannot resist
the lure of the muleta.

In his last act, the matador
makes a pass and turns

the dust red. Long after
the bull goes to ground

the senorita puts a hand
to her neck, withdraws

the steel shaft of the lace
pin securing her mantilla.

The veil at last dropped,
he kisses the only blemish

adorning her olive skin.

—by Maureen Doallas

Photo by mjtmail, Creative Commons license via Flickr. Post by Heather Eure.

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Heather Eure
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Comments

  3. Richard Maxson says

    Rice Krispies

    One must have a mind of milk,
    all the colors must be yours,
    to regard the sounds of breakfast,

    the box or window in your eye,
    strange and listless yet, painted
    on the world, not in the world itself.

    Last night’s dreams, though gone,
    have left the empty room of dreaming,
    in which you sit contemplating elves,

    who speak to you with their wisps of air
    rising in the bowl of milk, sounds from
    milk and rice, yet neither rice nor milk alone.

    Do not ask what is it, but listen there
    awhile to what is said; listen without
    thinking, distant from the world of words.

    Reply

  4. Twirlingtoes says

    To the Cereal they call “Life”

    How fair art thou, dear box of “Life”,
    Who gives me joy with each new bite
    Your tender and frail body stands
    With gentle crunch that each piece lends.

    Each morning when I wake you stare
    At me from a-way up there.
    For from the refrigerator top
    You call and down from there you drop.

    But,today I should have something new!
    Some eggs, some toast, so, stop it you!
    But though I try and break away,
    Alas, you’ve won by end of day.

    Fair art thou o box of “Life”,
    To me you lessen all life’s strife.
    You create and bring me joy anew,
    Now come and let me gobble you.

    Reply

  5. Maureen Doallas says

    Who doesn’t love a food that can talk?

    My thanks to the Wiki researchers and Kellogg’s own online history, taglines, characters, and songs.
    ______________

    Snap! Crackle! Pop!
    Piff! Paff! Puff!
    Knisper! Knasper! Knusper!
    Pim! Pam! Pum!

    Rice Krispies, Ricicles:
    by any other name
    would you be so sweet,

    you’re the taste that tickles,
    yes, you’re no wheat treat!

    Banana Bubbles for the Aussies,
    Razzle Dazzle here at home

    but Coco Pops in the UK
    ‘cause free Canada’s got its own.

    Riks! Raks! Poks!
    Cric! Crac! Croc!
    Pif! Paf! Pof!
    Knap! Knaetter! Knak!

    Yes, milk makes you noisy
    when it’s stirred

    into the bowl, and your food-
    coloring additives leave

    mothers feeding woe.
    Know what a box of fun

    Apple Cinnamon might be?
    Don’t leave the fruit all soggy;

    transport it fresh but once
    for me.

    So, Ho Ho Holiday
    and Halloween orange

    don’t label your promises
    and set off FTC’s alarms.

    Be you English or Swedish
    or a French gendarme,

    if your childhood is calling,
    marshmallow’s surely the charm.

    You’re in German and Finnish,
    make a Dutch edition, too;

    talk in Afrikaans, go to Ireland,
    double as snacks in berry blue.

    What more variety
    could any kids want?

    Oh, let’s call it a rice day;
    they’ll bounce themselves till lunch.

    Reply

      • Maureen Doallas says

        Thank you, Darlene. Rhyming doesn’t come naturally to me so it took me a while to get the words out. (I see I had a little breakdown in the middle.)

        I had not known until I did a bit of research how many varieties of Rice Krispies (Ricicles, Rice Bubbles) existed and that Kellogg’s was called on the carpet by FTC for its claims that the cereal is healthful. Red, green, orange dyes? Bad, bad Kellogg’s. Not to mention the sugar highs.

        The Wiki-ites provided the non-English versions of “Snap! Crackle! Pop!”. (They didn’t translate here into their italics.) I’ve woven in a couple of taglines Kellogg’s uses.

        Did you know there were characters or that Woody Woodpecker was once the spokes-marketer for the cereal?

        I’ve never touched the stuff but it makes for fun copy.

        Reply

        • SimplyDarlene says

          Miss Maureen, I can remember eating homemade Rice Krispy Treats as a kid — before my insulin-dependent diabetes diagnosis, that is.

          And the artificial yuckiness: gahggg.

          Reply

  7. Anne says

    Ode to Life (the Cereal)

    Craved Life Cereal at 3:00 am;
    crept quietly downstairs
    small kitchen light glowing
    over the stove.

    The refrigerator lurched open,
    the milk so cold.
    Swimming through the air,
    avoiding the clink

    of the spoon on the ceramic,
    I shook the Life squares loose,
    and they fell willingly
    slightly sweetening the milk

    softening in anticipation.

    Reply

  8. SimplyDarlene says

    So – it’s seven of
    March and National Cereal Appreciation
    Day – or some such thing. My husband
    and my son are privy to cereal consumption,
    organic and free of white sugar (or red or blue
    or green) are the rules. And no dairy because
    of the mucus. Eewww.

    Rice or almond or hemp milk will do – even
    homemade banana milk – but no moo moo.

    And me? I partake not of the cereal
    box. Rather whole oats, soaked, alongside
    chia seeds in a glass jar
    overnight with rice milk and raw
    honey to spike the health
    benefits
    and raise the blood sugar – don’t forget to dial
    in extra insulin on your pump, momma dear.

    I’ll listen (from afar)
    to your crack
    snapple
    pop – or some such Krispy tune
    as your cereal sings accolades on
    this National Cereal Appreciation
    Day.

    Reply

  9. lynndiane says

    Ode to Oatmeal

    (recipe for disaster in quatrain verse)

    slow cook this hearty hot porridge
    stir in sweetest honey and cream
    if bears come to breakfast, oh horridge,
    we shall hear dear Goldilocks scream

    as trespasser flees house in a rush
    papa growls over big bowl of mush:
    “on warm servings of girls and oatmeal put dibs,
    they’re both full of fiber and will stick to your ribs!”

    Reply

  10. Parker Nash says

    With apologies to an old SNL skit…

    Ode to Raisin Bran

    Raisin Bran is of an ilk
    To amplify itself in milk
    Then work its magic, so clandestine
    To loosen up a snarled intestine

    As I grow old my tastes grow plain
    To live a life devoid of pain
    What joy! What bliss! So on, et cetera
    Raisin Bran’s my raison d’etre

    Reply

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