Frogs, Scarecrows, and Poems, Oh My!

I thought it might be cool to have students do a sort of pastiche of the Jericho Brown poem in the previous post, so I thought I'd try it out. The poem needs work, but I just wanted to make sure it would be a worthwhile assignment. I thought it was fun!

Letter to Dorothy from Oz

With the click of sequined feet
you left me in the lurch,
my intellect a trinket
around a neck of straw.
Theorems are no good for keeping away the crows.

Yes, I'm still in the cornfields.
Are you surprised? Did you really think
a man of hay could hold much sway
in solid emerald towers?

Oh, if I only had a body,
why didn't I wish for that?
Dorothy, a brain is invisible to men
who glance first at my hat's frayed brim
and the straw poking through my sleeves.

But enough about me. How's Kansas?
I hope you're happy there, with Auntie Em,
though it sounded sort of bleak to me.
But it's what you wished for, right? You can't

take it back. Your friend, the Scarecrow.

It ain't easy being green...

Letter to Kermit from the Swamp
Jericho Brown

Miss you something desperate, frog.
Gators going mad round here--
swallowed both the Ribbit twins whole
just last week. We fear
for the tadpoles, their future.

Hear you're doing well, though,
decked in sweet tuxedos and top hats,
all your warts removed. They say
the blonde's got you in tap shoes
singing the blues like show tunes
with her on stage next to you,

done up in sequins and tiaras,
a real pretty pink trophy. Never did see
why you ran off with her,
snooty as she is, not to mention
snouty, but I'm happy for you

long as you're happy. Still, it'd be nice
if you'd visit home sometime;
maybe we could sing together
the way we used to. Your crooning
always kept the gators calm. So don't forget us
on the lily pads, frog. It still ain't easy

being green. Your brother, Kermel.


Jericho Brown is a student in the PhD program in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Houston. He is originally from New Orelans, LA.