Today is the day for a little collaborative poetry. Don’t groan just yet and don’t run away! Writing poetry can be a lot of fun. Stick around. In fact, I can almost guarantee you will be in a better mood for participating in the masterpiece we are about to create. As part of National Poetry Month and my goal to bring you poetry focused posts during the month of April, I wanted to share one of my all-time favorite poems, “The Song of the Banana Man” by Evan Jones. In turn, we’ll look at its subject matter and rhyme scheme to write our own bit of collaborative poetry titled “The Song of the Busy Blogger.”
I picked this poem as a way to inspire our collaborative poem because “The Song of the Banana Man” is about a person who takes great pride in what they do even though harvesting bananas in Jamaica is not the most glorious or respected of tasks. As bloggers, we also tend to take great pride in what we do, even when our posts reach a relatively small audience and our writing doesn’t always get the respect it deserves.
The video below was produced by the Favorite Poem Project. Such a resource proved invaluable when I was an English teacher, but I also spent quite a few hours on the site simply enjoying listening to regular people discuss and read their most loved poems. Listening to “The Song of the Banana Man” read aloud is simply a must. The actual reading of the poem begins at 3:22, but the set-up is equally intriguing. Students would have this poem stuck in their minds for days and months afterwards, and I hope you will too.
Aside from the wonderful lilt of the Jamaican accent, what probably most stands out about the poem is the simplicity of the subject matter. Poetry often gets perceived as being hard to understand, but many poems are written in user-friendly language about common subjects we all can relate to. You probably also noticed that is is written in rhymed couplets which means each set of two lines rhymes.
The Song of the Banana Man
by Evan Jones
Touris, white man, wipin his face,
Met me in Golden Grove market place.
He looked at m’ol’ clothes brown wid stain ,
An soaked right through wid de Portlan rain,
He cas his eye, turn up his nose,
He says, ‘You’re a beggar man, I suppose?’
He says, ‘Boy, get some occupation,
Be of some value to your nation.’
I said, ‘By God and dis big right han
You mus recognize a banana man.
‘Up in de hills, where de streams are cool,
An mullet an janga swim in de pool,
I have ten acres of mountain side,
An a dainty-foot donkey dat I ride,
Four Gros Michel, an four Lacatan,
Some coconut trees, and some hills of yam,
An I pasture on dat very same lan
Five she-goats an a big black ram,
Dat, by God an dis big right han
Is de property of a banana man.
‘I leave m’yard early-mornin time
An set m’foot to de mountain climb,
I ben m’back to de hot-sun toil,
An m’cutlass rings on de stony soil,
Ploughin an weedin, diggin an plantin
Till Massa Sun drop back o John Crow mountain,
Den home again in cool evenin time,
Perhaps whistling dis likkle rhyme,
(Sung)Praise God an m’big right han
I will live an die a banana man.
Banana day is my special day,
I cut my stems an I’m on m’way,
Load up de donkey, leave de lan
Head down de hill to banana stan,
When de truck comes roun I take a ride
All de way down to de harbour side—
Dat is de night, when you, touris man,
Would change your place wid a banana man.
Yes, by God, an m’big right han
I will live an die a banana man.
‘De bay is calm, an de moon is bright
De hills look black for de sky is light,
Down at de dock is an English ship,
Restin after her ocean trip,
While on de pier is a monstrous hustle,
Tallymen, carriers, all in a bustle,
Wid stems on deir heads in a long black snake
Some singin de sons dat banana men make,
Like, (Sung) Praise God an m’big right han
I will live an die a banana man.
‘Den de payment comes, an we have some fun,
Me, Zekiel, Breda and Duppy Son.
Down at de bar near United Wharf
We knock back a white rum, bus a laugh,
Fill de empty bag for further toil
Wid saltfish, breadfruit, coconut oil.
Den head back home to m’yard to sleep,
A proper sleep dat is long an deep.
Yes, by God, an m’big right han
I will live an die a banana man.
‘So when you see dese ol clothes brown wid stain,
An soaked right through wid de Portlan rain,
Don’t cas your eye nor turn your nose,
Don’t judge a man by his patchy clothes,
I’m a strong man, a proud man, an I’m free,
Free as dese mountains, free as dis sea,
I know myself, an I know my ways,
An will sing wid pride to de end o my days
(Sung)Praise God an m’big right han
I will live an die a banana man.’
So now that you’ve heard the poem, think about all the aspects of being a busy blogger and how you might put that into a four-line stanza. Yep, that’s all I’m asking of you today. Give me four lines consisting of two-rhymed couplets. I’ll start us. There’s no need to follow Jones’ rhythms, we’re just going for big-picture inspiration.
The Song of the Busy Blogger
There’s always so many posts to write, and so little time!
Too often we find ourselves staying up past bedtime.
Alas, there’s a schedule to keep, and content to create.
We soldier on so as not to be considered lightweights.
Now get to it and leave your own busy blogger stanza as a comment. At the end of the month, I will compile the poem and email it to everyone who participates.
***If you need help finding words that rhyme, you can get help from Rhymes.net.***
Image credit: Bright Idea by Zaldy Icaonapo
Article by Jeri Walker-Bickett aka JeriWB
There are so many things to write about it can be difficult to focus on just one at a time.
Yeah, I am no poet. 🙂
Cheryl, it’s just four measly rhyming lines I’m asking you to write 😉 Oh well, it’s early in the morning. You can have a pass this time.
Groan…. love ya Jeri but 🙂 I ain’t no poet either 🙂 Forgiveness…I’m begging for yours.
Jacquie, you are forgiven. Let’s just hope the third brave soul to stop by today will give the four-rhyming lines a go…
Hate to tell you Jeri, but poetry isn’t my cup of tea either. Especially not long poems like the one featured.
Having said that I was at a PechaKucha the other evening and a young girl was reading her own poetry. She wrote about issues of such importance I paid attention and she was really good. Maybe it helped that she looked so strange in her pink hair and small size, bordering on a midget:-9
Zoinks! It’s starting to look like this collaborative poetry effort may not get off the ground 🙁 I love PechaKucha presentations and should do a post on the form one of these days.
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OK I am done. Not my forte, but I tried.
Arleen, thanks for giving some poetic lines a whirl and for being brave enough to go first. It’s much appreciated.
I love to write, but I’m not a poet. Sometimes I enjoy reading it, but sometimes it makes me scratch my head. I really like some of this, but I’m more of a fan of shorter poetry. Still, I enjoyed reading it, and I’m glad I’m following your blog. I think I can learn something by looking closer at poetry, and I had never heard of the Banana Man until I read your post. Thanks.
[email protected] http://debioneille.blogspot.com
Debi, I think it’s the head-scratching factor of poetry that I like the most 😉 “The Song of the Banana Man,” like most narrative poems, is on the longer side. I hope the poem in this comment thread can reach a similar length.
I wish I was a poet but alas, my brain won’t go there. At least not today. But I love to read it.
Jagoda, okay but you just wait a couple of weeks until Shakespearean Insult day. You simply must hurl a poetic insult for two at me then 😉
You got it!
Haunted by unfailing blogger duties
We are a mere reflection of our ghostly posts,
And our image is reflected on a mirror, among pale blue tones
If not enough time we will find it in the hourglass
Because as we blog time passes by meekly
and nothing gives up as easily as an unavoidable passion
❖❖❖❖❖❖❖
Hello Jeri,
That was my humble stanza.
I found your idea truly eloquent, therefore I just couldn’t avoid joining you…
As you should have noticed, I am still charmed due to the allegorical effect of Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott”
Really grateful that you mention this poem on your comment at my blog.. I have found some interesting analogical and poetical correspondences (for further details you can check out my comment back to you there)
Best regards and thank you Jeri,
Aquileana 🙂
Aquileana, thanks for contributing a stanza. I’m glad you enjoyed “The Lady of Shalott.” I’ll stop back by your blog this evening to add some thoughts on the parallels Tennyson’s poem holds with “The Allegory of the Cave.”
With a blank page before me, my fingers strike the keys
I prattle on for hours, rambling with ease
Then I read my disjointed letters traipsing the computer screen
Dang. This blogging business is harder than it seems.
(Here’s to coherent blog posts!)
Loni, I love your stanza, especially the word choices of “prattle” and “disjointed.”
I try and post, every week,
But that’s too much, wait hear me speak,
You know the phrase, it has a ring,
You can have too much, of a good thing.
*****
Great post Jeri! well done on moving the collective poetic muscle!!!
A. K., I’m glad you contributed a verse of collective poetic muscle! I like the short and sweet quality of your lines.
First let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed that video! Thank you for sharing it. I wish I’d had you for a teacher! Here goes…
From kids, home, and family, in life things most common
to art, lit, and history, subjects I’ll write on
Do my words have an impact, a meaning, a reason?
Or as a blogger, am I just shootin’ the breezin’?
Meredith, I most like the third line: “Do my words have an impact, a meaning, a reason?” I think all of us writer/bloggers can relate to that. So glad you liked the video I selected for today.
I like that and with the accent it makes it so much better than me reading it.
I sit down with one line in mind
no other thoughts together I type my first line
funny how words are flowing without even trying
and then it’s the end, it’s publishing time.
hey i tried
Jay, the accent really does make the poem come to life. I have probably listened to this one over 25 times and it never gets old. Granted, that’s over the course of years of teaching. Thanks for adding a stanza 🙂
When I ain’t in the mood to stir libretto,
have something to say that demands falsetto,
When me fingers are done with creative sloggin’,
I have me a slice o’ personal bloggin’
S.P., how appropriate that you’ve added a bit of a Scottish feel to your lines.
Hi Jeri,
Here is my contribution:
As sentinels guard the Fortess of Mind
And watch me stave off the Sands Of Time
They behold escape of each awesome thought
And marvel at the wonders wrought!
Kind Regards,
Bill
Sorry Jeri, but I am barely coming up with anything for my blog let alone try to get something decent here. I don’t think that side of my brain works anyway 😉
Becc, methinks there be a shortage of poets amongst some of my most devoted commenters. No worries.
Hate to say it but the only thing that comes to mind when I saw all this was the taliman song by Harry bellafonte. There was a time in my life when I wrote new words for that song but they were a bit outside the range for many younger viewers.
Jon, hmmm would love to know what your busy blogger stanza would be….
Loved the video and the poem. There is nothing like a lilting Jamaican accent. Here is my limp effort (with apologies to Old Man River)
Thinkin’ all day and wracked with pain,
I can hardly get started on my blog again.
Crack those keys, get going on my post,
Or else it’ll end up reading like a dried piece of toast.
Jeannette, no apologies to Old Man River needed! The last line cracked me up 🙂
Like you, I am also a bit of a poet (and I even entered Poetry Perfected into the A to Z blogging challenge as my contribution to Poetry Month), so I’ve doubled up on the couplets for your poem. Here they are:
In keeping with the 14-syllable count you started,
I invite you to Wording Well, where wisdom’s imparted!
Creating, curating, and collating, is done with ease,
especially by Jeri, who makes it look like a breeze!
Sometimes, as bloggers, we go through technical hell
Like the non-techie lady operating Wording Well!
Thankfully, we’ve good friends we can count on in times of need,
Visiting others’ posts – giving them a share and a read!
Lorraine, that’s great that you are dong the A-Z Blogging Challenge. I did it a couple of years ago, and kind of want to do it again at some point in the future.
Can’t write poetry to save my life, but boy, did I ever enjoy that poem, and that reading! Sometimes the love of home turns even the simplest words into something glorious. Dorothea McKellar did it for Australia with her poem – My Country – and this poet did it for Jamaica. Thank you 🙂
Andrea, I’m so glad you enjoyed the poem. I’m going to take a loot at McKellar’s poem now. Thanks for letting me know about it.
For this is the journey I have chose
I tap out a line or two of written prose
Will it be a work of art
Or just fall flat and never start
Sandy, thanks for adding a stanza. Blogging most definitely can be likened to a journey.
Okay, here’s my attempt.
My flow from hand to mind has disconnected from thought
Sit frozen in time, writer’s bock, I think I have caught.
I search through lists of articles to bring my writing back
But all I found was a little rhyme in my box of Cracker Jack
Denise, I like the inverted sentence structure of the second line very much.
Hi Jeri – this is meant to show you that not all of us are poets
My blog is me and this I say
I simply share my life each day
It may be fun; it may be sad
When all is done it makes me glad.
Lenie
Lenie, I think a lot of us can related to your final line: “When all is done it makes me glad.”
Definitely not a poet. I can never get the lines to flow correctly.
Sorry Jeri but whenever I try to write a poem it is more akin to a limerick. Maybe it’s the Irish in me. Really enjoyed some of the attempts in the comments though. Tim
Tim, a limerick might work too 🙂
Hmmmm…here goes…
She asked bloggers for rhymes as though it were easy
And started us off with something light and breezy
The next who followed said they couldn’t quite manage
Then came braver souls who rose to the challenge. ☺
I loved, loved, loved the banana man poem. The West Indian accent seems to lend itself so beautifully to lilting poems or perhaps it’s their lilt that lends itself to the reading of poetry.
Debra, isn’t it amazing how an accent can often make all the difference in how we are drawn to a poem?
The more we keep writing
The more we keep thriving
And the more the passion keeps rising.
Thanks Jeri
Welli, the comparison between writing and thriving is spot on.
Here goes…
The novel draft hit page two hundred
Still the call of the blog page thundered
I need to write my twice-weekly Monster Meditation
But even a vampire deserve a vacation.
Candy, nice way to work in a monster mention 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the specificity of my poetic attempt. This inspired me to take on a nursery rhyme on Facebook.
Pumpkin pie is my favorite thing to eat.
It is sweet, salty, and it can’t be beat.
I love how it makes me feel.
Especially on a day when things are not even-keel.
Pumpkin Pie by Crystal Ross
I tried! haha This was a great and thanks for sharing your creative ideas. =)
Crystal, your stanza makes me hungry for my favorite pie, though I wonder how it fits into “The Song of the Busy Blogger?” 😉
I don’t feel too busy at all
Twice weekly the orders not tall
But when writing is done,the readings such fun
That quite quickly the night seems to fall
Paul, somehow you strike me as the type of person who can crank out a lot of writing. I envy that.
OOOh I do not think I can do this…… I am sorry I am trying from yesterday if I can come with few lines but in vain.
I really liked the video and poem.
But I am happy to see response from some creative bloggers …. Some stanzas are very nice.
Thanks for coming up with a new Idea.
Andleeb, I’m just glad the post got your to think of some possible lines for an entire day 🙂
What talented bloggers are in this thread! I can’t wait to see the complete project.
Sherryl, stayed tuned. I’ll email everyone the collaborative poem later this month.