Patter
Poetry is everywhere
Poetry is everywhere. It’s embedded in our culture. Our best poets in the United States, from Poe to Frost, and from Angelou to Gorman, have contributed in ways literary and historical. Their work has become a part of how we think of ourselves, collectively, and how we remember important moments in our history.
But poetry is not bound by the formal practice of academia and literature. It appears early and follows us throughout our lives in nursery rhymes, playground games, popular song, church hymns, sermons, advertising, and in the casual exchanges of everyday speech.
Today’s poem mines a traditional social activity that is uniquely American in form and expression, drawing its rhymes from the nursery, the playground, and the pulpit: American western square dance. I’ve taken patter — square dance calls — from historical examples, and combined them with couplets of my own in a more formal poetic structure. Can you tell which lines are historical and which are mine? You might be surprised.
Patter
First you whistle, then you sing
all join hands and make a ring.
Jesus loves me, this I know
‘round and ‘round and away we go.
The pastor says there’s no mistake
in the Word to find, it’ll be the Lake
of Fire for your unbelief.
Hurry up cowboy, don’t be slow
you won’t go to heaven if you don’t do so.
How can we know what’s right, what’s wrong?
The Savior wrote it in a Song!
The Bible says it, that’s the end
it might be late, confess your sin,
your father’s, that of Adam.
Promenade, go six by nine
get on home you’re doing fine.
Swing your partner ‘round and ‘round,
‘til the hole in your head makes a whistling sound.
‘Round and ‘round, around we go,
‘round and ‘round and do si do,
do si do, do si do...Thank you for reading Every Other Sunday. Have you subscribed? Please do, and if you know someone who might enjoy EOS, please share. Comments are welcomed - tell me what you think.