"No More Black-Eyed Peas Please..." Poem by Richard D Remler

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Marvin O'Hannigan Fillimigroo
Crossed his arms and frowned.
The thought of eating
Black-Eyed-Peas
Did not at all seem sound.

The entire Black-Eyed-Pea idea
Seemed rather frivolous
And odd.
Why, he would never eat
A Black-Eyed Pea,
Not even in its pod.

He'd stare at them
And they'd stare right back.
Their eyes narrowed
To shades of black.

He'd see their fangs,
Their glare, their claws,
And he doubted even
Santa Clause

Would approve of finding,
As of late,
A Black-Eyed-Pea
Upon his plate.

Now,
Marvin O'Hannigan Fillimigroo,
Never did anything
He did not plan to.

And on the list he'd compiled
Of things never to try
The Black-Eyed-Pea ranked
Considerably high.

Just the name of the pea
Caused his stomach to churn,
His right eye to twitch,
And his nostrils to burn.

The hair on his arms
Would all stand on end,
Something young Marvin
Could not comprehend.

So he waited, and waited,
Then waited some more,
Just to clarify things,
And perhaps underscore

The fact that
Marvin O'Hannigan Fillimigroo
Had no intention of ever eating
This Black-Eyed-Pea stew.

To eat them would
Defy every natural decree.
Cause a rift in the time-line
To such a degree~

The oceans would shift,
And the islands would quake.
The stars would all dim,
And the heavens would shake.

The sea and the skies
Would no longer be blue!
No,a Black-Eyed Pea Stew
Would simply not do...

They spelled doom to his ears,
And doom to his toes.
A blithering nightmare
To his elbows and nose!

But since Marvin was but
Only seven years old,
He usually had to do
As he was told.

"You're not leaving this table, "
Said his Father, displeased,
"Until you've eaten every one
Of those Black-Eyed-Peas."

But Marvin was stern,
And he had no intention
Of ever eating a recipe
Of this concocted invention.

"If it's as good as you say, "
He stared up at his Dad,
"Why don't you eat it
If it isn't that bad? "

And his Dad crossed his arms,
Looking down at his son.
"I've eaten my Black-Eyed-Peas,
The whole lot. Every one."

"The big ones, the round ones,
The flat ones, the tall ones.
The brown ones, the black ones
The fat as a ball ones."

"I have eaten a rather
Impressive amount
Of Black-Eyed-Peas
To ever take count."

So Marvin thought, and he thought,
And he considered a plan.
After all, Marvin was special,
He was his own man.

He looked up at his Dad,
And he let his eyes shine.
"Dad, if you're still hungry,
You can always have mine."


Copyright © MMX Richard D. Remler


***A Children's Tale***