Swimming Accident

(sing to the tune of Take Me Out to the Ball Game)

A funny summer poem about a day at the beach. 

Here I am at the ocean

swimming 'round in the sea.

I look so cool with these swim shorts on.

Along comes a wave and oh, no, they are gone.

Now I can't get out of the water.

I'll dive to find what I need.

Then I'll walk right on to the beach

wearing just seaweed.

 Visit robertpottle.com for permission to use this funny poem .

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Swimming Accident is  a funny poem I wrote in my head while hiking. I was taking my family to Acadia National Park for a day hike. Since the park is on an island we were driving past the ocean to get there. As we were driving past a beach, my youngest son started singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." I said, "How about, Take me out to the ocean?" As I sang the line to myself, I knew I had a funny song coming.

When we got to the trail where we planned to hike, I packed a pen and paper in my backpack just in case I came up with more lines to the song. I have learned it is best to write down ideas while they are fresh. I know that a day later the funny poem you had in your head can be gone.

 As we were hiking, I comopsed the rest of the song, singing it out loud and revising lines as needed. For example, you can see that I changed the first line from the original inspiration of "Take me out to the ocean" to "Here I am at the ocean." I needed the song to start out at the ocean. The song is about what happens there, and not about the trip there. It is very often the case that the original inspiration for a poem gets changed quite a bit through the revision process.

If I have done an author visit to your school, you know that I typically write the beginning and ending of a poem first and then write the middle last. This song, I wrote in order, beginning, middle, then ending. I used the writer's technique of "painting myself into a corner." I like to use this technique because it forces me to come up with a creative solution. 

I had the song written up to the line, "Now I can't get out of the water." I wasn't sure what I was going to do for an ending. I couldn't have the kid live the rest of his life in the ocean. I had to come up with some type of creative solution. Before we reached the top of the mountain we were climbing, I had my seaweed solution.

Over the next few days I made small revisions here and there to the song. I am happy with the results. I'd love to hear what you think of it. If you register to become a member , you can leave your comments below.