King Lion, King Tulip, King Prawn!

Finally!

Government scientists, working diligently
over the past decade, have finally developed
an ice cream cone capable of battling
oversized evil insects. They have not , however,
perfected the piece of cake which can thwart warts.

Ray's House

The Poem Ray's House began as a comic
about a guy named Bill
in one of my sketchbooks.
I couldn't get the last line for a while.
At first the poem centered on a play on the phrase
"bridge of the nose" as well as "just for a lark".
I decided that it was much more of a complete idea
about friendship if the lark was living in a home
on Ray's Nose, not just perching on a
little "bridge to nowhere".

The Poem:

Ray built a house on his nose.
Just for a lark I suppose.
The lark is content there.
It even pays rent there,
and shovels the stoop when it snows.

Hello, Bugman.

Poems Take Time

I wrote the first version
of the poem Soggy Circus
back in 1996. It was inspired
by the song Fixing a Hole by the Beatles,
which for some reason created
a picture in my mind of a circus
carrying on after a deluge of pineapple soda.
I wanted the poem to be about making the best
of a bad situation, and I liked that idea, but knew
that the poem wasn't there yet. I tinkered with Soggy Circus
from time to time over the next nine years until finally
I felt it was finished, and was happy to include it in Flamingos on the Roof.
The image of the strongman playing with an origami canoe
is one of my favorites from all my books,
and didn't change much from the original sketch.
The final version is as follows:

Soggy Circus

The circus was flooded.
It happened so suddenly.
What would they do?
Nobody knew.
The ringmaster shouted
“It’s part of the act!”
Some of the spectators
started to boo.
A clown got some laughs
with his kicking and splashing.
The audience followed his cue.
The strongman just played
with a toy that he made–
A green origami canoe.

Storyop Photo Op

This is a photo from an event at
the old Storyopolis on Roberson Blvd.
in L.A. Diedrich Bader and Kathy Kinney
read from various kid's books
including my own. They did a fantastic job.
The backdrops based on art from
Polkabats and Octopus Slacks
were painted by the Storyopolis staff.

Fun 2 Paint & Draw - Part 1

Trains.
Old steam trains, green trains,
or what i call "Dreamtrains".