The letter I – I debated among a few ‘I’ personalities and finally decided to go back to Hindu mythology for someone from I. Indra is it today, and he is regarded as the king of the Devas and the rain-god as well.

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A(the) Story of Indra

Of Indra and Uggs

{“Oh no! It can’t rain today!! I’m wearing Uggs!!”
via @WeRecycleMovies and read on Overheard in LA}

Up in the heavens, it was a normal day
Actually, the rain-gods were having lunch today..
Not just any ordinary lunch meeting, you see
but of lightning-makers across the seven seas..

I know, that doesn’t make much sense
but just picture the seas in the heavens..
Close your eyes, and imagine our
earth laid out flat – Like a map… up there ..

Anyways, the gods heard her, and her comment did confuse
They had no idea that Uggs were a kind of shoes..
They pondered and wondered and thundered a while,
(Rain gods, right?), “What are Uggs? Something new in style?!”

Here, I deviate from this story
to tell you more of Indra’s glory..
Indra, you see – he –
comes from Hindu mythology..

Indra – that’s his name, he’s the king of the sky,
Riding on his elephant, he’s flying high.
Indra, invincible indeed, he is the Devas’ king,
With his Vajra, he sends rain and thunder and lightning!

So if you hanker for a drizzle, a shower, or a pour
You could look up and simply give him a holler,
“Indra, Indra, with your thunderous roar,
send us some rain, just a little bit more!“

{“Oh..but, maybe not today, ugh!
Today is the day,
that someone in LA
is wearing her Uggs!!”}

~ Vidya @ LadyInReadWrites

The Prompt for Today

For day 11, the optional prompt for NaPoWriMo is below:

This prompt challenges you to play around with the idea of overheard language. First, take a look at Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “One Boy Told Me.” It’s delightfully quirky, and reads as a list, more or less, of things that she’s heard the boy of the title – her son, perhaps? – say. Now,  write a poem that takes as its starting point something overheard that made you laugh, or something someone told you once that struck you as funny.

So in an attempt to continue my theme of India (history/mythology/places/culture and more) while including the prompt somewhere, I had to fictionalize mythology some more!!

References and Further Reading

• Wikipedia page on Indra
• Tales of Indra (from Amar Chitra Katha)
• Indra: The King Of The Devas by Devdutt Pattanaik

My I Books

Both of today’s books ended up having similar sounding reviews, so here is one that covers them both. Awesome, brilliant, clever, delightful, entertaining, filled-with giggles and humor, imaginative, ….. and well, you get the idea..They are both amazing reads with totally hilarious and wacky and cool artwork accompanying them. I found myself reading these over and over again, just for the smiles; and poring over the illustrations, awed by the clever details that add to the poems.

As for the individual poems themselves, it was hard to pick one or even a couple as favorites in both books. So I didn’t attempt it, instead will let you read them for yourself so you can smile and giggle and be awed at cleverness-es like I was (and am, and will be once again when I read them in a bit, and a bit)….

Oh but you want a couple anyways? Then a random selection for you: From I’m Just No Good, I have – My Dessert Tummy (for the way it resonated with me), and the brilliant ‘A Short Saga‘ for all its oxymorons, the so very philosophical Yesterday’s Tomorrow, another brilliant verse ‘Re-Verse‘ and the delish Ice Cream Mondae, then the Grown-Ups are Better poems (three of them!), and the eighth one (simply because it is the eighth one on the list, for I did have three grownup poems, right) called Eight.. and the poem with the long title that ends with (the title I mean) This is Really the End, and then well all the rest of them too!!! From Imagine That, now do I have do that all over again ? But I can say this, it does have the Jabberwocky within…

Imagine That

I’m Just No Good at Rhyming

Inspired to Rhyme by Birds and Beasts

For Top Ten Tuesday, the theme this week over at ThatArtsyReaderGirl is animal-themed books. These books can feature animals in any way you want: pictures of them on the cover, titles with animals in them, or books with noteworthy animals in them! I’ve chosen to share books from my to-read list that have animals on the cover.

So here is my take on the theme. Poetry books with birds and beasts on the cover, and this includes books I have read and want to read as well.

• The Beauty of the Beast: Poems from the Animal Kingdom compiled by Jack Prelutsky with art by Meilo So (Children’s Poetry, 5 years and up). Prelutsky, Meilo So, that title and cover, and the selection within make this book a must-have.
• Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds selected by Billy Collins with illustrations by David Sibley. (Nature poetry, all ages) Birds, Billy Collins, poetry, stunning artwork: well, I know I need this one.
• The Conference of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar. I read a retelling of this one years ago without realizing what it was initially, and then when I figured that out, I was awed and wowed and more, and wanted to read the original (which I am doing right now actually, and loving every bit of it).
• Honeybee: Poems & Short Prose by Naomi Shihab Nye (Children’s Poetry, 8 – 12 years, and up). It is just a coincidence that today’s prompt for NaPoWriMo is inspired by Nye. But since I first read her poetry a couple of years ago, I read any book I see with her name on it!
• I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats by Francesco Marciuliano (Children’s Poetry, 6 – 12 years, and up). Hilarious… mewfully so.. and there is more in this series too for you to enjoy!
• Love that Dog by Sharon Creech. (Stories in verse, 9 – 11 years, and up). This was one of my favorite reads for 2021.. And if you haven’t read this one yet, do so now!
• My Words Flew Away Like Birds by Debora Pearson and illustrated by Shrija Jain (Children’s Fiction, 4 – 8 years, and up). This one actually has nothing to do with birds, or not much anyways, but is a beautiful, heartwarming read and look into immigration stories from the perspective of a child.
• The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate (Children’s Stories in Verse, 8 – 12 years, and up). Yet to read, actually holding off on reading my advance reading copy on this one but will do it soon. I know I will end up falling in love with Ruby for sure.
• The Poetry Of Birds edited by Simon Armitage & Tim Dee (Poetry, all ages). Another superb collection of poems about birds…

And Now, the End of This Post

Linking up to BlogChatterA2Z, Blogging from A-to-Z April Challenge, NaPoWriMo, and the Ultimate Blog Challenge.