The Gaw-loop Monster
By Linda A. Copp

I've been eaten by a monster
and I'm surely scared to death.
I can see the vapors rising now,
that constitute his breath.

Pushing out and over me,
puffs of smoke and green,
Like hazy clouds of leaves at play
and ghosties, I have seen.

Not a dragon, crocodile,
a fish or a hairy ape,
Just a bit of everything,
like bees and flees and tape.

He's a Paper Mache animal,
He slithers like a snake.
He walks here like a giant man.
He's just one big mistake.

His eyes are big and bulging,
whirling 'round his head,
Telling him to swallow me,
They're fire engine red.

And here I sit a sitting,
on something like a tongue,
Watching him, a monster true,
and oh, the things he's done.

Stomping o'er the countryside
Awkward, out of place.
Hey, there, Mr. Monster, please,
I cannot see your face.

I'm here on the inside,
let me come out on your nose.
I promise that I'll smile at you.
I'll slide down on your toes.

Oops! I guess he's angry.
He's belching out his song.
Hey, there Mr. Monster,
in here I don't belong.

You're neither friend nor enemy,
you're just some awkward beast,
And golly, I would run away,
If I could be released.

Oh! Greedy! See it's lunch time.
Mother wants me to come home.
So, I guess, I'll have to bite your back,
so, you'll let me leave your tummy home.

I'll stomp my shoe in to your throat,
until you let me go.
He-aw! I'm being coughed away
like the greeny, airy snow.

Falling to the earth on clouds,
I'm a little angel child.
I've escaped my prison,
See here's my sunny smile.

Oh! Listen don't you cry a bit.
I'll come back after lunch.
Mr. Gaw-loop Monster, please,
the ground is breaking, crunch.

Oh! Maybe here, on second thought,
I'll take a nap, instead,
'Cause I can see your eyes again,
they're fire engine red.

And I'm well, pretty tired,
of playing games with you.
Go away Mr. Monster, now.
I've got other things to do.

My little, big and everything.
Monster's gone away.
But, I can call him anytime,
anytime I want to play.

I'll sit and think and surely,
before my thinking's done,
That Gaw-looped spangled beast of mine
will soon be back, he'll come!

By Linda A. Copp
©October 20, 1971