Nonsensical Rhymes

I was trying to read A Wocket in My Pocket by Dr. Seuss to my son today, and it suddenly occurred to me that it takes very little talent to write nonsensical rhymes. In the book, he basically talks about common things around the house, like a lamp or sofa, and then he makes up a nonsensical word that rhymes with it, like a Zamp or Bofa. Having written poetry for years and struggled with trying to rhyme words and keep the flow, I know how hard it is...at least with real words. I think I’d be able to churn out hundreds of books too if I didn’t have to worry about my subjects being real. I never really enjoyed Dr. Seuss much, and maybe this is why. I don’t respect him like I respect true authors. To put this in perspective, my favorite Dr. Seuss book is Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb; and it's not even by Dr. Seuss, it's by Al Perkins! It's just in the Dr. Seuss book collection.

That being said, my wife said that they never really had Dr. Seuss books in Greece when she was growing up. I told her that’s because you could never translate them and keep the rhyming essence. I asked her what Zamp or Bofa would translate to in Greek. She said nothing. Which means they’d have to stay Zamp or Bofa, and then wouldn’t rhyme with what lamp (lámpa) or sofa (kanapés) translated to. And then can you imagine trying to think up a nonsensical rhyme for "kanapés"? "And the Banapés on the kanapés doesn't seem to care." I guess it's not that hard after all, which only proves my point.

This logically led to us laughing that the only true way to enjoy Dr. Seuss must be to be high...at least we imagine, since we've never been high. “Oh man, I love this stuff. This is some deep crap. Dr. Seuss really gets me, man...he really gets me. Read some more."