The Tarts (and what really happened)
According to the nursery rhyme
The Queen of Hearts,
She made some tarts,
All on a summer’s day;
The Knave of Hearts,
He stole the tarts,
And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
And beat the Knave full sore;
The Knave of Hearts
Brought back the tarts
And vowed He’d steal no more.
What really happened
The Queen of Hearts
She made some tarts
All on a hungry day.
She ate the tarts
and blamed the Knave
For taking them away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts
And beat the Knave full sore
Then he took some cash
from the royal stash
sent Knave to get some more.
Next day the Queen
made tarts again,
this time the Knave was wise.
Surprised that Dame
to the kitchen came
in a King of Hearts disguise.
“Dear Queen of Hearts
my favorite tarts
I think it’s my lucky day!”
Then the Knave of Hearts
bagged up those tarts
and sneaked them throughout the day.
© 2012 by Violet Nesdoly
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I wrote this poem during the November 2010 poem-a-day challenge. That month I used prompts from Robert Brewer at the Poetic Asides blog. The challenge was: “Write a ‘what really happened’ poem. Use a real event (or an event from a popular movie) and spin it in another direction.”
I present this poem to Poetry Friday, hosted this week by the foodie diva herself, Jama Rattigan at Jama’s Alphabet Soup.
Violet Nesdoly 
HAHA! Love it, Violet ! So fun and clever, and what a great writing prompt. I’ll have to try one of those. But not before I make some tarts…
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Yes, Renee, poetry is always improved by a full stomach (or the anticipation of one–especially when that filling will be chocolate, or tarts with something red inside).
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What a fun exercise, Violet! You picked a good “event” to work with — I’m glad things worked out for the knave (at least until the king caught up with him!).
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Yes, Tabatha, you have pulled at that loose end. Maybe someone wants to attempt another installment.
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Love this, Violet — and great illustration to go with it! That knave . . . now I’m hungry for a strawberry tart.
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Well, now we’re starting to get even. I leave your blog hungry every time!
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and so no matter what, he was a trickstery knave all around. which, i suppose, is right. great “what really happened” event you’ve captured.
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Yes! Trickstery. We didn’t want him to lose his personality even when the ‘truth’ came out.
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Such fun you must have had in writing that poem….it is a delight to read. I have read it over and over, out loud with laughter, despite being all alone in the house! Thanks so much for sharing your joy in the written word. Now I, too, am hungry for lunch.
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Why thank you Sally! I hope the walls laughed with you… now go eat 🙂
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This poem is so much fun! Thanks for sharing it.
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Violet, my last day of school so finally am getting to everyone’s lovely shadings. This is so wonderful. First of all you wrote it so well that you make it look easy, so I want to try one too. And I will, someday, but I know that when something is cleverly done, it’s been hard work. Thank you for giving me a big smile.
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Sorry, above, meant to say ‘sharings’.
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Thank you, Ruth, and Linda! At the end of a year of school, you’re allowed a typo or six, Linda. Big congrats for another year finished! I remember when (waaay back, before my kids) I taught and how euphoric I felt at the end of another year.
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How fun. I wrote a poem a day in NOVEMBER 2010 and used the prompts from Robert Brewer too. What a connection.
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Thanks Jone! You did? So you wrote a ‘what really happened’ poem too? I’d love to see it 🙂
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Ooh! Gotta try the “what really happened” challenge!
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Oh yes, do! And post it some Poetry Friday.
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Enttertaining, Violet. A good chuckle for this morning. Thanks.
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Thanks for dropping by, Carolyn. And glad you enjoyed!
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