Bleezer's Ice Cream

 I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
 I run BLEEZER'S ICE CREAM STORE,
 there are flavors in my freezer
 you have never seen before,
 twenty-eight divine creations
 too delicious to resist,
 why not do yourself a favor,
 try the flavors on my list:

 COCOA MOCHA MACARONI
 TAPIOCA SMOKED BALONEY
 CHECKERBERRY CHEDDAR CHEW
 CHICKEN CHERRY HONEYDEW
 TUTTI-FRUTTI STEWED TOMATO
 TUNA TACO BAKED POTATO
 LOBSTER LITCHI LIMA BEAN
 MOZZARELLA MANGOSTEEN
 ALMOND HAM MERINGUE SALAMI
 YAM ANCHOVY PRUNE PASTRAMI
 SASSAFRAS SOUVLAKI HASH
 SUKIYAKI SUCCOTASH
 BUTTER BRICKLE PEPPER PICKLE
 POMEGRANATE PUMPERNICKEL
 PEACH PIMENTO PIZZA PLUM
 PEANUT PUMPKIN BUBBLEGUM
 BROCCOLI BANANA BLUSTER
 CHOCOLATE CHOP SUEY CLUSTER
 AVOCADO BRUSSELS SPROUT
 PERIWINKLE SAUERKRAUT
 COTTON CANDY CARROT CUSTARD
 CAULIFLOWER COLA MUSTARD
 ONION DUMPLING DOUBLE DIP
 TURNIP TRUFFLE TRIPLE FLIP
 GARLIC GUMBO GRAVY GUAVA
 LENTIL LEMON LIVER LAVA
 ORANGE OLIVE BAGEL BEET
 WATERMELON WAFFLE WHEAT

 I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
 I run BLEEZER'S ICE CREAM STORE,
 taste a flavor from my freezer,
 you will surely ask for more.

Commentary

Once again, posting on Martin’s behalf:

“Bleezer’s Ice Cream” is one of those rare, perfect children’s poems that it is my occasional pleasure to stumble across. It’s not too hard to see why it works so well. The name “Ebenezer Bleezer” is both nicely comical and nicely euphonious, so “I am Ebenezer Bleezer” gets the poem off to a good start right away. The whole first verse, though, is nothing more than a prologue, an introduction to the real meat of the poem. I refer, of course, to the wonderfully zany list of twenty-eight “flavours”, a catalogue of food combinations whose appeal lies in their grossness as much as in their playful metre and rhymes. I’ll leave you to look up some of the weirder foods on your own :)

— Martin

Links

  Here's a biography of Prelutsky:
    [broken link] http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=69

I am reminded of the Centipede’s song from Dahl’s ‘James and the Giant Peach’:

http://www.qu-i-x.com/eaten.html

And from the credit-where-due department, I discovered the poem in the following, well-chosen collection:

http://gobinpoetry.homestead.com/Home.html

The Wondering Minstrels, poem #1055 · 20 May 2002

Poem selected by Abraham Thomas

Fair use

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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.

Monica Bathija · 20 May 2002

what a delightful delightful poem!!

=====
life is like a bad movie…and i’m sleeping through it

Rebecca Gill · 20 May 2002

I’m new to Minstrels. and am enjoying everyone. I was introduced to it by my co-worker,Tim Juhl who is a published poet and teacher of creative writing. I like the diversity of styles. This one did surprise me at first, but I guess it is a valid form of poetry. We often dismiss children’s literature, but I did gain an appreciation of it from my years as a school library volunteer. One of my (most enjoyable) tasks was to read and review the new books for the librarian and give her a feel for the type and quality. Thanks for the opportunity to revisit this world.

Eleanor Oguma · 20 May 2002

Love the poem, but did you have to post it on the morning when I have the mother of all hangovers? :-)

****************** Eleanor OGUMA

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