Love in Brooklyn
By John Wakeman
"I love you, Horowitz," he said, and blew his nose.
She splashed her drink. "The hell you say," she said.
"Not love. You don't love me. You like my legs,
and how I make your letters nice and all.
You drunk your drink too fast. You don't love me."
"You wanna bet?" he asked. "You wanna bet?
I loved you from the day they moved you up
from Payroll, last July. I watched you, right?
You sat there on that typing chair you have
and swung round like a kid. It made me shake.
Like once, in World War II, I saw a tank
slide through some trees at dawn like it was a god.
That's how you make me feel. I don't know why."
She turned towards him, then sat back and grinned,
and on the bar stool swung full circle round.
"You think I'm like a tank, you mean?" she asked.
"Some fellers tell me nicer things than that."
But then she saw his face and touched his arm
and softly said, "I'm only kidding you."
He ordered drinks, the same again, and paid.
A fat man, wordless, staring at the floor.
She took his hand in hers and pressed it hard.
And his plump fingers trembled in her lap.
Instructions:
1) Pick roles: actor, actress, director, director’s assistant
2) The actor and actress practice with the script below. The director ‘directs’, based on his/her own opinion and on instructions in the original poem. The director is forceful and arrogant, and not easily pleased.
Man: I love you, Horowitz.
Woman: The hell you say. Not love. You don't love me. You like my legs, and how I make your letters nice and all. You drunk your drink too fast. You don't love me.
Man: You wanna bet? You wanna bet? I loved you from the day they moved you up from Payroll, last July. I watched you, right? You sat there on that typing chair you have and swung round like a kid. It made me shake. Like once, in World War II, I saw a tank
slide through some trees at dawn like it was a god. That's how you make me feel. I don't know why.
Woman: You think I'm like a tank, you mean? Some fellers tell me nicer things than that. I'm only kidding you.
Instructions
1) Pick roles: Teacher, teacher’s assistant, students (ages 8 – 10)
2) The teacher and assistant assign roles to the students and then gets them to act out the poem. The teacher then gets them to ‘improvise’ a continuation of the poem.
Woodpecker in Disguise
By Grace Taher Hallock
Woodpecker taps at the apple tree.
"Little bug, open your door," says he.
Little bug says, "Who is it, sir?"
Woodpecker says, "The carpenter."