This book is 95 percent comedy. The remaining poems are serious in nature. The serious ones are about people who have touched my life. I have not been able to read them in front of people without tearing up. The funny poems are a different story. Some of them have hidden comedy. Some of the jokes you heard in high school may appear in this book. I was and I am always looking for new material. Some of the odes are based upon a true set of facts that happened to people I know. Some of them could be offensive to certain people. For that I apologize. I enjoyed rewriting and editing these poems. That usually happens two months or so later. By that time I had forgotten what I had written. Finally, I’d like to apologize to real poets for referring to my creations as “poems.” Enjoy

A work of major importance that demonstrates the value of folklore for understanding national character.

Most of the time we find people who are very pleased or disappointed of someone’s pen, the reason is because the writer’s pen either stimulates or sours the taste of the reader by its tone or subject mode. I do not know yet your taste of a pen, but I promise this book is going to win your friendship and your sensational thirst of reading! La plupart du temps, nous trouvons des personnes très satisfaites ou déçues de la plume de quelqu’un; La raison en est que la plume de l’écrivain stimule ou aigrit le goût du lecteur par son ton ou son mode de sujet. Je ne connais pas encore vos goûts pour la plume, mais je vous promets que ce livre va gagner votre amitié et votre sensationnelle soif de lecture!

This book is a message to the reader, telling him/her who I am, and how I perceive life and this world that we, human beings, share. This book depicts everything that my soul feels throughout my entire existence; which is why I call myself a chanter of life and everything evolved fom it. I sing death, love, and all things that arouse my senses and my mind! O, I must be thankful to the great Almighty for the energy he blew on me, when I thought I was already finished; certainly, for the breath, like ether, that spreads out of me without it ever evaporates. Yes, I must say thanks to the holy Lord, for he has tied me to you all, O human brothers, by my pen and the mutual warmth that bonds us.

Is that a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a poem! Concrete poems are shaped like their subjects. They can look like objects, animals, or even people. You won't find many straight lines here! Award-winning author Brian P. Cleary explains how concrete poems work—and uses them to create all sorts of wild wordplay. Ode to a Commode is packed with mind-bending poems to make you puzzle and ponder. And when you've finished reading, you can try your hand at writing your own concrete poems!