The Red Ear Blows Its Nose by Robert Schechter, illustrations by S. Federico; San Jose, California: Word Galaxy Press (c) 2023; ISBN 9781773-491301; 99 pages; $19.95 on Amazon.
SAN DIEGO — Robert Schechter is a master of word play and rhyme and he uses these talents to enchant children and adults alike in this collection of poems that are sometimes silly, sometimes profound, but always interesting.
Schechter muses about the parts of his face, his brain, animals, the heavens, the alphabet, the seasons, and even about the poems he is in the process he is writing.
The title of this collection comes from a poem titled “What’s Mine” which begins with an answer to some people’s belief that everything that is going to be said has been said already:
Things that no one’s said before
include, “The red ear blows its nose,”
“I noodled waffles to the door.”
“The slipper broke my shoulder’s toes.”
Later in this volume of 99 poems, Schechter reemphasizes the point, with “This Poem is New.” It begins:
This poem is new. I made it up.
Before I sat and wrote it,
you could not read this poem at all,
recite its lines or quote it.
I’m not sure why Schechter or his editors or publisher decided “The red ear blows its nose” should be the title of the book; there are so many other wonderful poems.
“Compared to What?” begins:
A pebble isn’t all that big
compared to stones or boulders
but it’s a mountain to the ant
who lifts it on his shoulders.
And,” Ny Nose” starts off
Whoever thought up where
to put the pieces of my face
must have loved my nose because
it holds a central place
A middle stanza of a poem called “Not a children’s poem” instructs us
Don’t dump your garbage in the sea.
Do not pollute the air!
Be sure the water that we drink
is clean and always there.
That’s good advice for adults; children shouldn’t have to worry about such things. They should be reading books like this one!
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com