Dear Humpty had no business
Sitting on that there blooming wall
I ‘ave to say he caused me great distress
I warned him he would have a fall
“You have hostylo-pirosis! The doctor said!
You are thin-shelled and may
not survive if down you come…”
“Life is for living my Soldier friend!
Come have another tot of rum
– Life’s too short and I intend
To live it well up to its very end!”
And so it was that Humpty died
My mates and I, we tried and tried
And for the doctor we did send
But none of us could Humpty mend
And in the end, all as could be said
Was that Humpty Dumpty
was a blooming Good Egg…
© Andrew Wilson 2026
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, merrildsmith in Poetics, invites us to to give secondary characters a voice. Choose a character from a well-known story, myth, book, fairy tale, movie, play, or even song who is not the lead character. For example, John Updike wrote a novel about Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother (Gertrude and Claudius, 2000). Tom Stoppard wrote an absurdist play called Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead based on the minor characters who were Hamlet’s childhood friends.
Poor old Humpty!
Indeed, Kim,I feel like an outlier for not having chosen a Shakesperean character lol
Really like the “voice” in this: narration with a proper tone and/or accent and attitude. Feel is sorely missing from my verse, and I noticed it always when it is there.
Theatre of the absurd at its finest.
Thanks, Ain,I do enjoy the challenge of trying to capture a particular voice…
I guess this poem was inspired by a personal, real event.
The modern day has all types of glue, transparent scotch tape, and colored gaffer tape to adhere the shell. If Humpty lived in contemporary time, then maybe … ?
Your poems are always interesting.
LOL, Cai, it was completely subconscious! I couldn’t resist this prompt and so glad you enjoyed it…
Well done, Andrew! I enjoyed the tone of this, and I imagine the soldier and his friends raising a glass!
My older child’s beloved stuffy was Humpty. (They still have him.) He had quite a personality, and we couldn’t mention anything about this tale in his presence. 😊
Thanks, Merril, it was a fun prompt, and somebody had to take the nursery rhyme option. Better not show this poem to your older child then…
At least it can be an omellet
Well I hope I’m not in an aircrash in the Andes with you, Bjorn lol…
Andrew, this is absolutely delightful!
“You have hostylo-pirosis! The doctor said!”…such a brilliant line. The closing lines had me chuckling.
I wonder why I didn’t think of a nursery rhyme.
Well someone has to display some gravitas, Punam, even down the pub – it was you!!!
I am laughing OUT LOUD! This is FABULOUS! Love it!
Well as one person commented, I might have been projecting, since I fell over and broke my Achilles tendon…
Nicely done! You can’t tell some people, can you.
Indeed – one of my bosses used to tell me I shouldn’t agree to be sent on site visits (by a bigger boss) at the age of 71 – guess he was proved right…
Ha! Good fun for us..if not for poor Humpty!
Fun to write too, Judy…