Maggie's Wrathful Grapes

Gather round the campfire
I got a ghost story to tell
Bout some farm owned by Maggie,
Where old Tom Joad fell.

Tom came lookin for work you see
After crash-land twenty nine.
At first it wasn't all that bad
In fact it was almost fine.

Maggie and Big Brother
Had everything under control
Ma thought she was young again
But she was really fifty four.

Pa stared out his brick window
with a cigar in his hand
While ole Ma thumped her bible
All across the land.

Tom began to see right through
The smoke and mirror trick
Pa had nickeled and dimed him
And Brother was a prying dick.

Maggie got bored and lost her appeal
Ma preached at him all the time.
And when did believing in freedom
become a felonious crime?

Tom said he ain't workin
For Maggie on the farm no more,
So he packed up all of his survival s**t
And bugged out the side door.

They shot him in the back
when off the grid he tried to slip.
Tom didn't know that the flu shot
Held his identity chip.

Author's Note

Bruce's Tom Joad meets Bob's Maggie, and I decided this is how it went. It was a collaborative effort. Thanks guys ;)

Reviews

[Rita L. Sev]

This is great! I love the idea of these characters meeting, and your interaction was so clever and fun! Great read and write!

[R. L. Ives]

Thank you for visiting and reviewing. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it. This one had been brewing for a while. I thoroughly enjoyed writing it.

[Tree]

A seamless crafty collab. That conspiratorial twist at the end through me for a loop. Good formatting and rhyming, which can be hard to pull off. But worked well, here.

Diego

[R. L. Ives]

Thank you Diego for visiting and reviewing. I enjoyed writing this one. I fear though that I have been deceptive in my author's note but didn't intend to. This is not a true collab between me and another writer. It is actually two songs from two different artists that I took my inspiration from and wrote this piece. Maggie refers to Bob Dylan's Maggie's Farm, and Tom Joad, the main character in Grapes of Wrath, who Bruce Springsteen wrote The Ghost of Tom Joad. I believe I should change what I wrote in my note.

[Tree]

I was wondering about that connection. Thanks for clarifying that.

[Sheila Kline]

It's difficult to tell where one writer started and the other stopped so this means to me a joining of the poetic muses with seamless identity, great rhyme, and an interesting story!!
Well done! These type of ballad poems are especially enjoyable to read!!

[R. L. Ives]

Thank you Sheila. I appreciate your glowing review. :)

But, I must confess...the collaborative effort was meant as tongue in cheek. Or, maybe it was collaborative since two songs and a novel were the inspiration for this??

[Sheila Kline]

Oh, now I get it. No wonder I couldn't find out where one ended and the other began. You certainly had me fooled!!....lol

[The Analog Kid]

What an interesting tale with very good rhyme and flow. For a collab, this was seamless. Steinbeck meets NWO, and all that other fun stuff to write about. I liked how "Big Brother" was played.

[R. L. Ives]

Thanks. The "collaboration" was tongue in cheek, but I'm glad it seems a seamless effort nonetheless.

[The Analog Kid]

Sure. YW:)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

very clever...dylan is probably smiling at this..or at least would if he read it.

"i'll be there, Ma....yeah, I'll be there"

where is henry fonda when you need him..

this was a nice diversion tonight..thank you for the read.

jacob

[R. L. Ives]

Thank you Jacob for reading and reviewing. Fonda played Tom Joad, right?

Things are getting pretty heavy around here lately.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, he did and yes, they are.

[Frieda P]

Ha, pretty funny & wrathful indeed! This was a good read, much enjoyed it!

[R. L. Ives]

Glad you liked it. Thanks for stopping by.

[Frieda P]

My pleasure :-)

[quinfinn]

this is amazing, and so cool! bobby dylan shines through in this awesome piece....and, of course, so does Randi and her ability to weave a wonderful tale in poetic form. this one goes in my library!

[R. L. Ives]

Awwww...you make me blush. Thank you being so kind. This was another that I played with for awhile in my head before putting it down. I worry that it is too plain or worded so that it makes no sense even when it's not really supposed to. Does that make sense at all. :)

[quinfinn]

makes perfect sense! i love it!