SINGING POETRY
In the late 1970s
I landed at a very creative ad agency
a place famous for its musical commercials.
I fit right in. I loved writing lyrics.
The one I remember best
was for Nestle Cookie Mix:
a cookieful of taste.
The line fell out of my mouth.
And my creative director loved it.
We started writing a song about
the three kinds of cookie mixes:
It’s full of sweet, juicy raisins,
It’s full of real chocolate morsels,
It’s full of chunky peanut butter,
It’s a cookieful of taste!
We cast the commercial in the Fall
but didn’t shoot until the following Summer.
We hadn’t counted on
the 12-year boys’ voices changing.
The cute African-American boy
had the high note: peanut butter!
The director and I watched the rehearsal.
And looked at each other.
I went to find the creative director.
When I told him, he smiled.
Let me hear them, he said.
We asked the kids to sing again.
The kid’s voice broke on the high note
and my boss said: I love it! It’s real!
Bio:
Christine O’Hanlon wrote advertising—TV, print, websites—for credit cards and cookie mixes. (Her grandkids watch some of it now on YouTube.) Her first book of poetry, The Bronx Years (Finishing Line Press) was published last year. Her work appears in Her Words, Paterson Literary Review, Voices in Italian-Americana, and in the anthology Rumors, Secrets & Lies.
OVUNQUE SIAMO 