Fuzzy Wuzzy Was A Bear
Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams
Chronicles of a Footloose Forester
By Dick Pellek
Fuzzy Wuzzy Was A Bear
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair
Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy
Was he?
2nd Grade Teacher: “Now children, for your homework I want you to go home and re-construct this poem using all the same words, but changing how and where the words appear on the page.”
Some of you might like it to be like this:
Fuzzy Wuzzy
Was a Bear
Fuzzy Wuzzy
Had no Hair
Fuzzy Wuzzy
Wasn’t Fuzzy, was he?
Does that mean that Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t really the bear we saw because the one we saw had hair? If there was only one bear in the woods, does that mean it must have been Fuzzy? Or could it be a case of mistaken identity?
The words you use and how you use them make a big difference in the way other people look at your poem; and what your poem really means. “Now children, as you grow up and express yourself in writing, people will judge you by what you write, how you write it, and what that writing is intended to say.”
So, you will want to tell your new pen-pal that you live in a small town in MI, or did you mean to write MO, or is it MD, or MT, or MN, or MA?
Will your new pen-pal learn anything about your little town in MI, or MO, or MD, or MT, or MN, or MA? It is up to you to write clearly so that your pen-pal and your future readers are clear about what you are trying to tell them. Otherwise, you might contribute to and join in with the crowd of confused people who may chant “Fake News”, “A Complete Fabrication” “Pure Fantasy”, or even “A Clever Bit of Sophistry.”
Fuzzy Q. Jones
Why am I telling you all this about a cute little bear named Fuzzy? Because Footloose Forester had a pet named Fuzzy, but he wasn’t a bear. He was our fuzzy little black and white mixed breed dog named Fuzzy Q. Jones. Of course, we chanted Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear…. And, of course, we all grew up remembering that simple poem.
