26 #verselove2019 with Kip Wilson

Inspiration

Make your own lyrics. Sometimes nothing can be more inspiring than something we already love–in this case, substituting new lyrics to a popular song.

Process

I’ve always loved playing with song lyrics of my own (and have even written the lyrics for a couple of original school musicals!), but even if it’s not something that feels natural, it’s really fun to play with at least a stanza or two of a popular song.

You can take existing lyrics and sub out key words and phrases, or craft entirely new lyrics to existing songs. Hopefully you’ll find playing with the rhyme, meter, and musicality of words here a lot of fun.

Kip’s Poem

The Ten School Commandments (to the tune of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s Hamilton song “The Ten Duel Commandments”)

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine
It’s the ten school commandments
It’s the ten school commandments

Number one
The challenge, sit and pay attention
Follow this commandment, a perfect situation

Number two
If you can’t, keep from talking and just listen
Even staring out the window or doodling now and then

Number three
Remember, teachers are teaching
all kinds of awesome things
but even if it sounds like preaching
something unbelievably cool still sneaks in
so don’t become a might-have-been

Number four
If they don’t grab your mind, that’s all right
file away some facts until the time is just right
remember that every little thing that they’re telling you
can come in handy when you decide that it’s useful to you too

Five
Above all else don’t disrupt the class
who are there to learn with or without sass

Number six
Respect your teacher, your classmates,
your school, and your town
Remember, keep that frown upside down

Seven
Keeping it real
Sometimes your mind might drift over and above and beyond but if you notice, reign it in

Number eight
Real talk, don’t leave it up to fate
There’s not much more time in class so hold your horses and wait

Number nine
The clock’s moving again; the time is nigh
Hold your breath if you need, no need to sigh

Then count

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine
Number
Ten seconds
Bell

Kip Wilson is the author of White Rose, a YA novel-in-verse about anti-Nazi political activist Sophie Scholl. White Rose won the 2017 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery Award and is a 2019 Winter/Spring Indies Introduce and Spring Indies Next title. It ‘s debut was April 2, 2019 with HMH’s Versify imprint. Kip holds a Ph.D. in German Literature, is the poetry editor at YARN (Young Adult Review Network), and wrote her doctoral dissertation about the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. She’s lived in Germany, Austria, and Spain, and currently calls Boston home.