It’s been so crazy around here lately – between book releases, manuscript revisions, and the #MMPoetry March Madness competition – that I completely spaced on this most awesome of holidays!
The reason I’m celebrating is because I have a poem included in the newest Poetry Friday Anthology, The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations, which is due out in just a few weeks, and the poem is about National Cereal Day – which was last Saturday, March 7.
I have to admit…as much as I try to be healthy, I’m still a kid at heart, so my favourite cereals are the ones I’m not supposed to eat. Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, and any Monster cereal that I come across are destined for my pantry. And when someone decided to make Lucky Charms with CHOCOLATE and someone else put MARSHMALLOWS in Fruit Loops…well, let me just say I wanted to shake their hands.
But what ever happened to my old favourites? Those great, long-lost bits of corn meal and sugar that are woven into my memory and are a part of the fabric that IS Matt Forrest Esenwine?? (And I’m not using hyperbole – with all those preservatives, they really ARE part of the fabric of my body at this point)
I’m talking about KaBoom; Quisp; Moonstones; Grins and Smiles and Giggles and Laughs; Q-bert (yes, the video-game hero had his own cereal!); Oreo-O’s; and the venerable Donutz!! Can I get a holla?!?
OK, well, before I go too far with the reminiscing, I’d like to share the poem I wrote that DIDN’T make it into the PFA for Celebrations. After all, once the book comes out, you’ll see which one did make it…so this is like the free toy surprise inside the box! Hope you like it:
Cereal Legend
Little Horatio Magellan Crunch
never knew what was going to happen…
one day, he would sail the seas
and all the world would call him, “Cap’n.”
– © Matt Forrest Esenwine, 2014
And yes, that’s Cap’n Crunch’s real name! I don’t make stuff up, you know. I felt I should contribute something connected to my home state (the cereal was developed by a New Hampshire resident), but alas, it didn’t make the cut. And to be honest, I never even really liked Cap’n Crunch when I was young. Even as an 8- or 9-year-old, I knew there was something just plain wrong with the texture.
So what were YOUR favourite cereals as a kid? Pebbles? Super Sugar Smacks? Honeycomb? (remember Strawberry Honeycomb?) How about those lost classics like King Vitamin, with the creepy-looking dude on the box…or Baron Von RedBerry – a Monster-cereal knockoff that I still wish they’d bring back? I’d love to hear your comments, below.
For today’s complete Poetry Friday round-up, please visit Laura Shovan at Author Amok, and please be sure to check out the Madness that is the #MMPoetry competition over at Ed DeCaria’s place, Think Kid, Think! 
I lost in the first round, but it’s still a lot of fun and the competition continues throughout the month.
Be watching for the PFA for Celebrations, and I’ll be sharing more poems that didn’t make it in in the next couple weeks!
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Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme 
My parents didn’t really let me have any of those cereals, so there is a gap in my education where Baron Von RedBerry and Super Sugar Smacks would be.
Your post made me think of this picture: http://imgur.com/gallery/AQfJRix Boy, does she look happy!
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I’m going to have to ask my wife to let me do that for my birthday!
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Wow — Cap’n Crunch has a real name? I wonder if Captain Kangaroo does too? Great post, Matt. Those old cereals take me back.
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Thanks for stopping by, Laura!
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Gah! A cereal killer poet!
I definitely went through a Cap’n Crunch phase but never knew about the NH connection. I also loved Alphabets, Rice Krispies, and Fruit Loops. There was a brief fling with Lucky Charms, but once the marshmallows were all picked out of the box, the thrill was gone. Remember Sugar Pops before they became Corn Pops? Always exciting when my mom brought home a Snack or Variety Pak.
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I LOVED the variety packs! I got to eat the cereal right out of the boxes. And yes, I agree about the Lucky Charms…only 2 ingredients: marshmallows and disappointment. 😉
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Can’t believe that Cap’n Crunch was inspired by a real person. What did he do to earn his place on the cereal box?
My parents were not sugar-cereal buyers. But I begged and begged for Lucky Charms, and my father finally relented. GAH! I wouldn’t eat it after the first bowl and neither would my siblings. My father, who grew up during the depression and was not about to throw out food, ate the rest of the box.
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I remember the days when there were only 4 ‘charms’ in Lucky Charms: green clovers, orange stars, yellow moons, and pink hearts. And for a brief while, the leprechaun was tossed and the mascot was a wizard – that was when they introduced blue diamonds, and what a big deal THAT was!
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I LOVED Cap’n Crunch! Thanks for memorializing him!! Frosted Flakes and Fruit Loops were my other “sweet treat” cereals from childhood.
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Thanks, Mary Lee, glad I could do him the honor!
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Like many, we never had sugar cereal unless we were going camping, and then we got the “Snack Packs.” A legendary scene from my childhood involves my younger brother at about 13, a large kitchen knife, and the line “Buy Sugar Pops or die!” I think my next CH poem will have to include cereal. Thanks for the inspiring post, Matt!
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I’ve come to the conclusion that my parents, as much as I love them, had no clue when it came to feeding me as a child. I’m pretty sure I had every sugared cereal that ever existed between 1967 and 1983. It was certainly a happy childhood – but I’m much wiser now, thank goodness!
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My mom rarely bought anything more exciting then Rice Krispies, but when she did, I generally went for Apple Jacks or Honeycomb.
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Apple Jacks! I loved those, too. Thanks, Tricia!
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What a wonderful celebration of all the cereal that our moms would never buy… except on rare occasions: “You can have it for an after school snack, but not for breakfast.” What a fun Cap’n Crunch poem! I also wrote a poem for cereal day that didn’t make it in… Sylvia and Janet could probably make PFAC 2 and 3 with all the great poetry that they didn’t have room for. I was partial to Count Chocula.
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Oh, I’m with you on the Count, Michelle – and Boo Berry, as well! Thanks for stopping by.
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Oh my goodness, this brought back some memories. My brother and I used to put the cereal box between us in the morning so we didn’t have to look at one another. OK, truth, I put the cereal box there and if you saw my brother eat cereal in the morning you’d know why. We still joke about this.
What happened to our favorites? Mine was BooBerry. Maybe it was the way it turned the milk blue, maybe I just liked looking at spooky fun characters in the morning, but that cereal was so good. I liked all the cereals with marshmallow treats like Lucky Charms and Frankenberry.
Your post also made me remember prizes. How many times did we choose a cereal because of the prize? Oh, those were the days.
I enjoyed your poem. Who knew Captain Crunch had such a long name. Your post was as fun to read as the poem.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane,
Cathy
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Thanks so much, Cathy! There is something inherently wrong with having marshmallows for breakfast…but I agree, those were the best cereals! I also loved KaBoom, which was possibly the most colorful marshmallow cereal ever created, but I don’t know if they still make it anymore.
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