Hand-Tossed Pizza Poems: Hold the Anchovies

Welcome to Pizza Day, Poetry Paraders! Today, we're going to serve up some oven-baked pizza poetry, round and crusty, layered with bright red tomato sauce, shredded cheeses, and... toppings!  Let's order our pizza poetry with tons of toppings: green peppers, red peppers, jalapeno peppers, onion, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, pineapple, ham, bacon, pepperoni, sausage, olives, bay leaves, and oregano.  Hold the anchovies.  Mm'mm... our mouths are watering.

Will that be for take out... or delivery?

Deliver Me

I like pizza when I wake,

Not eggs or toast or coffee cake.

I like pizza in my lunch.

After school, it's great to munch.

I like pizza at the mall,

In a restaurant, house, or hall.

I like pizzas for dessert.

I've even licked it off my shirt.

I like pizza by the sheet,

Filled with sauce and cheese and meat.

I like pizza by the pie,

Crisp 'n' flat or thick 'n' high.

Sausage, peppers, double cheese,

Everything but anchovies,

Pepperoni, even chicken,

All these get my lips a-lickin'.

I like pizza hot or cold,

Nice and fresh or three days old.

And though I'd like to tell you more--

The pizza guy is at my door.

-- Brian P. Cleary

The Ancient Greeks served something resembling pizza, covering flat bread with savory oils, fresh herbs, and sliced cheese. Over the years, pizza-like dishes appeared throughout Europe and the Middle East. The modern tomato pizza pie originated in Italy. Legend tells us that in eighteenth-century Naples, hungry King Ferdinand disguised himself as an average pizza-eating guy and escaped his palace for a slice to eat. It seems that his queen did not care for pizza and refused to serve it at the palace. Shocking! 

In 1889, Queen Margherita of Savoy visited Naples and dined upon a special pizza prepared with ingredients inspired by the Italian flag.  A clever pizza chef used tomatoes for red, mozzarella cheese for white, and fresh basil for a splash of green, thus creating the yummy patriotic pizza known as Pizza Margherita!  Across the timeline of history and around the world, kings, queens, and commoners, poetry writers, poetry readers, and Poetry Paraders have learned that... Nothing Beat-Beat-Beats a Pizza:

Nothing beats a pizza

when you're in a pizza mood

because a pizza isn't anything

like any other food

     other food is neat and tidy

     pizza's slippy pizza's slidey

     (makes me full and satisfied-y

     nicest slices now inside me)

When we want to eat a pizza

then it's better having two

     'cuz just one pizza's not enough

     for me and you

          and you and you

          and you and you and you.

-- Loris Lesynski

Still hungry?  Help yourself to another slice of pizza poetry.  This one is a parody-- also called a lampoon, a spoof, or a send-up.  A parody imitates another piece of writing but changes it into something new using humor and word play. Our pizza parody poem takes an old familiar song, Let There Be Peace on Earth, twists it around, turns it upside down, and tosses it in the air.  Here's the result, in Italian:  La pizza è deliziosa! 

Let There Be Pizza on Earth

Let there be pizza on earth,

and let it be eaten by me,

Let there be pizza on earth,

as far as the eye can see,

With ham and pepperoni,

mozzarella cheese,

Add some mushrooms and olives,

But hold the anchovies please!

Let pizza be eaten by me,

Let this be the moment now,

With every bite I take,

Let this be my solemn vow:

To take each pizza,

and eat each pizza,

in perfect ecstasy,

Oh, let there be pizza on earth,

And let it be eaten by me!

-- David Canzoneri and Bill Martin, Jr.

Happy Pizza Day, Poetry Paraders!