Hazel Tells LaVerne

"but so helpmegod he starts talkin
bout a golden ball
an how i can be a princess"
"Hazel Tells LaVerne"
Katharyn Howd Machan


So many love poems...
This particular poem ridicules love with its humorous tone. It's told through the eyes of a janitor in a public bathroom, and it portrays the traditional "Princess and the Frog" story as ridiculous and gross. She calls the frog a "green pervert" whereas in the fairy tale, the princess was surprised by a talking frog, but she agreed to follow its orders. The janitor reveals the sentiment some people have regarding this fairy tale--that the tale is absurd because frogs cannot talk, and anyone willing to listen to a frog would be insane. The janitor reacts how one may expect, by hitting it with the mop and flushing it down the toilet. The theme of this poem is that you shouldn't always be willing to believe whatever people tell you; The woman cleaning the bathroom had no absolutely no intention of believing that she was a princess, mainly because she is a member of the lower class and would never consider herself to be royalty.