Request for Songs, Poems, & Sayings

[dcseain]

A friend of mine teaches English as a Second Language in a prison.
He likes to start each class with an expression, quote or saying - not boring
proverbs that people don't really use in normal conversation, like 'So as ye
sow..,' or 'Spare the rod....' but fun things, preferably with plays on
words, like 'Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana,' or
'Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too
dark to read.'

He ends each class with a poem or a song, something in real English, not
the textbook stuff for foreigners. He's used materials ranging from The
Prophet - On Children, to 'Boy Named Sue,' to 'Slow Down Krishna.' The
problem is that they have to be really simple, both in grammar and
vocabulary, and it's hard to find things like that.

So, he's running out of both. If some of you could post sayings, quotes,
expressions and/or suggestions for simple poems, He'd be really grateful (and
I think the prisoners would appreciate it, too). I'll pass on your suggestions
to him. Thank you!

Comments

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

Hmm... Would nursery rhymes work? They're in the "things every native speaker knows" category.

And kids' songs, like:

I see the moon, the moon sees me
the moon sees somebody I want to see
So God bless the moon and God bless me
God bless the one I love
Over the mountain and over the sea
That's where my somebody's waiting for me
God let the moon that shines on me
Shine on the one I love


Maybe Shel Silverstein poems?

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

There's a traditional Appalachian Hymn on the same theme, best as i can recall it, not having sung it since i was a child, i know parts be missing:

I see the moon and the moon sees me
the moon looks down on what I long to be
there's grace in the heart and grace in the home
the grace of God is over us all

sudden move in the stars
whenever i look to the skies
desperate to give some meaning to this life
I see the moon and the moon sees me
the moon looks down on what I long to be
There's grace in the heart and grace in the home
the grace of God is over us all
sweating this boundary of lies
hammer my soul until it looks something more like me
forcing chains that bind us like slaves to a dark and omninous dream

[mergyeugnau.livejournal.com]

favorite zeugma: 'She left in tears and a taxi'

favorite simple song: Sylvie (play.rhapsody.com/album/folkwaysavisionshared/sylvie)

will post more as they occur...