Sometimes you just come across a poem that really resonates with you. Like this one, about noisy neighbours. Unlike Ogden Nash’s neighbours, mine live two floors below me. And yes, I still hear them. But reading this poem made me laugh about it for the first time. Just because it’s so true. The exaggerations and comparisons are spot-on and funny. Ogden Nash eventually wrote over 500 pieces of light poetry. If they’re all as relatable as this one, there are only more laughs ahead.
The people upstairs all practise ballet
Their living room is a bowling alley
Their bedroom is full of conducted tours.
Their radio is louder than yours,
They celebrate week-ends all the week.
When they take a shower, your ceilings leak.
They try to get their parties to mix
By supplying their guests with Pogo sticks,
And when their fun at last abates,
They go to the bathroom on roller skates.
I might love the people upstairs more
If only they lived on another floor.
Ogden Nash
Alix in Wonderland 