From the Red River to the Rio Grande — it’s a Texas high school tradition that’s… *grown over the years. This Typewriter Rodeo poem came by request from Texas Standard listener Linda Newman. She observed homecoming mums used to be real and about the size of a grapefruit. Now, she says they’re artificial and bigger than a football!
Homecoming Mums
I remember the day
Not so long ago
When they were made
From flowers you grow
Ones that took time
To nurture and tend
And you didn’t need a forklift
To get them pinned
But now the petals
Are all shiny plastic
And they’re big as a bus!
(OK that was sarcastic)
But I guess I get it
All the spectacle and bling —
Because in Texas, of course,
Football is king
And if you’re going on-field
In a Homecoming fall
You need something spectacular
To outshine that ball.
Typewriter Rodeo airs each Friday on Texas Standard. Send us your ideas for a poem on 
