(with apologies to L. Frank Baum)
Glinda delivers her third child,
and will not return to the stage,
now that exotic dancing no longer
pays, and horny men can see
her strip on the internet.
Munchkins, still the quaint
people, now have satellite TV,
beer and Monday Night Football.
Bored, they bounce in bed
and increase the population.
The Scarecrow finally came out,
and lives quietly with Roger
in Emerald City’s East Side,
where he’s loved by the locals
for giving so much poetry.
Across from the courthouse,
the statue of Toto, covered with
flying monkey shit, honors
the terrier who was mercifully
put down for complications.
The Tin Man smokes cigars
and tends bar at the Stars & Garter,
spouting homespun philosophy
to anyone who gives a damn.
And few do.
— Gary Lechliter
Gary Lechliter’s poetry has appeared in Atlanta Review, Chance of a Ghost: an Anthology of Contemporary Ghost Poems, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, New Mexico Poetry Review, Straylight, Tears in the Fence, and Wisconsin Review. He has a recent book, Foggy Bottoms: Poems about Myths and Legends, published by Coal City Press.
The Coop: A Poetry Cooperative 
I love the social commentary here, particularly the line about being bored, bouncing in bed and increasing the population since the population problem is issue No. 1 with me these days. Of course, many suspect that Baum’s original work was much more than an innocent little tale about a Kansas girl who gets caught up in a tornado and meets some interesting people in the process.