A hop on pop sequel teaching the subjunctive tense -- how would that sound?
I suggest that Pop hop.
I insist that Pop stop.
I demand that the fox wear red socks.
I request that the clocks tick in a box.
I propose that the mouse build a house.
I prefer that the cat be a dog.
I require that the dog be a frog!
I move that the frog be a king
with a crown and a ring.
I ask that the king sing.
I suggest that he sing of a spring.
I urge that the spring bring a thing —
a thing that would ping!
(But the cat is a cat on a mat.
That is that. We've been here before.
That's the thing about demanding —
you demand and you demand some more!)
It is important that Pop know.
It is vital that Pop go.
It is crucial that the fish swim with a wish.
It is essential that the dish hold a fish.
It is necessary that the bee see the sea.
It is urgent that the sea be the sky.
It is imperative that the sky try.
It is recommended that the fox live in a box.
It is requested that the clocks rest —
even clocks need a nest!
If it were not for Pop,
the house would be a shop.
If the shop were a boat,
it would float — it would float!
If the boat were a moon,
we would hum a tune.
If the moon were a balloon,
we would sing to the moon.
If Pop were not Pop,
who would hop? Who would hop?
If a hop were not a hop,
it would be a — PLOP.
Were I a fish, I would wish.
Were I a wish, I would fish.
Were I Pop, I would hop.
Were I a hop, I would — POP!
Were the cat a dog,
it would jog through the fog.
Were the fog a log,
it would sit like a frog.
Were the frog a king,
it would wear a ring.
Were the ring a spring,
it would bounce — it would spring!
Lest Pop forget,
he must hop — do not let
the hopping stop
lest Pop become a mop.
Lest the cat sleep,
it must creep — it must leap,
lest the cat be a rat
in a hat on a mat.
Lest the fish drown,
it must swim — do not frown,
lest the fish be a dish
with no wish, no wish!
Now you know what these words are for.
Were is not "was" — it's something more!
And when you say "that the cat be a dog,"
you are not saying the cat is a dog.
You are saying "I want it. I wish it. I demand it."
That's the subjunctive — now you understand it!
When things are not real,
when you dream and you feel,
when you wish and you hope
and you build a big slope
that goes up to the sky
where the fish fly on by —
that's when you say were.
That's when you say would.
That's when you say "that the cat be good."
So were you a fish?
So were you a fox?
So were you the moon
in a box full of clocks?
Were you Pop,
you would hop.
Were you the hop,
you would —
POP!
The moral: In American English, the present subjunctive uses the bare verb — "that the cat be," "that Pop hop," "that the fox wear" — no -s, no -ing, just the plain verb your dreams prefer.