Fire and Ice

* * *

100325

ANAGRIM

Someone has evil
in his very name
and can't veil his breath:
a vile, live, evil flame.


100324

FIRST TEN HITS

I feel so stressed.
I feel so behind.
I feel so old.
I feel so empty.
I feel so stalked.
I feel so good.
I feel so unloved.
I feel so accomplished!
I feel so…….down.
I feel so badddd.

[ASIDE: Random Twitters.]


100323

SLICK

Our foot of snow arrived quickly,
sandwiched between layers of sleet.

Taking in the scene this morning,
I decide: “Any exercising done today
will be done indoors.”
Then I notice sparrows, exercising
their fruitless search for food.

So, in boots, nightie,
and borrowed husband's robe
(husband's borrowed robe, that is),
I trek outside to a the crest of the lawn,
carrying a dishtowel
and a mixing bowl filled with
breadcrumbs, cereal, and seeds.

To free my hands before spreading
the towel on the icy surface,
I set the bowl down—and down it goes:
down the knoll, down a rut in the long
winding driveway and, from there,
whirling and bobsledding,
down the street toward the lake.

My trek just became extended
and my exercise decision un-decided.


* * *

Snow Days with Pirates

* * *

100322

WHITE LAWN

The lady
drops
her handkerchief.

The gentlemen
watch,
cold and stiff.

[ASIDE: Mother Nature brought a foot of snow;
menfolk immobilized.]


100321

UNSEASONED

Flinging snow like an apprentice,
Mother Nature came, this solstice,
like some newbie, fool, or novice;
some amateur in need of practice.


100320

WHAT MAE BE

Mae West was well blessed
with what let's call a chest.
And here is something more—

“Mae West” as "life vest"
started out as simile,
became a metaphor,
then turned so eponymous
they’re practically synonymous.

[ASIDE: Wisdom House challenge entry]


100319

STUCK BECAUSE NOT

What is missing?
I have no clue—
except one thought:
my life needs glue.


100318

VISITED

Do you suppose Mary
went around
explaining to the neighbors
what God had wrought,
so as to not
scandalize them or
keep them in the dark?

Do you suppose
we neighbors now
are being made privy
to miracles gestating
in the Marys and Magdalenes
next door or down the block?


100317

THE USUAL

Feeling
unusually glad—
about feeling glad,
as usual.


100316

INSTRUMENTAL

By reading, I know
words can ring—
as, on your stage,
mine dance and sing.


100315

PILING ON

Oh, by the way,
this day of Caesar-cide
(this Ides of March and “Brutus Day”)
now coincides
with “Buzzard Day.”

Well, to my mind—
the birds are much maligned.


100314

PIRATE TECHNICS

Pirates have at their disposal,
as they plunder on the sea,
quite a number of choices
in arsenals of weaponry:

flashing swords and gashing knives
(of which they’re such aficionados);
cannonballs, canisters, stinkballs, and mines;
pomegranate-shaped hand grenados;
blunderbusses, muskets, and musketoons,
plus pistols of every description;
fire-arrows, torches, rockets, and flares.
These all must be used with discretion.

Their best measure
is to seize without a fight.

Fire backfires—
they lose treasure
when they set a ship alight.


100313

REFLECTION

All my parts I daily meet
(the ones that meet my eye)
are slender: arms, hands, wrists;
my calves below the thigh.

“Envision,” say my diet books;
learn to “Think yourself thin!”
Well, were it not for mirrors,
I would think myself thin.


100312

JUST JOY

Joy, joy, joy!

Just joy I find—
Someone’s playing
with my mind.


* * *

Joy and Pain

* * *

100311

"O’ WAD SOME POWER"

Hello, again, everyone.

I am happy to report
that my 24-hour lipstick does,
in fact, adhere for the duration.

I have learned to apply it
without resorting to a mirror
and (thanks to a bulletin I received
just moments ago), I can attest that
it adheres equally well to teeth.


100310

CRAMMED

Hurry, hurry,
don’t be late!

There’s no room
to ruminate.


100309

FISHY

I only looked;
he was a winker.

When he said
we would wed,
he had me hooked—
lyin' stinker!


WHY?

"Where is the city?
I hear that it's pretty,"
the chicken asked the road.

"Several miles north,"
the road sent her forth.
But road was just trickin'
and so the plot thickens.

Why did the road
cross the chicken?


100308

MORNIN’, SUN!

Hello,
my mellow
yellow fellow!


EXERCISED

Check me out—
can anyone tell,
do you suppose?

I feel like I smell!

What?
With your nose?


100307

PEST ASIDE

Just a comment:
I haven't thought it through,
but I suspect
some awful trade's been made;
that you earn your life
by signing on
as God's assassin;
that he doesn't do his own
dirty work.


DAILY REVOCATION

from sleep sublime,
dawn pries my mind—I rise

then comes the crime—I fall
back in; back into time


100306

COMMON QUEST

to make play pay
but still stay play


100305

INCREMENTAL

Major griefs
from minor beefs—

how they load us;
those petty hurts
we never used to notice.


* * *

Grammar of Friendship

* * *

100304

"NATIONAL GRAMMAR DAY" LIMERICK

There might come a time when I were.
This sounds almost wrong; I concur.
But, in grammar school,
subjunctive rules rule;
I’d be smart if I “were” to defer.

[ASIDE: This was done for a contest with a short deadline.
But I got caught away from the computer and wasn't able to
submit it on time.]


BELATED CARD

I may have forgotten your birthday AGAIN!
. . . and I may forget next year (it’s WHEN?)
but you’re on my mind most of the time
and I’m thrilled just to call you my FRIEND.


100303

FACILITATOR

She has no hesitation
to express her point of view.
She has no doubt we love her—
and so, no doubt, we do.


100302

TWITTER-TIME

Your words—so funny, sweet, and wise—
often fill me with surprise.
Greetings, all you Tweetie-Pies!


* * *

091227

COMPANIONS

Feeling lonely.
Feeling feeble.
Feeling lost and glum.

Lady Bug and Scarab Beetle—
how kind of you to come.

[ASIDE: December poem notes found and edited]


* * *

Birds and Bard (Dr. Seuss)

* * *

100302

THEODORABLE (for Carrie)

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

To you, I raise a glass of juiess,
saluting what your words prodeuss—
fun and joy that tame abeuss.
Thank you, Engine! Signed, Cabeuss.


PORTAL

When you choose
an opposite way;
when you lose your bearings,
all that you bear, and all
that has borne you;
when you cast yourself out—
as you exit the city gate, notice.

The little bird
hidden in the bush
beside your path
still sings for you
its melody of kindness.


100301

CONSIDER THE BIRDS

Consider the birds;
their value is immense.
Consider the world
with no insect defense.

One recent spring
bugs arrived early,
birds arrived late—
an incipient pestilence
slow to abate.

Consider the world
with yearly such springs.
Consider the world
with no birds in the wings.


“CATHARTES AURA”

When is a buzzard
not a buzzard?
When it never was!
(That’s the buzz. )

Europeans decry our
lack of orni-culture.
Hawk, they claim, is buzzard.
(Our buzzard is their vulture.)


* * *

Out of Time

* * *

100228

SUPPOSE NO ROSE (for Cory)

Strip it from all referents.
Eliminate its liaison to love.
Erase its scent.
Remove all that it does.

Suppose it never was.

The question this will pose:
“What is ode to rose?”


100227

TSUNAMI, TRIVIA

Time keeps everything
from happening at once;
prevents collapse, disaster.

To judge by Twitter’s
speed and range—time’s
running out, and faster.


EPITAPH 2

Genesis.
Exodus.
Acts.
Lamentations.
Revelation.
Proverbs.


100226

EPITAPH 1

Crayon.
Pencil.
Pen.
Typewriter.
Computer.
Tombstone.

[ASIDE: This is a variation of a poem I wrote awhile back.
This one is for a publisher’s contest: write your life story in 6 words.]


DDUUEETT

Cross-eyed, I have
four hands, so that—
solo on my keyboard—
I can play duet.


* * *

Peace, Prize

* * *

100225

THAT WOULD TAKE THE PRIZE

Would it be legitimate, when it arrives,
to drench it in water?

I opted for a white woman's
over a black man's
(both are crew neck).
It was awarded by a publishing house
for best self-help book title spoof,
which I won with:
"The Tao of Bliss – What Doesn't
Thrill You Makes You Wronger."

How I'd like, at my age,
to tell the nieces and nephews
that I won a wet t-shirt contest.


100224

POET’S DAY OFF

Self-help book title spoofs, instead of poems.
Last on the list won a t-shirt prize from the
contest sponsor, a publishing house:

Cereal Thriller – Live with Flair on Vegan Fare
Intuitive Time Management – Thinking Outside the Clocks
Perfectionism Rescue – The Ins and Outs of Over and Above
Stop That Teesing! – Help Eradicate T-Shirt Prize Contests
Order Up! – How to Successfully Demand Results from Your Higher Power
Guru Guru – Becoming a Self-Help Expert Expert
Taiwan On! – Dealing with the Taipei Personality
Soulmate Salvage – Correcting the Very Traits You Used to Adore
Stop That Teesing! – Help Eradicate T-Shirt Prize Contests
The Tao of Bliss – What Doesn't Thrill You Makes You Wronger


100223

PEACE POME

☮ is good. ✌ is ✍.
Like the ❂, ☮ is bright.

❆ or rain, day or ♘,
I ♥ to ✏ of ✌ and light.

~ ツO


100222

BUZZARD LADY

Buzzard Lady is my role.
Don’t put me in a pigeon hole.


100221

GOODBYE AND GOOD LUCK

Well, it's bad news
for all you six-plus billion souls
who'll have to run your own lives,
now that I've opted out
of that responsibility.
(I was told it was never mine
to begin with, but don't we all wish
I'd found out sooner!)


100220

CHARMER

So cute a pixie
it's hard not to give hugs,
sporting short hair, blue jeans,
tunic and Ugghs.


P-O-E-T-R-Y

I try.
I fail, and fail again.

I fail. Again I try.

I will not quit;
will not admit
defeat.

I will—
like my endeavor—
end in “T-R-Y.”


100219

SPEAKING OF ODD!

No takers for my
buzzard speech—
how bu-ZZARD is that?


RELATIVE TIME

One week ago,
our fledgling finch
was pushed out of the nest.

Today he sits
three new-laid eggs
with the adults—
who would have guessed?


100218

PEAK EXPERIENCE

I told the seer, "I'm here to hear.
How can I make my dreams appear?"

"Cure conscious and unconscious fear.
What you want is very near;
get clear of fear to bring it here."

"My days, dear Seer, are growing drear;
how do I get my fears to clear?"

"Afraid I don't know," smiled the seer
with genuine and gentle cheer.
"Come and ask again next year."


HUNGRY, BABE!

When I see you
through my night vision goggles
taking out your garbage,
I can see you,
Babe, on night missions—slogging,
staking out our forage.


[ASIDE: TWITTER 2/12/10 - MichaelATerry: RT @GhostPanther:
Has there ever been a romantic poem that begins "When I see you
through my night vision goggles taking out your garbage..." ]


* * *