Blogger’s Lament
I do not want to bait a hook,
do the dishes, write a book.
Don’t wake at 6 or make my bed.
Most of my time’s spent in my head.
In two weeks, I’ll be seventy-one,
so when all is said and done,
I’ve earned the right to just obsess
on what I wish to. I confess
I’m up at eight or nine or ten,
with laptop or with notes and pen,
fulfilling all my blogging jobs,
and I must say that there are gobs
of prompt sites since
(and here I wince)
WordPress quit, thereby unleashing
scads of prompt sites without teaching
Mr. Linky or other ways
to try to ease our blogging days.
Now hours are spent just trying to
link up to that frog that’s blue
or finding where the prompt is hidden
even after we’ve been bidden
to come post on someone’s site.
So what was once our day’s delight
now seems more like one of those things
that paid employment always brings.
What once called out for “More time, more!”
now seems to me to be a chore.
It’s 2 p.m. and still I’m writing,
complaining, whining, jotting, citing
all the woes that blogging brings,
so why don’t I do other things?
Pot some plants or solve that pile
that’s filled the table for awhile
of bills, old poems––a dish of butter?
What’s that doing in the clutter?
Needless to say, I have a life
apart from blogging’s stressful strife.
Yet at 1:30, still at the keys,
lunch by my side, cat on my knees,
not quite through with all my griping,
but still typing, typing, typing.
Because in spite of present ills,
there is a space that blogging fills.
It’s friends for whom you need not dress
to turn to in your worst duress
to brag, to rage or to confess,
and they could never ever guess
what you look like, what you’re wearing
or that you’re slightly over-bearing.
Blogs are one great soapbox where
you don’t have to comb your hair
before you mount the stage to say
what you want to say, the way
you want to say it, every day.
And so, though I won’t eat tomatoes,
polish windows, peel potatoes,
walk the dog or trim the trees,
I will do just as I please.
Don’t do pilates. Don’t do jogging.
All I gladly do is blogging!
Dear Newepicauthor. Since I wrote this poet for all bloggers trying to fulfill all the prompts, I think it is appropriate to all. So I’m trying out your list to see if it will work for me. Hope you don’t mind!
Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Sunday Writing Prompt – Teachers, for thehouseofbailey Destination Dreams Scotts Daily Prompt Gift, for Sheryl’s A New Daily Post Word Prompt: Languorous, for Daily Addictions by rogershipp prompt Disaster, for FOWC with Fandango – Literally, for Martha Kennedy Ragtag Community Antediluvian, for Teresa’s Haunted Wordsmith Three Things Challenge, where the three prompt words are “grandmother, daisy and wolf” and for Tales From the Mind of Kristian Word Prompt Moiety and for Swimmers the New Community Pool prompt – Clouds.
I feel very over-prompted too. It’s all going to fall apart soon. Life is about to take over and then, I shall do what I can when i can.
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I am tempted to do them all
But „me time“ would then break its rule
Golden oldies aged seventy-one
Enjoy the blogging to have their fun
But I do not have the time to fob
When blogging becomes a full time job
I have family to feed and windows to clean
So please excuse me for being mean
One daily prompt is really enough
And I leave it to you to deal,with the stuff
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You must have read Cat in the Hat an awful lot of times.
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Today is magical on my WordPress reader posts. I’m so moved and awed by so many. Is it astrological? Serendipitous? Or just grace. This piece rocks.
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Reblogged this on NANMYKEL.COM and commented:
Had to reblog this gem.
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Thanks, Nan…
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Very clever! We have a saying “You cannot put all your cheese in one blintz,” but you’ve managed to do just that – cover all prompts in one delightful poem. Brava, Judy!
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I love your culinary truisms, Dolly!!
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Is this a put down or a compliment?
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Compliment.
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LOL I hope you are not taking me seriously, Judy! BTW, I pingbacked you on this one.
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I always take you seriously, Dolly, your words to me are law!!!
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Murphy law?
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I thought you captured the art of blogging and the factors that drive us to play with words on a daily basis. Thanks for sharing with us.
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Thanks, Michael.
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You covered a lot of bases with this one post and I, for one, can relate.
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I imagine you can. I’ve been gone since 3:30 so need to go check out how your prompt did today..
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Don’t sweat it, Judy. Just do your best. And when you’re tired, have a rest.
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Pingback: Alisia’s Quinoa Salad – koolkosherkitchen
I loved this writing, I completely agree. It is hard to find the right way to ping. I have no luck with either frog, green or blue!😳😎
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Copy the URL of the post you want to link from the browser bar. Go to the prompt page and click on the frog. Three bars come up. Paste the URL of your blog into the first. The second should type the name of the post again. Alter it if you wish. Type your email into the third bar. It will show you a selection of photos.. ones it finds in that blog. Click the photo you want them to show, check the two boxes at the very bottom that are okays for cookies or whatever.. I forget. The click the Post or OKay or whatever button is there, lower right hand, and it should post. I think a bar shows up asking if you want to see the Mr. Linky post. Click on it and it will show you all the people who have posted.
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love it. And that butter!
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Ha. Must admit I had to go get that butter from the kitchen just to illustrate the poem! The rest was as is.
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I love this! Reblogging now
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Reblogged this on CrapPile and commented:
Not a poetry fan, but it’s about blogging. That speaks for itself
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Brilliant poem. I’m new to the word prompt community. In at the deep end it seems 😀
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Thanks, Marie. Keep blogging and keep coming back to read me!!!
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Yes, yes I will, thank you 🙂
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I like this! Ever since The Daily Post is gone, I wonder if there’d still be people who’ll read my blog and I’m like the most (I believe) who are looking for prompts and community pools and I’m glad I found yours through Swimmers!
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Thanks, Baby Ruth. On her blog, Cee has a list of prompt sites. You should check it out. None of them have as many followers as the Daily Post did, but some have a long list of followers already. Check it out.
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Thanks for the info, I will!
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I wish I knew how to ‘teach Mr. Linky” ! It is so much neater and easier to find the blogs when the ole frog is used!
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Very enjoyable I like to promptmash or prompt smash. Alot
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Does that mean write to prompts? Me, too. Gets the juices flowing.
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Yes it does I combined pronpts a lot lately in timed writings, got interesting results
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I’ve been doing the same. Fun to see what direction they lead you in.
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