One thing I’d like that I will mention
is some old-fashioned attention.
The kind with no device in hand
is the kind that I can stand
better than the sort with texting—
minds caught in “before” and “next”ing—
and not a thought for whom you’re with
until I’m sure that it’s a myth
that I’m the one you want to see,
even though you have invited me.
For though our table is for two,
you bring so many more with you—
every relative and friend.
Your texts to them just never end.
Our tete a tete‘s become absurd.
I never get to speak a word!
Since I’ve discovered you’ve come to see
your smart phone as more smart than me,
there’s just one thing I’d like to state.
Please cancel our next luncheon date,
and the next time you desire a munch,
just take your iPhone out to lunch!
Category Archives: Humor
“Parting Words,” For My Vivid Blog, Aug 19, 2024
Parting Words
Before Rhett Butler went on the lam,
“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”
was his parting imprecation
before he he left on his vacation.
For My Vivid Blog the prompt is Profanity.
“My Shoes Go Out Without Me” for What Do You See Prompt, Aug 19, 2024
My Shoes
My shoes go out without me. They do it all the time,
and do the things I never do. They jog. They hike. They climb.
When I wake up I find them strewn throughout the house—
one flip flop on the counter. High heels beneath my blouse
that’s flung across the table where I don’t remember putting it.
I bet they’ve been out dancing—two-stepping and high-footing it.
When my cowboy boots go riding, I’d like to go along.
I’m pretty sure, however, they think things would go wrong.
Perhaps the horse would throw me or I’d wind up getting lost.
I’m sorry that I bought them, considering the cost!
Other people are the boss of all their clothes and shoes,
but when my shoes and I face off, I am the one to lose.
I could take to going barefoot. This would work while at the beach.
Then when all my shoes are out far beyond my reach,
into the surf I’ll wade and then wander out again,
trapping sand between my toes everywhere I’ve been.
So when my shoes get home at night, they’ll be completely clueless
that I’ve left them out as well by venturing out shoeless!
For What Do You See?
Mismatched for SOCS
Mismatched
When a certain fella has had a drink
or two or three, he’s bound to wink
at the little lady dressed in pink.
Her drink’s cubes give a subtle clink
as she decides what she might think.
Is he a stud or just a fink?
His clothes are sort of rinky-dink,
yet her long lashes, swathed in ink,
flutter in a come-on blink.
One fingernail is seen to sink
into her glass. He’s at the brink
of coming over to seal the link.
She checks her breath. It doesn’t stink.
She reaches down and dons her mink.
But then he stops and seems to shrink.
In this sure deal there seems a chink.
It’s clear that when she deigned to flirt,
she missed the writing on his shirt.
This is the message that went unread:
“Be kind to animals,” it said.
The SOCS prompt is shirt. Image by Marco Lastella
More Blather For Fibbing Friday, Aug 16, 2024
For Fibbing Friday, Aug 16, 2024 the prompts to define are:
- Ambidexter: Dexter’s answer to the gender question on his draft papers.
2. Blatherskite: What townsfolk call the cat of the town gossip.
3. Breviloquent: How one would describe a well-presented short speech.
4. Crapulence: Any speech by Donald Trump.
5. Graumangere: A dog trainer specializing in threatening dogs.
6. Grimoire: Material for a burial shroud.
7. Illaudible: Sounds heard while upchucking.
8. Podsnappery: Static heard over earbuds.
9. Poetaster: A literary cannibal.
10. Polemic: An Irish resident of the northernmost point on Earth.
“Cleaning Up” For the Three Things Challenge
Cleaning Up
Toothbrushes remove gristle from
the area we whistle from
while brooms are used to clean and prep
those surfaces whereon we step.
And lest the reader balk and bristle
o’er its lack in this epistle,
I will not overlook the mop—
that device with which we slop
water on spills of the day
we feel the need to wash away.
You may deride my need to gush
over the likes of mop, broom, brush,
but still I choose to raise a cup
to laud those things that clean me up!
The prompt words for the Three Things Challenge M786 are: bristle, broom, brush.
“Spotless” For MVB prompt: Reputation

Spotless
They say he was a bastion of the community.
Of what their youth should aim for, the exact epitome.
Mothers named their kids for him and he was so discreet,
his name labelled a shopping center and a city street.
Asked to speak at graduation, his words were most succinct.
Not one old lady fell asleep. Nobody even blinked!
Moral, staunch and upright, he was everyone’s ideal.
He always used the crosswalk. He didn’t cuss or steal.
No forensic laboratory ever had a label
or test tube or fingerprint of his upon their table.
In short, his reputation was one without besmirch.
He went to each town meeting, every Sunday, went to church.
He did not exceed the speed limit, use liquor or smoke pot.
Every single vice on earth was something he was not.
His genes were the best of genes. His relatives all lasted
at least until one hundred, and he dieted and fasted.
Ate kale and probiotics, whole grains and leafy greens.
He sponsored many charities and lived within his means.
So when he died it wasn’t from alcohol or drugs.
He did not die from violence—his own or that of thugs.
He did not perish from obesity or accident or whoredom.
In the end, they say that he simply died of boredom!
Thanks to Martha Kennedy. and ForgottenMan for contributing this cartoon.
For the My Vivid Blog prompt, Reputation
“Directionless” for SOCS, Aug 10, 2024
Directionless
I’m shipping out for northern climes, not knowing what to pack.
Am I leaving here for good or am I coming back?
One thing pulls me northwards and another bids me stay.
I really do not know what I desire from day to day.
Some call me indecisive while others call me weak
just because I do not know what it is I seek.
I need someone to point me in the right direction
since I seem unable to make my own selection.
For Fibbing Friday, Aug 9, 2024
The prompts for Fibbing Friday this week are:
As we have a fortnight of the Olympics, here are the other 10 questions in the newsletter this month. Fib away for gold my friends!
-
In which four years have the modern Olympics been cancelled? During the four years when they chose not to stage them.
-
When were women first permitted to compete in the modern Olympics? During the Second World War when all of the men chose to enter the sharp-shooting events.
-
When did the first Refugee team make its debut? When the original fugee team retired.
-
What does the Olympic motto “Citius, altius, fortius” mean? This city is impossible to fortify.
-
What do the five Olympic rings represent? Five of the seven rings of Saturn. Two had already been claimed by MasterCard.
-
Who is the most decorated modern Olympian, with 23 Olympic gold medals? Liberace
-
Which two countries discovered they had the same flag at the 1936 Olympics? Liberia and the U.S. They had an arm-wrestling match and Liberia lost, so had to remove 47 of its stars. It got to keep all its stripes.
-
At the 1908 Olympics the City of London Police team won the gold medal in which event? Bobby Sledding
-
Which city will host the Summer Olympics for the third time in 2028? Draper, South Dakota
-
Who founded the modern Olympics? I don’t believe it was ever lost.
The Ballad of Poor Molly, for SOCS, Aug 2, 2024
Poor Molly Smith was lonely sure on every weekend night.
No lover had she to insure an end to her sad plight.
She’d read of match.com and then eHarmony and others.
No more would she be chickless hen if she could have her druthers.
She took her keyboard in her hand to find a true love there,
for sparsely was the household manned of this poor maiden fair.
She put her name upon a site and waited for some word.
A day went by and then a night, but nothing had she heard.
Her profile words were erudite, written with such care.
Everything was done just right, yet no man found she there.
She started blogging all day long, “liked” members’ every word;
but still something was very wrong. She found it all absurd.
Other women found true love on OkCupid, but
no pierced heart, no cooing dove released her from her rut.
She sought her profile to imbue and stretched the truth, I fear.
Her hair turned blonde, her bust size grew, her beauty knew no peer.
She found a picture of some tart both sexy, tanned and toned.
Perhaps it wasn’t really smart, but soon a suitor phoned.
They made a date to meet for drinks, then she began to worry.
Her hair had all these ugly kinks, her upper lip was furry.
Her height was five-foot-four, not eight, her dress size twelve, not six.
How could she show up for this date? Poor Mol was in a fix.
She read his profile once again: handsome, rich and funny.
She felt a surge of pure chagrin. He’d humor, looks and money?
She printed up his profile pic and pinned it to her couch.
His skin was bronzed, his muscles thick, while she was flabby. Ouch!
She took a bottle to her hair and died it light as flax,
bought heels as high as she could dare and tummy-control slacks.
She ran three miles or more that day (or she more likely walked);
and thought about what she would say If her new suitor balked.
Could medication swell one out for twenty pounds or more?
Would he accept without a doubt this apologetic lore?
The time grew short. She bathed and fussed and straightened out her hair.
Her body girdled, squeezed and trussed––to sit she didn’t dare.
She’d take a bus and spend the ride standing in the aisle.
The acid churning her inside was turning into bile.
She grabbed her purse and locked the door and sprinted for the bus.
Her girdle crawled an inch or more. It made her want to cuss.
She tugged it down, got on the bus and tried to stand erect.
One way out of all this muss would be to have a wreck!
The driver drove with extra care to take her to her meal.
Yet when she wobbled down the stair, she broke one three-inch heel.
By then her hair had kinked again, her girdle slowly rose.
She had peroxide on her chin and also on her nose.
She almost left, gave in to doubt; but then she stopped to think.
Her curiosity won out. She’d stay for just one drink.
She saw him just as soon as she had entered in the door.
He was tall and golly, gee, was handsome, fit and more!
She ducked into the ladies room to tame her crazy hair
and contemplate upcoming doom. What an unlikely pair!
Then gathered all her courage up and went to meet her fate.
She’d have a drink, forget the sup and end this nightmare date.
She walked right up and tapped his arm and said his name,”Dupree?”
And when he turned, his look was warm, but he said, “That isn’t me.”
She felt a touch upon her hair and turned to find out who
or what had deigned to touch her where she’d recently changed hue.
A little man about her height, really cute, but chubby, too,
was chuckling with all his might and looking at her shoe.
“What in heaven happened to you?” he asked, and then he snatched
and snapped the heel right off her shoe so both of her heels matched.
“My name’s Dupree,” he said, “You’re you. I’d know you anywhere.
You’re tall and slim, your eyes are blue, your hair is straight and fair.
I hope you’re not too mad at my prevaricating way.
I’m really not too bad a guy no matter what they say.
I know I stretched the truth a bit. Not all I say is true,
but how else would I find a fit with such a babe as you?”
She went into the ladies room and slipped out of her girdle.
The date foreseen with dread and gloom was not the foretold hurdle.
They ate four courses, then one more. They laughed and traded quips.
He drove her home right to her door and kissed her on the lips!
Now Molly’s nest is feathered. Of chicks, she numbers three.
And Dupree is firmly tethered with Molly on his knee.
For SOCS prompt: Poor






