Category Archives: Poem

Period of Adjustment (Can of Worms)

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Period of Adjustment
(Can of Worms)

Even the giants of the ocean must come up to find air.
As the bell sounds and each of us is off to a new table,
it is another indication of the extent of our sanity.
Memories like this reveal the boy within the man,
enough so you can handle caring for a pup—
a tight knot in her cushy denim bed just a yard away.
Those are traits she got from you, and certainly not me—
a  small-town landlocked jungle girl.

But if you lay off my breakfast, I’ll cook you your own waffle!
I guess I’ll go eat worms.
(If he’s the one I married, you can bet that he can buy them,)
By the time I’m twenty, I’ll grow out of it­­,
our break mended by a solid golden band,
and we can dine on  tunafish straight out of a can!!!
Little foibles seen in review.
And though our story is not over,
for now this is “The End!”

For dVerse Poets, we were to take the last lines of twelve of our poems and to create a poem out of them.  Yes, mine is a “bit” strange, but then so were all of the poems I took them from. Blame it on the prompt words. I always do.

Disgruntled

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Disgruntled

When I try to crack the whip and get the world in line,
somehow it turns fractious and starts to buck and whine.
Electrons turn to protons and refuse to whirl about.
The sun refuses to come out and stays inside to pout.

Berries stain my shirt front and seeds stick in my teeth.
Feral felines storm my bed and find solace beneath.
Friends offer consolation that is but a token.
There is little impact in the words that they have spoken.

If only things would go the way I’ve formed them in my mind,
there would be fewer problems in his daily grind;
but the world won’t listen and goes about its day
with very little interest in what I have to say.

No one will believe me when I say that I’ve evolved
to the point where the world’s problems I have mainly solved.
They go about their business like before I came along,
doing things without me and doing most things wrong.

They prefer those idiots who have run the Earth
slowly bleeding all of us as they increased their girth.
So until the world at large decides to meet my terms
and decide to love me, I guess I’ll go eat worms!!!!

Prompt words today are electron, token, fractious, impact, stain. I know I need a new disgruntled photo as I’ve maybe overused this one, but it’s a busy day and  this one just seems to work, so….

Kintsugi (Reunited)

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Kintsugi (Reunited)

Our break mended by a solid golden band.

The prompt for “My Vivid Blog” today is kintsugi.Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold. The kintsugi-mended bowl photo is by Matt Perkins on Unsplash.

Warm Heart

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Warm Heart

The small dogs are still warm from their day’s exertion
curled into balls—one at my feet above the covers,
the other, too small or timid to leap up to the bed,
a tight knot in her cushy denim bed just a yard away.

For the dVerse Poets Quadrille prompt, the subject this week is warmth.

To see the prompt and to read some wonderful poems on the subject of warmth, go here:https://dversepoets.com/2022/11/28/dverse-quadrille-165-warmly/

Men in Trees

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Men in Trees

If you took an expedition to my favorite tree,
you’d find it’s convoluted as a tree can be.
It’s encrusted with lichen, but I’ve found that for a fee
an ornamental arborist can scrape it lichen-free.
They’ll do artful jobs of trimming off the deadwood if they’re hired
   by removing extra branches that look too dried-out and tired.

And if those earmarked branches contain nests of birds, perchance,
I’ve heard the trimmers merely move them to another branch.
In defense of ecology, no single squirrel has died
in this trimming of the branches, for they are safe inside,
nestled most securely with their babies and their kin,
thankful for the tree hollows that they take shelter in.

Prompt words today are lichen, convoluted, expedition, defense, and tired.

Ocean Truths

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Ocean Truths

The oceans teem with sterling fish that stream above the sands,
working their ways through currents beyond the landward strands.
Particles of plankton sift down through the brine
giving all the silver streaks something on which to dine.

Stingy bit by stingy bit unites to make a feast,
for tiny flashing fish up to the ocean’s largest beast
that slams the surface of the sea to leap into a scene
far above the plankton that streams through its baleen.

Since those depths that nourish it do not provide breath,
that which brings it life may also bring it death.
So while tiniest fishes float safe within their lair,
the giants of the ocean must come up to find air.

 

Prompt words today are sterling, work, particle, teem, slam, stingy. Image by Todd Cravens on Unsplash.

Childhood Games

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Childhood Games

Hide-and-seeker, breathing hard, pressed up against the ledge,
her tracker stealing closer around the garden hedge.
“Allie-allie-oxen-all-in-all-in-free”
releases other hiders from behind rock and tree.

Boys and girls together, playing a childhood game.
He tosses up a basketball, showing off his aim.
She braids a dainty daisy chain and lays it on his head.
He shakes it off and tosses it to ring her locks instead.

Each meadow is a jungle, each brook a raging sea
within these childhood cravings, these yearnings to run free.
That house they think is haunted and face with certain dread—
will entry show an empty room or the walking dead?

Some pleading not to open it, others saying, “pull!”
with excitement and with terror, their hearts equally full,
thrilled with excitations or with terrors fraught,
opposite emotions crowd their every thought.

Do you not remember when you felt the same?
How many other childhood games are you able to name?
Red Rover and Parcheesi, Jacks and Kick-the-can—
memories like this reveal the boy within the man.

Prompt words for the Sunday Whirl Wordle # 580 are: ledge dead chain boys doors will crave sea free games steal

Open to Doubt (The Breakfast Caper)

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Waffle

Open to Doubt
(The Breakfast Caper)

Your dubitable alibi concerning the French toast
that vanished when I turned my back to play the perfect host
and pour you one more coffee is hard for me to swallow
That the kitten snatched it simply doesn’t follow.

The rhythm of your fingernails moving on the table
betrays your anxiety concerning your small fable.
The kitten looks so innocent and you’re the one that’s doing
all that heavy swallowing and that excessive chewing.

When I served the French toast, I made sure to give you four,
and give myself two slices, because I had no more.
So, to steal my slices was surely in poor taste,
not to mention how you might have choked in all your haste.

So, while I’m cooking me a waffle and pouring me the dregs
of this pot of coffee, please don’t commandeer my eggs!
I find your manners lacking and your ethics purely awful,
but if you lay off my breakfast, I’ll cook you your own waffle!

 

Prompt words today are moving, anxiety, alibi, dubitable, rhythm and French toast. (Images from Unsplash.)

Grandpa’s Stories

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Grandpa’s Stories

She smelled of gin and jasmine and was a lovely sight,
with her intricate maneuvers as she engineered her flight
out the back door of the restaurant and then over the hill
to escape the sure appearance of her dinner bill.
The leadership of angels led me on my quest
to pursue over hill and dale with muffler and with vest,

for it was a winter evening, swathed in ice and frost,
and I feared that she would freeze or at the very least, get lost.
When I found her in the forest, I offered her the garment,
told her that I’d paid her bill and kicked the snarling varmint
that dashed at her from bushes, and therefore saved her life
and that is how I came to meet up with my wife!

I’ve guarded her from varmints and paid her bills since then,
kept her warm and safe and supplied her with her gin.
You know her now as Grannie, old and soft and pale,
but you should know your grandma was not always so frail.
When you go out partying, feeling wild and free,
those are traits you got from her, and certainly not me!!!

Prompt words today are frost, offer, leadership, intricate, bill and jasmine. I never knew either of my grandpas, but if I had, I hope they would have told silly stories like this one!!

Coco’s Tale

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Coco’s Tale

This frisky little mongrel, rescued off the street,
jumped up at once to greet me and wove around my feet.
We were meant to be together, I thought. What better proof
than her goofy antics—her lick and growl and woof?

I didn’t need another dog. My friends would all concur.
In my home there was no lack of yowl and bark and purr.
Would a new arrival agree with dog and cat?
Would my spectacular surprise fizzle and fall flat?

Would Morrie accept her? Would Zoe object?
Would the cats say “That’s enough!” and finally defect?
I had no proof that she’d fit in, and yet part of the weaving
together of a family is in the believing.

That potent pull of heartstrings exchanged at the first glance
somehow won over reason, so I thought I’d take the chance.
When we got into the car, she jumped up on my lap,
curled herself into a ball and took a little nap.

Cats hissed at her arrival and approached her fully armed,
so her feline siblings clearly were not charmed!
But to Zoe and to Morrie, she is a long-lost friend,
and though our story is not over, for now this is “The End!”

 

I’ve had a terrible bronchial infection for the past two weeks and indications are that I’m allergic to Coco. I tried making Zoe and Coco sleep out in the doggie domain with Morrie, but they cried for two hours, so they are back inside but somehow, Coco seems to realize my problem and she has shifted from sleeping right beside my neck to getting as far away from my face as possible while still touching me, so she sleeps pressed up against my leg, knee to ankle, or with her chin over my foot.  Zoe has switched down to sleep in her own little bed right next to the bed. Fingers crossed that this will work. They are so dear. Zoe and Coco are constant companions and Morrie sometimes joins in the chase. I feel bad, knowing he is missing Diego, so I’ve been putting the girls out all day to keep him company and sometimes he sleeps on a comfy lawn chair right outside my bedroom door that I leave cracked a bit so the dogs can get out if they need to.  Peaceable kingdom. The cats still don’t like the new intruder, but they have their own safe area out in front that is not accessible to the dogs.

Prompt words today are spectacular, concur, believing, potent, proof and exchange.