Traveling Troupe of Players
(When Things Go Worse)
When you show up to rehearse
remembering neither word nor verse,
it does no good to rave and curse,
to wring your hands and throw your purse;
for though your cast mates might grow terse,
just remember, it could be worse.
You could be riding in a hearse!
Bad Timing
On my birthday in July, my true love gave to me
a coupon for a ski trip and a real live Christmas tree.
Chocolates when I’m dieting, sad songs when I am gloomy.
A grand piano, though my new apartment’s not too roomy.
The week that “Save the Animals” appointed me their chair,
he bought me a new winter coat of lynx and llama hair.
He brings home ice cream in the cold, hot cocoa in the summer.
When I broke my tooth, the peanut brittle was a bummer.
Though his gifts are generous, my thanks are often mimed,
for I’m speechless over just how badly all of them are timed!
The reason why we are not wed is so hard to relate.
I had the cake, the rings, the gown. We set the time and date.
The groom showed up and waited as I walked down the aisle.
My wedding dress was finest lace, my undergarments lisle.
I’d planned each detail out with care and left no stone unturned.
Just one detail left to him–you’d think I would have learned!
For when I went to say “I do” to this man I adore,
they found our wedding license had lapsed two weeks before!
The Prompt––10,000 Spoons Tell your own verse, stanza, or story of a badly-timed annoyance.
“Absence of Malice” Judy’s Poem and Reissue of the Challenge!!!
You never told me you wanted the head of your bathtub rubber duckie attached, Mom!
Okay—the first person to answer my challenge was Marilyn Armstrong. She commented on her own Scottie named Bonnie, which made it a bit hard to construct a poem using as my first words the first words of her eight sentence essay. I actually used each of her first words twice, to enable me to construct a 16 line poem. Here it is:
I’m the owner of a Scottie.
I watch him tear around––
bonnie little terrorizer.
Terriers get around!
Which apparel did he chew up
that I wear every day?
It probably was not his fault,
most Scottie folks would say.
I’m guilty of the dumbest act.
I should have known the pup.
Bonnie little masticators,
terriers like to sup.
Which are the things they like to chew?
That is hardly recent news.
It seems that what their jaws like best
most certainly are shoes!
I’m still waiting for more entries for the challenge. Check out the quote and explanation of the prompt posted on my earlier posting HERE and post a link to your entry in my comments! If I find a juicy one on a topic other than dogs, I’ll write another poem as well, using the first word of each of your sentences as the first word in one of my lines., in order. Your entry can be a story, poem or essay.
Here is Marilyn’s comment I used to spark my poem:
“I’m glad sweet, retiring, shy little Morrie seems to be growing out of his “my jaws, the world” phase. I had one hound who never grew out of it and we lived in a state of siege for 12 years. Bonnie settled down around 2 years old, which is when most dogs seem\ to release those final gas bubbles from their funny little brains. Terriers mature slowly and stay puppy-like longer than most breeds. Which makes them terrorists — but lovable; you may WANT to strangle them, but usually wind up laughing.
That quote has worked for me in so many ways. It reminds me (often) that acts of true malice are relatively rare. Most stuff is done by accident or ignorance or just a flash of “duh” … to which, sadly, we all are prone.”
(Sorry, Marilyn. I missed this last line because it was on a separate page of my document. Since I’d already written the poem and since it would have added an extra line to the second and fourth stanzas, I didn’t go back and add it. Here is Marilyn’s last overlooked line: “But not Morrie! He’s always smart!”
√
Our Lady of Forgetfulness
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “A True Saint.” In 300 years, if you were to be named the patron saint of X, what would you like X to be? Places, activities, objects — all are fair game.
Yin and Yang
I wrote about Yin and Yang in a much earlier post that hardly any of my present followers read. Go here to read that poem: https://judydykstrabrown.com/2014/06/21/changing-lines/
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 