Tag Archives: Word of the Day

Imitating Grandma

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Imitating Grandma

In my grandma’s pleasant house,
dressed up in her peasant blouse,
a towel stuffed in to form a lump
to imitate her dorsal hump,
I tried to imitate her waddle
and her propensity to dawdle,
offering morsels from her cookie jar,
as she watched me from afar.

With not a filament of shame,
I went about my childish game,
beaming as I played the gimp,
miming her arthritic  limp.
In my innocent portrayal
was the cruelest betrayal.
The family knew the shame was mine,
but as I toddled down the line

of people who filled up the room,
I gloried to the cheerful boom
of Grandma’s laugh as she piped up
to save this youngest clueless pup
from the shame I might have felt
if she had not approached and knelt
down next to me, gathering in
this cruel mime, absolving sin.

And though I thought the final line
would surely be a quip of mine,
aping her halting foreign speech
as I tried to avoid her reach,
she gathered me in loving hug
and giving an indulgent shrug,
said, “Forgive her, for she’s only three
and gets her sense of humor from me!”

 

Prompts today are dawdle, (love that word) mine, peasant, filament, morsel, beaming and portrayal. Image from the internet.

Open Range

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Open Range

Most cowboys are beef-witted. They ride the open range
decrying life in cities, avoiding any change.

They scan the far horizon to detect changes in the weather—
rain or hail or funnel clouds and speculating whether

to move the herd to shelter, making noises that will soothe them,
wondering if moves down towards the south draw might behoove them.

Their horses part the tall grass like a boat might part the sea.
Their lives out in the open are kitchen and bathroom-free.

They cook over a campfire and when it’s time to pee,
they mosey over yonder where no one else can see.

Prompt words for today are: bathroom, speculating, beef-witted,  noises  and   boat,

 

I decry the usual definition of beef-witted and hereby expand its definition. I’m presently in South Dakota at my town and school reunion. Plenty of cowboys here and in fact I took this photo a number of years ago on main street  at another town reunion.

Nomenclatural Revenge

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Nomenclatural Revenge

My repulsive nickname is an affront to my pride.
Whoever might have coined it most assuredly has lied.
When I queried who the rascal was, the usual rumor was
that nasty girl Rebecca, and the reason was because

I was dating Walter, the one she lusted for,
but who, because he prefers me, continues to ignore
the bodacious Rebecca, remaining in my arms
just because he prefers my  considerable  charms.

In spite, that bitch Rebecca says the name “Clock Face” should fit
because my face has passing time written all over it!
So I have coined a name for her. I’m going to call her “Lips”
for all the food  passed through them that’s recorded on her hips!

Kiss-off, Rebecca!

 

Prompts today are clock face, bodacious, query, rumor.First image by Glen Hodson on Unsplash. Second photo by me.

Wet Alibi

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Wet Alibi

Two thunderous bolts of lightning split the midnight sky.
No one was here to hear them. Only the dogs and I.
The priggish cats were nestled in a knot deep in their bed,
stomach against stomach, inverted tail to head.

Rain fell down in buckets. Lights flickered off and back,
then off again and all the world descended into black.
When some derelict wiring succumbed to the first drop,
I tried to phone a report  to the electricity cop,

but not a person answered at the guard house or Con Ed,
so I finally accepted that the whole world had gone dead.
No wifi meant no internet. No music. No TV.
A twelve-hour outage led to nil blogging activity.

And that is why the phone just rang with an inquiry.
Forgottenman was wondering what had become of me.
Was I not going to post? So I hastened to the job.
The lights are on. It’s time to feed the hungry blogster mob!


True story, all of it., except for the poetic license of calling the Mexican electrical commission (CFE)  Con Ed.  The rhyme, you know….Over 16 hours without electricity. My story and I’m sticking to it. Actually, half of the house was in brownout and the rest totally without electricity. Evidently this was an area-wide outage, but just in spots. All the houses around me were dark. Below me there were lights and this was true in all the villages along the lake. Weird.

Check out this post if you want to see some hard rain: https://judydykstrabrown.com/2020/08/17/sudden-hard-rain/

 

Prompt words today are thunderous,  active, derelict, prig,
accept.

Revolt at Walmart

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Revolt at Walmart

Give us the proper rebate if you want us to behave.
We have our coupons in our hands and we’re not going to cave.
It is not iniquity to ask for what you’re due.
Accede to our demands or we’re going to mount a coup.

So what if it’s a misprint in the paper? Not our fault.
Produce what you offered, for we’re not going to halt.
Although you say to honor it would amount to a steal,
20 for 1 seems to us a reasonable deal!

Prompt words for the day are proper, beam, rebate, iniquity and behave.

Disclaimer

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Disclaimer

He epitomizes henpecked. He’s disheveled and confused.
It’s monstrous the degree to which this househusband’s abused.
I’d be concerned except, you see, they’re only playing house
and it is my three-year-old who plays at being spouse.

I don’t know where she gets it, for her pattern can’t be me.
I am the perfect paragon in our family.
But since it’s also true that monkeys do as monkeys see,
it must be that she gets it from the movies or TV.

 

Prompt words for today are dishevel, henpecked, concern, epitomize and monstrous.

A Tyke Named Stormy

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A Tyke Named Stormy

He’s not your standard toddler. He’s a variant of the norm.
On rainy days he’d rather be out in the raging storm,
splashing through the mud puddles on his trusty trike
or trudging through small rivulets on a block-long hike.

When standard kids all huddle inside beside the fire,
he loves to face the bracing wind and plod through muddy mire.
I’d say he’s climate versatile. He’s game for any weather.
He likes to be out in the wild, free from any tether.

Most kids aren’t predictable, but this one surely is.
At dealing with bad weather, he surely is a whizz.
If any person can predict, I think for sure I can.
Some years hence, I think he’d make a perfect weatherman!

Prompt words today are versatile, standard, hike, hence and variant.

Zoe the Despoiler

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Zoe the Despoiler

My little canine daughter is inimitably bold.
She cannot be deterred by a censure or a scold.
When her goal is purloined plastic bags or Yolanda’s mop,
it does no good to tell her that it’s time for her to stop.
She browses for the perfect thing for her to steal,
then if it seems it will not make a satisfying meal,
it might be good for chewing, so she’ll add it to her stash.
Not one of us is equal to her thirty meter dash.
She thrives on such purloining. Can we blame it on her age?
With luck, it’s a preliminary temporary stage!!!

Prompts today are inimitable, little, browse, thrive and daughter. Just like any toys that make their way out of her bed, Zoe was intent on dragging her new mop toy back to her favorite place of repose.

 

Stealing plastic bags
Dragging the mop from the kitchen to where it belongs–her bed.

 Click on photos to enlarge.

Beach Morning

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Beach rocks Sherry swam to
A closer view
Sherry nearly to shore
New arrival via raft from one of the offshore yachts. Trying to get free from his flotation device.
Thanks, Mom
Doggie camaraderie.
The beach house
Sunset partiers
Morning visitors.
Our friends’ beach house
Beach decor
Beach walking
Living room
Back patio
Dining room
Front garden of beach house
Poolside visitors
View to the north from “our” deck.
Offshore rocks in zoom.
Sherry’s flipper

Click on photos to enlarge and read captions.

These photos are all out of sequence and Word Press seems to have changed things so I can no longer put them in the order that they occurred. The last photo is of Sherry’s flipper as she swam back to join us at the beach restaurant. I’ve spent two hours trying to get the photos in sequence and another half hour with WP tech help to no avail. If anyone reading this knows of a more writer-friendly platform for blogs, please let me know. So sorry that Word Press is getting progressively more non-cooperative.

Beach Morning

Fear of contact with that first cold wave keeps me lingering in bed this second morning at the beach. I can hear the surf that pounds the beach just ten yards from the garden wall of the house where I am staying for a week with friends. If they manage to rouse me from my warm nest, we’ll probably walk again down the beach to sit at a table at the Playa Azul to await Sherry’s return from her long swim to the offshore island and back. She resists the group swim that will take place later, the participants attached to floats on their backs to ward off overenthusiastic speed boaters  who otherwise might stray too close, forgetful of the fact that other humans traverse these waters unencumbered by craft. It is her opinion that this daily journey is best accomplished in private, face to the water, snorkel fins flopping like friendly pats upon the ocean’s surface, as if to beat a friendly reminder that someone is about to visit.

Every January and February (and sometimes March) for years, I stood in these same waters, closer to shore, doing my thousand exercises while fighting the waves–lifting on their inward journey to land, feet settling again to sand on their outward pull back out to sea. Having nearly drowned once long before while Kayaking the Rogue River in Oregon, I preferred water with the security of a firm surface under my feet, even if it was just at intervals.  What snorkeling adventures I have participated in since that near-fatal water adventure have included a boat within swimming distance, and so sitting here with longtime friends, discussing past adventures and writing and those other beach visitors that walk past us on the beach, I can’t help but keep an eye peeled for a view of Sherry’s flippers, flopping into view a mile or so away across the water, circling the small island, moving away from the sailboat that veers in her direction.

She will return to land, removing her false frog feet, shaking water from her second skin, to join us for coffee and hotcakes and eggs, chilaquiles or breakfast burritos, orange juice and papaya. Joined together again in the most communal of activities–a shared meal–we will again be united by those activities we share: laughter, tall tales, plans for the day, watching beach dogs, memories of past camaraderie, shared absent friends, plans for the rest of the day. This vacation at the beach after two years’ absence is a balm that soothes my soul and makes me thankful for this day, in spite of the future that might await us due to those others who guide the fate of the world. This day, this hour, the minute behind us and those long minutes in front of us are ones of our own making, and they are perfect.

Prompt words today are fear, opinion, forgetful and cold wave.

Be Careful What You Wish For

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Be Careful What You Wish For

The sky was dark and oorie the day of the premiere,
and approaching the red carpet, the star expressed a fear
her gown hem would be sullied as she passed through the morass
and the tabloids would just note the stains instead of her fine ass.

“Please tell them not to mention my less-than-perfect garb,
she spat out at her agent in her customary barb.
And her look was sullen as she left her limousine,
less glamorous than that depicted on the movie screen.

And as she slogged her way through puddles to the gala scene,
through photographers and writers from every magazine,
of course they all reported on that look of arch disdain
instead of any mention of her garment’s spreading stain.

Prompt words are oorie, premiere, disdain, morass and arch. Image by Raychan on Unsplash.