A Poem and its Palinode

….the poem, written on July 6 2021…

In the Good Ole Summertime . . .
corn-on-the-cobify me . . .
tomatocize me.
Plop raspberries on my fingertips
only to pop them one by one
into my eager mouth.
It’s garden fresh
summerliciousness time!

——————————————————————-

…and the palinode, written today…..

In the Crappy Fickle Spring . . .
frozen dinner me  or . . .
chilly me with stewed tomatoes
and black beans poured from tin cans.
I love eating yet another chili supper,
spoon by spoon,
dripping on my well worn flannel shirt.
I’d much rather nosh on
bruised banana slices than fresh raspberries,
tastebuds screaming their disappointment.
Longing for summerlicious times?
Not me.
I absolutely adore this crappy fickle spring.


Written for dVerse today, where today, in the spirit of April 4th being National Tell a Lie Day, we’re to write a Palinode: a poem that contradicts or retracts something the poet has previously written. Today, in Boston, we’ve had snow, hail, and/or cold sleety rain all day. I imagine the daffodils are frozen in shock. And I for one, am tired of this year’s fickle spring!

A Colony of Ants, a Flamboyant of Flamingos, and a Bloat of Hippopatomous Met One Day

What names be known, for groups benign
to get, to go; to roam, to grow.

Porcupines in groups are prickles.
Wild geese do gaggle, soar in glee.
The bees all bumble, swarms the buzz,
while murder, mischief crows do make.

(And now excuse my poetic license)

A pile of purses we name a pursuit.
A nosh of neckties, a collar’s noose.
A group of grown-ups, known as grumps,
a trickle of teens, they call a twit.
A poet’s pub is fancied a pword.

*pword – Think of it as a plosive before “word” – not to be mistaken for pee-word!

Written for dVerse, Meet The Bar Thursday. Today, Bjorn asks us to write alliterative verse. He defines the form:
1. The alliterative verse has four stressed syllables per line.
2. The three first syllables alliterate, while the fourth does not.
3. There is a caesura (pause) between the first two stressed syllables and the last two.
4. If you want to, you may put a line break or some punctuation to make the caesura clear.


* I handled the alliteration and the syllables; in a few lines, I did not add the caesura. I did have fun with this….prickles, gaggles, swarms and murders. And then some made up group names: pursuit, noose, grumps, twit, and power! Phots from Pixabay.com

Lassie I’m Not.

I am but a home poet.
Prompts dog me,
thrown out as commands with treats.
Sit. Roll over. Shake.
Go fetch.
Bring it to Mr. Linky.
Drop it. Drop it.

Heel. Heel. Find the rhythm,
don’t jerk the leash.
Words come to mind with expectations,
arrange them in a meaningful way.
Pen pants, drools,
runs left to right,
left to right . . .

. . . circles round and round,
this way, that way.
Veterinarians call it the zoomies.
Poets call it frustration.
Suddenly it’s done.
And me?
I’m doggone exhausted.



APOLOGIES to those of you who read this post earlier, when for some reason, WordPress deleted all the line formatting and it came across as prose.

Written for dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Dora asks us to use an animal of our choice (real or imaginary) as a metaphor for how ideas and words take shape for us on the blank page. I had a bit of fun with this one, after having recently spent four days with my daughter’s family, including their almost two year old rambunctious dog! Image created on Bing Create.

Who was that dame?

In her day, she was what you’d call
a hot tomato.
Smoky eye shadow, red ripe luscious lips.
Many a bloke put the squeeze on her,
but failed.
She sat perched at the bar
finely dressed.
Fox stole draped over bare shoulders.
Bosom heaving as she laughed at them.
As midnight struck,
leaving their raw desire behind
she’d saunter out into the London fog.
Night after night after
night after night until
New Year’s Eve, nineteen twenty-seven,
her bar stool sat empty –
and she was never seen again.

It’s Tuesday Poetics at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Melissa (who recently celebrated her birthday!) tells us it’s National Spicy Guacamole Day. Who knew? She provides us with a long list of words that I suspect are from a guacamole recipe, and asks us to use at least 4 of these words in our poem for today. I’ve used the following: tomato, smoky, red, ripe, squeeze, finely, and raw. A fun prompt indeed! Image from Pixabay.com

We’re All Jacked

Life spins round and round until
POP-GOES-THE-WEASEL
in our face.
Stuff it back in the box.

Keep turning the crank,
humming the tune
over and over until
POP-GOES-THE-WEASEL!

But this time,
the spring is shot.
So what to do
with us worn out Jacks?


Written for Quadrille Monday at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today Mish is tending bar and asks us to use the word “pop” or a form of the word, in our poem of exactly 44 words, sans title.

Image from Falln-Stock 

A haiku for this historic day . . .

Coral flamboyance,
long legs and necks, all squawking.
Flamingo mosh pit.

Written for Tuesday Poetics at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today Lisa provides a choice of three specific prompts, all with reference to animals. I chose the option to write about an animal, considering its nature.

A group of flamingoes is called a flamboyance. There is a metaphorical allusion here….might be more clear if flamingoes were orange….or if while madly cackling and squawking they wore red baseball hats.

A Lesson in French

She did WHAT????
That’s gasporrific!
With the gardener?

On the curb,
outside the pub????
When was that?

Did he know?
Rumors.
Gossip.

The honey
on bland porridge.
But beware.

Gaspalicious can turn into
stabinthebackmeanness
far too quickly.

Sometimes,
it’s best to
fermer la bouche!

Written for dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. De asks us to include the word “gasp” or a form of the word in our quadrille, a poem of exactly 44 words sans title. I had a bit of fun with the word. Image by Sam Williams from Pixabay

At 76 years of age, the phrase, “fermer la bouche” is one of the few phrases/words I remember from my three years of high school French. It means “shut-up” or more politely, “close your mouth”. Other phrases I can still say in French are
Where is the library?
Please pass the butter.
My name is Lillian.
and
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose.
Hmmmm…..don’t think I should depend on my French if we travel to Paris!

All the World’s a Stage (with apologies to Will Shakespeare)

So many footlights burned out
spotlight leaning askew
curtains removed, scrim gone
proscenium arch stands stark.

Program says Act Three.
Audience hushed, anticipates tragedy.
Director expects me, in shrouded black,
to slump upon the floor.

The script be damned . . .
it’s my chance to be a star!!!
Black over-sized poncho
is thrown to the floor.

Behold my sequined skin tight leotard,
fish net stockings over varicose veins.
Audience gasps at my tapping frenzy ~
shuffle ball changes, wings, and Rockette kicks.

Grinning, laughing, 
I finally decide.
This addendum to the script
shall joyously end!

I wink at the conductor, astounded in the pit.
Timpanist catches my drift
and gloriously booms
as I exit like a flying dervish
to joyous hilarious applause.

While the poem is not about me, I did take tap lessons from the age of 4 until my senior year in high school. I still have my own tap shoes (not the ones in the photo)!

Choices At My Age . . .

. . . my to-do list is
much too mundane to do.
* Laundry
* PT exercises
* Vacuum
* Clean out drawers

So I sit, pen in hand
page patiently waiting to be filled,
inscribed with delectable words.
Words like bubblicious,
fantasia, pomegranate,
or perhaps persimmon.

Images dormant in my mind,
clamor to appear on the page.
Orange sherbet sun,
shapeshifter clouds.
Raucous carousel horses
racing round and round a blurred world.

Shall I take my pen in hand?
Or grasp that vacuum’s wand.
Consider the choice.
Attack cobwebs in corners of the house?
Nope. Not today.
Much more productive
to clear cobwebs from my brain!

Posted for Open Link Night LIVE at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe.

Come join us LIVE between 3 and 4 PM EST today, Thursday Jan 19th by clicking here……and then clicking on the link provided on the post. You’ll be connected to audio and video to meet folks across many time zones and countries. Come to read a poem of your choice OR just to listen!

We’ll also have OLN LIVE on Saturday January 21st from 10 to 11 AM EST. Click here and then click on the link provided for Saturday’s session. Hope to see many of you!