My streams of thought meet here
As I wrote in my last post, The Haiku Foundation’s dialogue this week is about Food, focusing on the sense of sight. Here’s another senryu I’ll add on that theme:
get a life
he grumbles — she slowly picks
sausage off the pizza
Since the Word of the Day prompt this morning was CHIC. For lack of anything more erudite, I’ll give my response in this gem of wisdom:
It’s never chic
in public view
to carefully pick
anything from your stew.
Today’s Word of the Day prompt is WRINKLE. Coupled with the inspiration from my recent shopping adventure, I’ve composed this poem. (You may call it a consumer rant if you wish. 😉 )
In the blink of an eye,
the wrinkle of a brow,
another sale—limited time offer!—
kicks off with spectacular
savings you can’t miss.
First New Year’s sales, then Spring
with its end-of-winter-clearance,
followed by ready-for-Easter sales
with prices so low you have to
spend and stock up.
In the blink of an eye,
the wrinkle of a brow,
summer sale are upon us:
holidays, barbecues, cottages;
you need to buy all kinds of stuff!
Suntan lotion, insect repellent
by the gallon, at low, low price!
In the blink of an eye,
the wrinkle of a brow,
the back-to-school sales start
abutting nicely, while you’re there,
with end-of-summer clearances
that lawn mower you wanted
back in spring, now price-reduced
and ready for that fall clean-up.
Yes, you can spend—and save big time—
all in the blink of an eye.
Parents shopping for school books
are greeted by goblins, masks
and shelves of lanterns, because Halloween
is just around the corner. And fall’s the time
to plant those shrubs and bulbs
now on sale at half price.
In the blink of an eye,
the wrinkle of a brow,
Thanksgiving adds pumpkins, pilgrims
Black Friday and pre-Christmas sales
to keep the economy afloat.
Up go the calendar displays,
offering convenient gifts to please
those “impossible-to-buy-for”
bosses, uncles and aunts.
At the Super-Fall-Clearance table,
shoppers eye a book that offers to explain
how to reduce clutter and stress—
“Half price this week” —and sigh.
In the blink of an eye,
the wrinkle of a brow,
Christmas season’s upon us;
trees and lights go up and last year’s
decorations are on sale for a steal
and merchants pray for snow.
“Remember those folks on your lists,”
competes with “Jingle Bells”
to jingle tills, while shoppers
wander the aisles in a daze.
The first week in December
Boxing Day fliers arrive, awash
with after-Christmas bargains on
those gifts not bought, left-over
boxed cards and wrap, 60% off!
Eyes blinking, brows wrinkling,
and wallets seriously depleted,
consumers take a deep breath
and wait for the New Year
and the next onslaught of sales.
Visiting Grandma at the Nursing Home
I don’t remember, either
I told her
companionably
We play Yahtzee
even though she can’t read the dice
she can shake
holding Grandma’s hands
I should let go — but
her fingers are so cold
“Flower Garden” quilt
walking the winding trails
of her memory
I never told her
it rained last night
Grandma’s somewhere else
She tells me
Prince Charles visited today
bladder infection*
in the twilight
she folds her tired hands
one last time
* She really did. Bladder infection tends to cause nursing home residents to “lose it” temporarily. 😦
by Edgar Guest
If you walk as a friend you will find a friend
wherever you choose to fare,
if you go with mirth to a far, strange land
you will find that mirth is there.
For the strangest part of this queer old world
is that like will join with like,
and who walks with love for his fellow men
an answering love will strike.
Here each of us builds his little world,
and chooses its people, too;
though millions trample the face of earth,
each life touches but the few.
And the joy you’ll find as you venture forth
your fortune or fame to make,
lies not in some stranger’s power to say,
for it’s all in the joy you take.
If you walk in honor then honest men
will meet you along the way,
but if you be false you will find men false,
wherever you chance to stray.
For good breeds good and the bad breeds bad;
we are met by the traits we show.
Love will find a friend at the stranger’s door
where hate would find a foe.
For each of us builds the world he knows,
which only himself can spoil,
and an hour of hate or an hour of shame
can ruin a life of toil.
And though to the farthermost ends of earth
your duty may bid you fare
if you walk with truth in your heart as a friend,
you will find friends waiting there.
From The Collected Verse of Edgar A. Guest
© 1934 by the Reilly & Lee Co
Hello Fellow Bloggers,
Are you an organized type, with all your files in order? Or are like me, jotting down ideas in small notebooks and notepads, then stashing them away in a “To Be Finished” bin, to wait for that “round-to-it” miracle? In a way, it’s like having cookie or bread dough in the freezer, waiting to be thawed, shaped and baked. As is, it’s inedible, but too easily stored “for future use.”
I’ve been going through my scrap bits of scribbles again, pondering whether to chuck or post them. At any rate, it’s TIME to make some decisions. Life is sliding by and the pile keeps growing. I need to take my pick in hand and work away at this paper peak.
One of the first things I found was this groan-worthy limerick scribbled one day when I was in the mood to do limericks. Not satisfied after 4 or 5 tries, I stashed the verse for future improvement.
A TALE Of TWO FLEAS
On the pup’s tail two fleas hung on tight
which gave its young mistress a fright.
When she grabbed the hammer
the dog did a scrammer;
there’s worse things in life than a bite.
YOU SEE THE ODDEST CREATURES
Laid out on the highway
its feet in the air
I take a good look
as we pass it. No hair.
Just bumps on its back,
curled spines on its tummy;
its mouth sort-of open
its snout looking gummy
I ask my chauffeur
“What creature is that?”
He says with a chuckle,
“A dead rubber rat.”
