Tag: Poetry

A Colorful Creature

~ Christine Goodnough ~ Leave a comment

The Ragtag Daily Prompt this morning is KOOKY. Well, here’s a kooky poem I wrote for the sheer fun of it — with a nod to Ogden Nash’s The Spangled Pandemonium, one of my favorite children’s poems.

The Fugitive

A creature glided through the dark,
he thought it quite the prank,
to break out from the zoo and hide
beside the riverbank.

But patches of its fur showed up
right through the foliage green.
As I passed by those colors roused
my curiosity.

I peered, and spied this creature,
odd-brindled blue and white
with dabs of green and violet.
It gave me such delight!

I couldn't recognize the thing;
my Google didn't help.
I tried to get a closer look
but it gave a fearful yelp!

Some keepers of the zoo ran up
and said, "Say, have you seen
our multi-mottled commingal
with fur white, blue and green?

I pointed to those bushes
that bulged suspiciously
and they set out to capture
their colorful escapee.
Image by Alexandra Koch — Pixabay

Who Has It Better?

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 3 Comments

The Ragtag Daily Prompt word this morning is ENVY. American poet Edgar Guest had some wise thoughts on this subject and many of his verses speak of being content, so I’m going to post a couple today.
Here’s the first…

THE OTHER FELLOW

Whose luck is better far than ours?
The other fellow’s.
Whose road seems always lined with flowers?
The other fellow’s.
Who is the man who seems to get
Most joy in life, with least regret,
Who always seems to win his bet?
The other fellow.

Who fills the place we think we’d like?
The other fellow.
Whom does good fortune always strike?
The other fellow.
Whom do we envy, day by day?
Who has more time than we to play?
Who is it, when we mourn, seems gay?
The other fellow.

Who seems to miss the thorns we find?
Th other fellow.
Who seems to leave us all behind?
The other fellow.
Who never seems to feel the woe,
The anguish and the pain we know?
Who gets the best seats at the show?
The other fellow.

And yet, my friend, who envies you?
The other fellow.
Who thinks he gathers only rue?
The other fellow.
Who sighs because he thinks that he
Would infinitely happier be,
If he could be like you or me?
The other fellow.

From his book JUST FOLKS
copyright 1917 by The Reilly & Britton Co.

Universe in Verse

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 3 Comments

The Ragtime Daily Prompt this morning is UNIVERSE
and I’m cheating. I went through my Dropbox and found a haiku verse I’ve written but never posted.

Image by Henryk Niestraj — Pixabay

January night
a starless universe
oppresses the earth

Then I found some verses I did post back in 2018. I’ve edited them so today I present the abridged version:

Lunchtime

onion on cutting board
white flesh exposed, waiting
dissection at noon
my surgical imprecision

cheese slice slithers
on mayo, topped with lettuce.
the Orange and the Green —
a battle on my bun?

meat comes next — salami —
by appointment to HRH!
Does the Queen eat salami?
I chew on the thought

biting my sandwich
I ponder the complexity
of our vast universe
as time stops for lunch.

Image by Rene Lehmkuhl — Pixabay

Crumbles in the Kitchen

~ Christine Goodnough ~ Leave a comment

The Ragtag Daily Prompt yesterday was CHAMBER. I had a few thoughts lined up on that subject, but didn’t get them down. Today’s prompt is CRUMBLE; maybe I can combine the two.

Pixabay image

Chambre is the French word for room, which is where we got it. According to my book on word etymology CHAMBRE + CHAMBER are derived from the Greek word kamara, which meant something with an arched cover or a room with a vaulted roof. This entered Latin as camara, which in turn slipped into English as CAMERA and brought its cousin COMRADE, which originally referred to someone sharing a room.
The Germans did their part, too, in contributing to the diversity of English. The Greek kamara became the Frankish word kamerling, which hopped across the Channel, morphing into chamberlain en route and, in England, reshaped itself into a chimney.

Though the ancient Greek and Roman worlds have crumbled over time, linguistic bricks have been scattered far and wide, gathered up, and cemented into many other languages.

The word CHAMBER immediately reminded me of that old nursery rhyme, Goosey Goosey Gander. According to Wikipedia, the earliest recorded version of this rhyme was published in a London nursery rhyme book in 1784 and there have been several additions through the years. In keeping with today’s prompt, I’ll add a new verse to the story myself:

Goosey goosey gander
wither shall I wander
upstairs and downstairs
and in my lady’s chamber.

And did you check the kitchen, too
my pretty roaming goosey?
Oh yes! I found the pastry cook,
where lovely little Lucy
was in the midst of mixing up
a dish of apple crumble
and when I tipped it on the floor
you should have heard her grumble!

Image by Gerrit Horstman — Pixabay

Priced to Sell

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 4 Comments

The Ragtag Daily Prompt this morning is SNAZZY

And here’s my response….

Snazzy loops and curls
decorate the railing.
“Solid oak door.”  He raps the wood.
“Don’t make ‘em like this anymore.”

Bolts loose cement shabby paint flaking.
“A grand old house,
needs some work.
Priced to sell.”

Hubby thinks we can afford it,
someday do a bit of reno.
The realtor smiles.
“Let’s go inside.”