Poetry Friday - TASTE!

Mona's given us the Taste test!

damn those taste buds,

the evil sweet ones

they're not my "buds" at all!

I'd rather they not hang out with me ever!

they lead me into temptation

it's the Garden all over again

but it ain't, "How do you like them apples?"

and I can't just stop at one prophetic bite.....

it's

"try this delicious-to-die-for

devil's food chocolate cake

with seven-minute boiled icing"

(yeah, the devil made me do it alright!)

why don't I crave some low carb crunchy cream cheese on celery?

or even some dry saltine crackers?

(I used to lick the salt off first!

oh, just put me out to pasture near the salt lick...

but that's a tale of a different tongue!)

no, it's gotta be the sweetest, most decadent, dessertiest food

just to wreak havoc with my Type 1

insulin dependency addiction thing

which has me shooting up

copious amounts

of the Banting drug

(God Bless him!)

to try and chase down the mother lode of sugar

as a cheetah runs down an antelope

on the dessert plate of the Savannah

only to O.D.

and have to consume even more

in this manic game of sugary charades

until the yo-yo effect

leaves me spinning off my axis,

spent

and cursing

my finely-honed

sense of taste!

(Curse you, Mona, I'm craving that cake now!!!)

Poetry...SATURDAY?!

Mona gave the word for all to HEAR!

Hear YE! Hear YE!

Friends, Romans, Countrymen,

Lend me your ears!

(they've got to be better than mine!)

Do your ears hang low do they....

Listen up! Ecoutez!

Hear me out....

Do you hear what I hear?

A startling cry pierced my ears....

or was that the jeweller in the mall?

"Speak up, don't you mumble...."

(James Taylor said it best.)

Damned hearing aids get tangled in my hair

and earrings,

trying to tear them out too quickly

as the jet's engines

roar to life down the runway

and no one warned me!

Why, yesterday, it was only a mere robin

in that distant tree

that was annoying me,

assaulting my sensitized ear drums

with his grating chirp!

Gotta get the set volume turned down on these babies...

But that does seem rather redundant,

doncha think?!!

Ears to ya!

Mother of Invention, who will never quite get used to wearing the cursed things!

Poetry Friday: DOG

Gary, the Potter gave the word.... or was it Penny's?!!

DOG

man's best friend

you faithfully follow me around

and around

and around

inevitably ending up at the food bowl

chowing down Purina dry kibble

(Hairball Remedy?!)

not-so-silently-sipping

(or is that slurping ?)

from the gargantuan water bow

the kind you feed cattle from

and are heated in the frigid barn

those large innocent eyes

(how do you get your eyeliner so straight?)

I fall for every time

as you implore me

to give you a treat

having done no trick whatsoever

except the one you just pulled on me

you continue to whine

until I scratch all your favourite places

your behind rises

to meet the hand stroking it

your hind legs now fully extended

you wind in and out of my legs
getting underfoot

making it impossible

to negotiate the stairs in this house

suddenly you fix your stare at the ceiling

for fifteen minutes

I follow it and see the tiniest of ladybugs

slowly trekking across the light fixture

you BEG

to be let out at the back

and in two minutes dash in the front

always on the wrong side of the door

I try to stealthily slip away

under your radar to the mailbox

smugly I sneak a look behind me

only to find you prancing towards me

across the parking lot

heeding not my commands

to GO HOME!

you smother me with unconditional love

and yet can be moody and aloof

a real contradiction in terms-

you dog in cat's clothing!

If I could add whiskers, I would and it kinda looks like the shape of Socks!

Dedicated to Socks, who thinks she's a dog sometimes!

(That stupid ladybug keeps her occupied for hours!!)

Poetry Friday: Negative

Mona's being negative today and I have licence to be as well, even though I don't like to be! Today, the glass is half-empty!

Stupidest thing I've ever done, bar none!

I put an aluminum foil sheet at the bottom of my one-week-old self-clean oven and when I used it, the foil got melded right to the bottom! Why didn't they tell me not to do that?! Why didn't I read those small print safety precautions??

Will this small patch of winter never disappear?!!

Will this reno never end??!!

Why am I so fat after this winter?!! NOTHING FITS!!

Why didn't I take piano lessons?!!

This isn't what I ordered!

I'm really bummed out and just want to be left alone...

Well that's as negative as I want to get today...unless you count that I still have really sore knees, can't exercise and have to get a huge brace for my knee, some physio and another skyline type x-ray...it's going to be a dull, rainy, cool weekend....my place is dusty as anything after this reno thing...we're not quite finished yet either...

(Man, I really can be negative when I try!)

Poetry Friday: AWAY

Mona wishes she were far away so gave us the word!
This is dedicated to people who have ever had a monkey on their back at work or just hanging out wherever. Can you relate? Luckily, this is a distant memory for me!

STAY AWAY!

I can not seem to shake this horrible monkey off my back

Seems it loves to tell me about everything I lack!

Maybe even "lives" to tell would be the proper word

And I can make no sense of it because it's so absurd.

Seems that I am always in its perfect line of vision

This primate then can set to make an accurate incision!

The knife is deftly held and it slices very deep

And I am trying hard not to crumple in a heap.

But just when I get standing tall to get on with my day

The monkey gets a firmer grip and will not go away.

Sharpening the tool again for just another cut

It thinks it hasn't done enough so twists it in my gut.

I pull it out and wipe it off and throw it out the door,

Give monkey time to settle down and bother me no more.

It could be that I think it's there when it is really not,

And all those dreaded matters weren't as bad as I had thought.

So if a monkey's on your back, hang in a little longer,

It's sure to take a giant leap once you're a whole lot stronger.

Poetry Friday DANCE

The Poetry word is DANCE. Thanks, Mona. This is a picture of an inukshuk I built on the shore of a river in my favourite summer vacation spots - our log cabins.

Look To My Inukshuk

i

prefer

a

familiar

road

but

sometimes

I wander and lose the road

or the road loses me

and i am so lost

trying to find my way home

looking for the arms

of an Inukshuk
(my inner Inuit folklore spirit)

to point the way

guiding signposts

small but pivotal

effecting the change i need

to bring me back to where I should be

is this the old road from which I strayed

or a new one?

I know not-

but when I sadly sense

that I am merely watching

from the periphery

everyone else dance their life's steps
I hope that an inukshuk
beckons me into the centre

of The Circle to share

my own Dance and perhaps
even join one of theirs ....

for awhile

***Blogger wouldn't let me separate the words to look like the legs at the bottom of this shape poem but you get the idea!

The Village of Truths

Mona passed the Poetry basket to Irrelephant, who tossed the word, "tatoo" for today.

The Village of Truths

I am the Chieftain of my own tribe

I speak my truths with the many voices residing in my village -

But you may never understand my truths

You may not even hear them or even recognize the voice with which I speak,

for your village may be far away from mine

and all you may see are lips moving

and all you may hear are the distant echoes of my tatoo

We all sing different songs,

dance different steps,

and drum different beats at our council ring fires….

But we must accept and respect each other’s truths
-the need that they be our own
and no one else’s

Mother of Invention, looking to my Truths, singing, dancing and drumming my own tatoo from my far away village.

>

Poetry Friday Time

Mona says we have all the TIME in the world for poetry this Friday! The word was TIME.

time

we

measure it

tell it

make it

spend it

save it
waste it

count it

give it
bank it

lose it

clock it
kill it

change it

buy it

- we need to savour it

time

it ticks

it tocks

starts us

stops us

it travels

unravels

it changes us

rearranges us

it heals

reveals

it flies

it dies

it stands still

released in a pill

it charms us .....

but most of all alarms us!

Well, I had to stop there because I ran out of......well, you know!

Poetry Friday: Birthday!

Mona declares it's "birthday" day for poetry! I have two pieces.

The Birthday Boy!

My dad just celebrated 88
And man, his attitude is just so great

White cake in pink is his special request
Since that's what his mom made the best
The candles are lit and the lights go out
He loves the ceremony without a doubt!

Dad toasts himself with his coke and rum
At 88, there is nothing glum!
His body is healthy, he's as sharp as a tack
In his outlook on life,there is nothing to lack

This man has had an amazing life
In the depression enduring strife
Flying a plane throughout the war
When days he had might be no more

Maybe all this accounts for a lot
And this kind of thing just can't be taught
I so admire dad's brightness and zest
And at 88, it's still the best
He has within him a strong Life Force
And one that I can surely endorse

Would that we all had this special man's view
In each and every thing we do.

Here's to Birthdays!

Birthday Parties in the 50's!

games

blindfolds

tied around Toni perms

spinning around

in our Sunday School dresses

crinolinesflouncing

pin the tail on the donkey

drop the clothespin in the milk bottle

bobbing for apples

presents

contain the excitement

of my first puppet -

a velveteen rabbit

I still have it

some doll clothes

new marbles

play doh

colouring books and new crayons

or pastels!

or a bath talcum powder mitt

pretend lipstick

Little Miss Cologne-

all nicely wrapped...the real way

with beautiful bows

by stay at home moms

sandwiches

egg, tuna, salmon

fresh mooshy white bread

with no crusts

cut in triangles

chocolate cake

with coins inside

wrapped in saran

7 minute boiled frosting

crystals of sugar

candles blown out

amidst kids singing

and clapping

home made pop

happy fizzy pills

to drop in water

in grape orange and cherry

party favours

small coloured candies

in pink plastic baskets

at each place setting

and balloons to take home

long or short-

savoured simplicity

Poetry Friday...NO!

Apologies for the horrible spacing but Blogger won't edit the changes I want to make!!!!

NO to NO!

the word from Mona is simply "N-o"

I think really hard and nothing will flow

so much and so little at the very same time

I ponder and nothing will come to my mind

it's the word that depicts the terrible two's

the one kids utter when they do what they choose

the word we teach them to say to all drugs

in hopes that they'll listen and still give us hugs

the one that our young girls will say to all sex

when their strength is what we want them to flex

it's a hard one to say and a tough word to hear

and has even been cause for many a tear

a man with a ring would not want to get this

in response to proposal for long wedded bliss....

I can go no further I think I must stop

or this poem is surely to be a huge flop

I am having trouble racking my brain

ideas for verses are starting to drain

the word is expansive it'll take me all day

for the possible uses there is too much to say

so if Mona expects that a poem here will show

then I'm sorry my dear, but the answer is NO!

Poetry Friday Word: JUICE!

Maggie is hosting this week for Mona and we all know what a juicy gal she is! I just had to offer you a choral chant I wrote for my Gr. 3 class a few years ago after we studied Dr. Seuss. The kids thought it was really cool and we performed it for the rest of the school in an assembly. Even the Gr. 8's told me they loved it! If there are any teachers or anyone at all who wants to use this, be my guest! Dr. Seuss would approve!

Tribute to Dr. Seuss! (Chant for Kids)

You were cool! You were loose!
You had the juice!
Yes, we’re talkin’ Dr. Seuss!
You had that Cat from the Hat comin’ back,
You had Sam I am, eating Green Eggs and Ham,
You had Horton Hatchin’ That Egg!
You had us thinkin’ The Thinks We Think,
The ABC’s that really please,
You made Who-ville rock,
And that Fox in the Sock,
You got us reading for the very first time,
And all because of your catchy rhyme!
The nonsense you wrote was full of fun
And in no time at all, the book was done.
Some words were big,
Some words were small,
We loved them so much
We read them all!
You sure had the juice, Dr. Seuss!
Your real name?
Ted Geisel
And we’re all glad we knew you well!
Keep cool,
Keep loose,
Dr. Seuss!



Copyright 2005

Poetry Friday: Letting Go

Mona says we should be "letting go" today but I can't seem to, Mona! My post is a fun rhyming verse about my difficulty in letting go of summer! This just came out as is in this order, spilling out as I am wont to do as per the title of this blog!

letting go

I still hang on, I can't let go

as summer's end is here, I know

today, I bought some sleeveless tops

the sales are good now at the shops

white pants and skirts still beckon me

with tanned skin, they look good, you see!

my sandals, such scuffed and worn out shoes

to toss them would give me the blues

the weather says UV is high

this sunny day I can't pass by

of vitamin D, I need my dose

so I will keep the summer close

on patio I keep it there

I sit on Adirondack chair

and read my book and soak up rays

I can't give up my summer days!

clouds pass by and it gets cool

and I must look like such a fool

after dinner, there is still light

although at 7:00, it's not that bright

in shorts divine I'm writing this

but it's not exactly summer bliss

tonight, it's going down to 5

the summer bedroom's still alive!

dressed in heavy flannel nightie

I'll defy fall, oh, cripes almighty!

just close some windows and the door

add some blankets, two or more --

what's that? a goose bump on my skin?

excuse me now, I must go in!

(If you've never seen pictures of the summer bedroom, check the link and you will understand why I am so reluctant to give it up! It's just the coolest!)

Moving On Without a Backward Glance!

Mona gave us some free reign for today's poetry word and I've been wanting to post this for a long time.

stray cat

the stray tomcat
greedily laps up all the milk
you carefully poured
because he craves it
and it is there…
you offer it unconditionally,
he gobbles the kibble hungrily
only to satiate a nutritional need
but he keeps none of it,
indeed, he treasures not a morsel
of this nourishment,
feels no obligation,
no threads of attachment,
his heart well hidden
under the rough, dull, lack-lustre fur,
covered with burrs,
the only hint of where he’s been,
the only attachment known to him,
evidence of his tough life-
his sandpaper tongue darts out
as he quickly opens and shuts his mouth
only to briefly savour your gift
before sauntering off,
one thirst quenched -
another greater need arising
and he is gone
with a mere flick of his tail -
no looking back.

Perhaps you know people like this too. They take what they need from you and move on, completely disconnected. Did they use you or simply take what you offered them? How are we to feel? Glad that they took our "gift" or sad and hurt that they used us and did not appear appreciative? I'm still pondering.

Mother of Invention, still trying to figure out how people can do this.

I'm Simply Crushed! Poetry Friday

Mona has given the word, "crush" for this week.

Through lists of soda makers did I delve,

endlessly searching when I was twelve

for someone who had made the pop

that I considered to be the top,

the flavour that I wanted most.

I was just about to give up the ghost

and then my dad said I should write

to ask why this was out of sight.

"I'm diabetic for pity sake!

Is diet grape so hard to make?

Dr. Pepper comes sugar-free

I can't understand how THAT can be!

It tastes like medicine! How does it sell?

I'm sure Diet Grape would do as well!

Oh, can't you just give it a try?

You'll surely see that people buy

Thank you Crush, signed,

Yours in Hope

One month later the reply was, "NOPE,

We don't think it would be a hit

And on the shelves it would just sit

We couldn't risk the low demand

And hope that you will understand."

Signed, Mr. Crush.

....That #%@* schlepper!

Enclosed were coupons - Dr. Pepper!

*** Since I wrote the Crush Company, they have finally come out with Diet Grape Crush. The only catch is that you have to buy a whole case of 24 Rainbow Flavours, including Cream Soda, Orange etc. to get the 8 Grape but of course, I do it!

Do people actually like Dr. Pepper?!***

Poetry Friday: Mad

Mona is all "mad" on Poetry Friday!

In what type of vehicle exactly does something drive you mad?

Or even just around the bend?

Or up a wall?

I hope it's fuel-efficient

Leaves plenty of gas for the next trip

They'll be no guzzling with reckless abandon

on this maniacal ride!

Hang on!

So what brought you here?

Was it the pesky mosquito

buzzing in your ear

on the hottest night of the year

IN your brand new tent?

Was it the tenth telemarketer

calling at dinner time

trying to pedal a frozen cow

when you've just told him

you're vegetarian?!

Or was it that

you slept through the alarm

on garbage day

and raced to the curb

in your p.j.'s

with two bags

just as the truck was pulling away

two doors down?

Or maybe

after perusing the menu

you have your heart all set

on the Pasta Primavera special

and your mouth starts watering

as the waitress tells you

they just ran out

and you wistfully watch

as your plate is delivered

to the very next table!

So what brought you here?

(This is Free Verse...doesn't cost a thing to add one!!)

A Simply Lilacy Day!

This is for Mona's Poetry Friday...the word is trip and it's a stretch but I love the Hippie Trippie dresses like this one:

Ode To My Lilacs!

my lilac dress bloomed today

perfectly synchronized

with the huge bushes

that have peaked in my backyard,

that lovely dress would camouflage me

on the branches!

the air is drenched

with the wonderful scent

of these cheerful flowers

I drink it in....

for only two weeks a year

I visit these flowers daily

to tell them how grateful I am

for giving their beauty

so freely

and I think of them all day

as I walk

dressed in lilacs

as the purple joy swirls around my ankles

Mother of Invention, still tripping out in purple, smelling the scent of lilacs drifting in through the screen door on the evening breeze!

Poetry Friday Retro-Repro

Mona deems the theme to be Human Reproduction because Boy-Child is about to embrace this as part of the school curriculum. Poor teachers! They must be ready for either all that snickering or an extremely uncharacteristically quiet classroom!
I've only addressed one small aspect of this huge topic because once I started writing, the memories came "flooding" (hehehe!) back in so much detail, I had to do them justice and devote to them the words they deserved!



Uncovered On The Covered Wagon Trip!

I knew I'd get my period some day. Not that my mom actually talked directly to me about what it was. She had just issued a really lame book about it to my oldest sister,who then passed it on to my next oldest sister, who talked to me and showed me what to do when it happened. And, man did it happen!

I was at Bible Camp the summer of Gr. 7 (12 years old) and I couldn't wait to go on the overnight trip. I had heard all about the covered wagon trip the senior girls got to go on and I was excited. This feeling quickly dissipated when I watched two old roan-coloured nags plod slowly up the road into camp....and the driver was worse.

This ancient-looking geezer was by far the crookedest and skinniest man I'd ever laid eyes on as he somehow got himself down out of the driver's seat. I thought he was going to keel over any minute!
Ed, as he was called, had one long yellow tooth and his brief conversations were punctuated with a staccato of spitting tobacco juice on the path. All the kids jumped out of the way.

We loaded our duffel bags and took hours to ramble and rock over the rough roads to a ramshackle farm where we were to sleep in the hayloft. We actually had a great foil-wrapped meal of chicken, potatoes, onions and carrots cooked over an open fire. After the singsong and the customary s'mores, we all had to pee on the hillside and we were given one tissue each for the process. My cabin mate shone a flashlight for me and I gasped when I saw it! A watery red stain! Crap! Of all the places to get initiated into womanhood! I thought I'd have to use leaves or moss like the Native women.

My counsellor rationed me a few more tissues and somehow I made it back to the camp the next day none too worse for my first experience with The Curse. I immediately went to announce my whole ordeal to my sister whose tent was in the older girls' section. I think I recall her giving me some proper supplies, or maybe it was her counsellor, but I know I was grateful.

That seems like such a distant memory now as I look from the other side of my life, no longer getting The Curse at all. I don't miss it one bit.....but I do think of that episode every time I see a wagon hitched with some old horses and some spit hurling out of someone in the driver's seat!

Mother of Invention, reflecting and smiling at one of my life's pivotal moments!

UnPoetry Friday!

The word from Mona is "belly"! I can't say that the word inspired me to write beautiful or serious poetry because I couldn't get past the ugly image of fat bellies hanging out over the edge of low rise jeans, and more specifically, MY belly and MY jeans!

As if aging didn't contribute enough to the demise of a flat stomach, the drug that I am on, (amitryptaline) for some pain issues, has been a rather LARGE factor in this unsavoury and undesirable phenomena! In short, I hate it! (I know you'll understand why I passed on posting a picture!)

On an otherwise long and lanky frame, I think a 9lb-overweight-gut is just magnified all the more. I have never had kids so I don't even qualify to use that as a partial explanation or excuse.

It's enough weight to make a whole size change in the wrong direction! In my hopefulness that this dire situation is temporary, I buy new clothes (pants and shorts) at second hand shops because I refuse to pay full price for something I think I won't be wearing for long.

The stupid thing is that the drug has not relieved any of the pain although, I do get a better sleep while taking it. The other day, while I struggled to get the fly done up on my pre-loved jeans, I knew had had enough! I realized that the muscle pain I have doesn't hold a candle to the pain I have of not being able to do the zipper and button up on my pants!

This discovery necessitated a trip to the pharmacy to find out how I safely wean myself off this enemy of mine. It's almost been a week of and I've already noticed about 2 lb drop. Yahoo!

Now, excuse me while I go out to exercise with my Nordic Walking poles and trek up to my attic to bring down my OLD jeans!

A Cloudy Poetry Friday!

Mona gave us full range on the word, "clouds"

I need a title....any ideas?

joni said it all

or did she?

how many sides do clouds have?

from the ground up

overcast lower stratus

stormy cumulo-nimbus

dark and threatening

troubled and ominous

obscuring the real issues

in our minds made murky

by this cloudland

of upper haze

suspended

condensed

and evaporated

a swirling funnel-

but -

we can vault

through the vortex

and land

on light cotton balls

billowing like sails on a Clipper

blissful and elated

on cloud nine

cirrus

the highest heaven

Paradise

is there a cloud ten?

Poetry Friday On Saturday!

Maggie, at Mind Moss, riddled us to have us guess the word to inspire us for a poem or whatever. Okay, Mags, I'm riddling you back! The word was "melt".
This hot sizzling poem is dedicated to Maggie, Queen of Steam!

colourful, captivating

appealing and addictive

women covet and constantly crave you

desperate with desire

we drool and devour your divine taste

counting on you to satiate our hunger

you sooth us and we savour

easily read you

crack your coat

and reach your silky centre

we hoard and hide you

sometimes share you

we shake you

begging you

to keep up the regular rhythm

our own percussion instrument....

cymbals crash

!

we scream out you name

at the peak of pleasure

!

- and then...

the gravity of guilt grounds us

in yet another

"MELTS" in your mouth not in your hands" moment!

Epilogue: You always think outside the box, but you sure don't spend much time there!

Your IQ is not as high as your brother's....

He's a REAL SMARTIE!

HA! HA! HA!

Any answers to this riddle? (If you don't get this, you're not a normal woman or have never had PMS!)

Any titles?