24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
4 minutes and counting
Until this hour is over
Cutting it close
Don’t know where to go
I shouldn’t have gone there
I knew inside my soul
We were cutting it close
I told him not to go to work
But at least they couldn’t hook up me up
When I had my first natural birth
Cutting it close
Less than 2 minutes to go
Father’s Day Hike
We drink coffee out of a styrofoam cup
and water from a canteen. You gave up
Irish whiskey and scotch and now
gripe about it constantly.
But we both know better.
Hush. There is a doe at the trailhead
one hoof held high, eyeing us nervously
the same colors as the trees in the fog. You say
she reminds you of my mother.
And that is as close to romantic as you get,
when you snap a picture to show her later.
We hike through the firs to the dock,
and strip down to our swimsuits. It’s not warm,
but it also isn’t crowded, and as you like to remind me
the lake-bottom feels better on what’s left of your toes
than concrete.
I watch you swim, like I did when I was ten
and you, buoyed by the water
smile like a child. And then say
“damn, it’s cold” with blue lips and we light a fire.
Dinner is hotdogs and trail mix.
And we head back to the car
and I put you back in the ground
and I say “sleep well, old man,
because someday we will meet again.”
For this promt, I have used text from an article that I have written recently
Image courtesy of Freeillustrated at Pixabay
Poem
Usually, it is the innocent dog that suffers most…
how could anyone who lives with a companion dog
just one day pitch up at a shelter and leave their beloved companion
at the mercy of “fate?”
And that is precisely the point: the plight of the dog owner
that feels compelled to surrender his or her dog.
Has anyone ever put yourself in the shoes
of an 82-year-old lady that doesn’t have the strength anymore
to take care of her Labrador?
Or the German Shepherd breeder that stands to lose her dogs
to messy divorce proceedings?
The dad that has to tell his kids that he does not have a job anymore;
that they will have to say goodbye to Rover?
Ever thought how such a dad must feel?
What do you do, where you know you are in a position to help?
You help of course!
But not always… some don’t have the verb “help” in their vocabulary…
Antoinette LeRoux © 2019
Original Text
One of the most prominent tragedies of “Modern Society” is the phenomenon of dog owners that abandon their dogs. Usually, it is the innocent dog that suffers most… the very one that deserves least of all to go through the trauma of losing her loved ones!
Come to think of it: how could anyone who lives with a companion dog for goodness knows how long, just one day all of a sudden pitch up at a shelter and leave their beloved companion of several years at the mercy of “fate?”
And that is precisely the point of this article. To bring to your attention the plight of the dog owner that feels compelled to surrender his or her dog.
Has anyone reading these words ever put yourself in the shoes of the 82-year-old lady that just doesn’t have the strength anymore to take care of her Labrador? Or the reputable registered German Shepherd breeder of three decades that stands to lose all of her dogs to messy divorce proceedings?
What about the dad that has to come home one night to tell his kids that, because he does not have a job anymore, they will have to say goodbye to their precious Rover? Has anyone ever thought for one moment how such a dad must feel?
And this type of scenario plays itself off over and over on a rapidly increasing basis on a global scale.
So what do you do in such a case, where you know about someone who will lose their dog if they don’t get help to keep the dog, and you know you are in a position to help?
Well, you help of course!
But no, not always… some just don’t have the verb “help” in their vocabulary…
Antoinette LeRoux © 2019
A. Factual Background
Crystal T. Davis
a 24 year-old woman on a search
back
in subsequent events
Victim of factual justification stolen:
Discovered
Her belief
Sought the master keys
To read
question
In a handwritten statement
[She was]
Given the key to open
The entire lock
And she was released
At thirteen, we passed each other.
I saw him.
He saw me.
Something sparkled, as we passed by.
I thought of him.
He thought of me.
Eight years later, we met. And knew.
The Melting of Molly by Maria Thompson Davies
(an erasure poem)
Melting Molly
________________________
Twenty
and full –
and nobody
did anything for me
tying
up a dancing, frolicking
colt of a girl
with a ponderous bridle –
God
didn’t see me, and not caring
what happened to me
in this world
He
put me out
for contempt
of court.
The
town didn’t
mean anything by
chastening my spirit –
of
that, I feel sure.
It settled itself
here in a valley
a
few hundreds of
years ago and has been
clucking over its
affairs
ever since.
The houses set
back with their
wings
spread out and
mothers go on
hovering even to the third
generation.
Young, long-legged
boys scramble out
of the nests
and
decide to grow up –
where the crow
will be heard
by
the world
…
one
of them.
Experience southern adventures and fun.
Educational journey? Enduring heritage educates ages.
Kick it up a notch? Famous waves, sandstone perspective, hike trails, go flying through,
And walk on feet.
A lonely destiny
Knew difference between right and wrong
No moral grays in life
The duty to tell the world
I used Good Omens for my erasure poem. I had fun but I wish the page I used had more words on it that felt right. And look pretty much on time XD
Racist black friend
you just can’t see them
they’re well hidden to look down on you.
You will be scolded for hiding the siren and the shipwreck.
To hear itself clapping for the wrong reasons.
