The Poetry Marathon

Birdsong

birdsong
cheery twatter
morning light trigger
some squabbles, some swagger, some sugar
request and response
chirpy commotion
birdsong

The Summer Book*

Stretched out on chaise lounge
Or bunkbed, beach towel, porch swing
You turn the pages.
Quickly at first
Delving in, devouring it

But then you notice
Oh, no!
There isn’t much of this wonderful story left!
How can you live outside of such a fascinating world?

So you try to read slower
Savoring the pages
Rereading the best lines
Over and over

But you can’t help it
The heroine is at peek crisis!
You need to know what happens!
Like you need water, air

And suddenly
There it is
Done

Now, whatever will you read for the rest of the summer?

*Yes, that is really the title. It is by Tove Jansson, and it is a lovely summer read!

From Acorns

“The sky is falling!” proclaimed Chicken Little
Fake news the bird did propound
So on-point was she with her message
That needless fear spread around

When the flock checked back at her henhouse
An acorn was found on the ground
“It’s only a symptom,” said Little
“The rest is sure to fall down!”

Consider the source is the moral
Check the facts before you expound
Be wary of what you think you know
From acorns mighty oaks can abound

Umbrella, Bumbershoot, Brolly

Umbrella, bumbershoot, brolly
The button there, go on! press it down
The whoosh and the click are iconic
No other thing makes the same sound

Umbrella, bumbershoot, brolly
Twist it, go on! Spin it ‘round
It comes in most every color
Well, I suppose, not so much brown

Umbrella, bumbershoot, brolly
Tis good for use all the year round
For snow and for rain, even sunshine
A more useful device can’t be found

Second Breakfast

The three bears, they went out before breakfast
To wait for their porridge to cool
When they came back, a girl had destroyed it
Which just seems to me rather cruel

Did they chase her away in raw anger?
Did they treat her as their new-found foe?
No, they invited her back to the table
To fill up before she might go

They served her eggs over easy
And pancakes, stack upon stack
Ham and sausage and bacon
Which was just the first course of this snack

There were waffles, French toast, and fry bread
Muffins: berry, banana, and bran
There was fruit from so many seasons
Fresh, frozen, dried, bottled and canned

They had yogurt, and honey, and custard
Orange juice, grape juice, and milk
Coffee with cream and with sugar
And cottage cheese softer than silk

Eggs over easy, well I’ve said that
But also, hard boiled and fried
Some that were made into omelets
And some, as for Easter, were dyed

“Try a little bit more, sweetie, won’t you?
See, you’re hurting our dear mother’s pride!”
“Not one more bite,” she choked out
“And it’s time I was saying good-bye.”

The bears waved as Goldilocks sped off
As fast as her tummy could stand
Killing with kindness is one thing
All bear families do understand

London, As Seen from Above

In all the best stories it happens
in the ones set in London, I mean

Peter Pan flies in through the window
kidnaps the children
then, with a little pixie dust, they all fly out again
off to Neverland

Mary Poppins arrives on Cherry Tree Lane
floating down by umbrella
later, her charges enjoy a tea party on the ceiling
all through the power of laughter

The Ghost of Christmas Past drags Scrooge
kicking and moaning
over the rooftops of London
and away into the Past

And Harry Potter!
Don’t get me started!
By broom, by hippogriff,
by thestral, and even by motorcycle!
Constantly traversing the airspace of London

And even Doctor Who
with all of Time and Space in his dominion
including all parts of the Earth he might desire
always ends up in the skies over London

Such iconic topography
We surely recognize London from the air
more so than from a street-level perspective

I want to go to London
just so that I, too,
might take to the air
and fly

Fragments

A window shatters
Tiny squares of glass cascade down
Mixing with the gravel in my driveway
Bright and unnatural as diamonds

For days I sift through the gravel
My gloved hand picking out cuboids
And prisms and oblongs and shards
Separating shiny window glass from the dusty gravel

I picture myself as Cinderella
Picking the lentils from the ashes
What a tedious task that was

But it is not so bad
Here on my front step
Dustpan full of gravel
Bucket filling with glass

Like Cinderella
I have the birds to sing to me

With Eyes of Flame
– a golden shovel after Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

The mission is good, the mission is important, the
mission is imperative. That beast! That Jabberwock!
It is essential that it be subdued, place under guard with
no chance of escape, or killed. I have not seen it with my own eyes,
yet, but does that mean we should take any chances? Of
course the rumors may be false. Who can believe it has eyes of flame?
But better we err on the side of caution. Safe, not sorry. We came
to this wasteland in hopes of peace, with a jaunty ease, whiffling
our way through. But now we know: this place is not safe. And through
new rules, new safeguards, we all will live, and live well! I tell you, The
Command has your best interest at heart! Our opposition, the Tulgey
Brigade, would have you believe the beast is friendly. Friendly! This wood
is filled with horrifying creatures, and the Jabberwock is the worst! And
what’s more, it intends to kill the lot of us! That noise that it burbled?
That is its death cry! As a commander of many armies, and as
leader in many similar explorations, you can depend on me to know. It
is my duty to . . . Aaaaaah, it came!

Home Again

All the world over, where would you go?
Up to the Arctic with the ice and the snow?
Or do you prefer a nice sunny beach
with a tropical drink waiting well within reach?
Would you visit the pyramids in old Egypt land,
riding on camels across the hot sand?
Or maybe Paris is more of your style,
shopping and cafés, all the staff with a smile?
Would you visit the orient, China or Japan?
Would you like an adventure in old Pakistan?
Visit the jungle? Take a boat down the Nile?
Climbing up mountains, hiking mile after mile?
Houseboat or sailboat? Airplane or train?
Are there some special spots that you’d visit again?
Oh, there are many places on this tired old globe
I certainly wouldn’t mind getting to probe.
Foods to taste! Sights to see! And people to meet!
So many places, a list incomplete.
But given my choices, and the limits of time,
there is one special place that I hold in my mind.
On a hot day in summer, or through ice and through snow,
can you guess to which place that I’d most like to go?

Mockingbird rises
Straight up from the tall pine tree
Singing merrily