Thursday, February 3, 2011

The Church

There once was a church in the snow
To which all the farmers would go.
They sat in the pews
To hear the good news
And sang how the chariot swung low.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Happy!!!

My wife says that I like to write about being cranky.  So I said, "I'll show you!"
Butterflies and rhubarb pies
And people without guile,
All these things are wonderful
And always make me smile!
Cows in Spring and harvesting
And fast cars waxed and shiny,
All these things are super nice
And never make me whiny.

Moving Day (Delayed)

There's gonna be some wind today
A-blowin' cross the plain.
Obscuring everything in sight
And bein' quite a pain.
We're gonna have to hunker down
And wait a little while
A'fore we trundle outta town
And go three hundred mile.
Tempted though I am today
To shake my fist and shout
I think it better just to nap
Than be a cranky lout.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Still Life

I look at the bowl.
Nothing at all is moving.
Stupid, lazy fruit.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Lowku

The mole is digging
Mariana  is  trenching
The Dead Sea just is

Saturday, January 29, 2011

"Luck Be Some Minions. Luck Be Some Minions Tonight."

I'm trying to move.
But there's stuff.
Doggone it all
If it ain't rough
To get things just so,
So they won't break.
Really, how much time
Does it take?
I want some minions
With a large truck.
Now that would be
A stroke of luck!

Friday, January 28, 2011

If Thomas Hobbes Wrote Poetry

Happily hopping, the bunny went out
Searching for yummies to nibble.
Then came the wolf, with intentions so bad
That he turned the poor thing into kibble.

The End.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Focus

On days like this I have a list
And try hard to stick to it.
I tick the things that I must do
And try to show some grit.
Distractions come and wink their eyes
Enticing me to flit
On to less important things,
But I say, "No, you git!
I'm tryin' to do important things
So just pipe down and sit!"

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

No Trespassing

I'm fixing a hole
In the floor of my house
To keep out the rat
And keep out the mouse.
I want it all sealed,
An impregnable fort
So all their attacks
Will fall down quite short.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Free Couch

There once was a couch from a 'burb
Headed for life on the curb.
While loadin' 'er in
I knocked up my shin
And spoke quite a blustering blurb.
This limerick is mostly fictional.  There was a couch, a suburb and a truck.  We were not clumsy, though, and my shins went unscathed.

Monday, January 24, 2011

A Truly Lousy Poem on the Title

I got ordained the other day
So now they call me Reverend.
The formal sound sure strikes me weird;
At least my name's not Sigmund!
For Reverend Sigmund would be foul
To my own ears for certain.
If people called me such a thing
I'm sure it would be curtains.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Road Trip

One truck,
One wife,
One child.
The day
Will soon
Get wild.
We'll toodle
Down
The road.
Refusing
To
Be Slowed.
We'll reach
The place
We seek.
And hope
The babe
Don't reek.

Friday, January 21, 2011

The Truck

I shook my fist in impotent fury.  The truck wouldn't start.  "Start, you big dumb lug!"  

It clicked its engine at me.  "No, I think not.  I will be napping right here."

I was the one who wanted a nap.  I was the one who wanted to bury myself in blankets on the downstairs couch.  All I had to do was go take the truck, pick up a chair, and then lumber down the stairs.  And now the beastly thing was taunting me.  I couldn't very well threaten it with a sledgehammer since it's not my truck.  It would know that I was bluffing.  Nothing to do but jump it.

Wretchedness.  There shouldn't be this much green on the terminals.  It's not even Packers green.  "Don't even bother.  It's not going to work.  Go back inside and take your nap.  I won't tell."

If only...  But alas no.  I really must go.  But it's cold outside.  And I feel derided by a truck.  It's not even four wheel drive!  Maybe she's right.  Maybe it won't work?  And why am I thinking of this truck as a she?  What does that even mean?

[interlude]

It didn't work.  She was right.  It's going to take surgery.  Where was that sledgehammer?  

"Just give up, Sweetie.  I'm not worth your bother."

"I know you're not, you wicked thing!  But I can't take a proper nap without a clean conscience!  Naps demand it.  It's in their contract."

Corrosion.  Rust.  Bitter cold.  Darkness.  Ulysses would be proud.   Go to store.  Mother in law buys battery.  Come back.  Socket set?  Doesn't work.  What?  Work!  I just want a nap!  I don't need a fancy couch.  I'd settle for the floor.  

And then... finally, oh no, oh yes, yes!!!  It's coming together.  Hope, so long dashed, is rising from the snirt and grime, like a delicious bass from the lake!  Will she start and make my joy complete?

YES!!!

And now I'm too excited to sleep.  Stupid truck.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Home Made Juice Is a Win

I made a glass of juice today.
I made it for my wife.
I try to do the healthy things
To make a better life.
I peeled three oranges and then
I tossed some apples in.
And then, to top the beverage off,
I added lime for "WIN!"

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

A Conversation

Knock, knock.  Who's there?

A peck of pickled pepper pear.

Pickled pepper pear who?
And what the heck's that anyhoo?

Just a fruit that's spicy some,
Bathed in habanero rum.

Egads! that's nuts!

Nope, no nuts involved.
Just the ingredients I already mentioned.

Monday, January 17, 2011

When Is a Poem Not a Poem?

The verse inside my head 
Is hidden from my brain.
I'd like to write some poetry,
But think I'll just refrain.
Rather I'll just jot these words
Before they start to wane.
Easier than rhyming words
Is yankin' yer all's chain.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Baby Benjamin!

Baby Benjamin had many peeps.
And many peeps had baby Benjamin.
I am one of them and so are you,
So let's just call him cute.
Right arm!

Baby Benjamin had many peeps.
And many peeps had baby Benjamin.
I am one of them and so are you,
So let's just call him cute.
Right arm!  Left arm!

Baby Benjamin had many peeps.
And many peeps had baby Benjamin.
I am one of them and so are you,
So let's just call him cute.
Right arm!  Left arm!  Right foot!

Baby Benjamin had many peeps.
And many peeps had baby Benjamin.
I am one of them and so are you,
So let's just call him cute.
Right arm!  Left arm!  Right foot!  Left foot!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Dirt

Being    stuck    in  the mud
Is no excuse        for  desiring to stay dirty.
(But some people  just  loves them some mud.)

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Four Thoughts

Oftentimes,
When the atmosphere is light
I smile and maunder.

Sometimes,
When I'm in the house alone,
I lie there and ponder.

Never,
When barraged by the quotidian,
Should I lose a sense of wonder,
...
But I do.

...

Always,
Though I'm foolish and ungrateful,
God has claimed me for his own.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Neither Here Nor There (A Shakespearean Sonnet)

I'd love to write a sonnet,
Making rhymes so easy.
I'd love to wear a bonnet,
But nothing that was sleazy.
I'd love to win a pony
And rent it out to babies.
I'd hate to be too bony,
Or covered with the scabies.
I'd like for things to warrant
Great praise from every man.
But sometimes there's a torrent
Of things I'd like to ban.
What do you do about that?
Just put on your pork pie hat.