#219
Sinister Meetings
I peered down through the foliage green,
Down to the garden floor;
There I saw peering up at me
A nature I abhor.
It had an evil reptile head,
With evil reptile eyes.
Though just a garden garter snake,
It caught me by surprise.
#218
Oops!
In our garden lives a snake
Whose vision's weak and dim.
Last week I found him wrapped around
The garden hose so prim.
#217
Matthew 28
When Jesus meets you on the way,
Do not be afraid.
Fall to your knees like Mary M
And whisper, "Your Handmaid."
#216
The Finite
The world is but a body
Like the bodies that we are.
The world will die a sudden death,
That future though be far.
For me however death feels near;
Ten years sounds like a boast.
The end of things draws ever nigh
And haunts me like a ghost.
#215
Silence
In full Springtime bloom--
Hot pink, fuchsia, sunlit red--
The azalea caught me unaware,
And stopped me dead!
#214
The Dream
Last night I dreamed a solemn dream
With Andy Panda in it.
Tonight I'll dream no dream at all,
Not even for a minute,
Cause I intend to stay awake
So Andy won't be in it.
#213
Seducer
Magnanimous magnolia,
So free with her blooms;
Lascivious lavender,
Brief springtime costume.
22 March 2012
#212
Surprise
Emily knew the feeling,
Walking all alone,
When she met a serpent:
Zero at the bone.
#211
Too Early?
20 March 2012
Orange tulip blooming,
The first day of Spring.
Call all the neighbors!
Let the bells ring!
Bright blood-orange tulips,
The first day of Spring.
Call the Herald Leader!
Hail to the King!
#210
Ps 100: The Attempt
When I was ten, my mama said,
"You're loud enough to raise the dead!"
Now I can yell with a certain poise,
But I still can't make a joyful noise.
#209
Steel Yourself
Tons of metal five miles high
Must even the Angels mystify.
#208
Young Girls
Young girls so pretty,
Skin smooth and clear,
Hair long and glossy,
Smiles bursting with cheer.
Girls young and pretty,
Eyes sparkling with light,
Teeth white and even,
Smiles that delight.
Young girls so pretty,
Some made to beguile,
Legs long and shapely,
Then there's that smile.
#207
Andy Panda #21
When it wouldn't go tick tock,
Andy tried to clean his clock.
The clock fell into disrepair
When Andy snagged it in his hair.
Andy Panda!
#206
Judgment
I used to think, when Mama died,
And she was just past 75,
That 75 was a ripe old age
(Clichés then were all the rage),
To minds so young and shallow;
God indeed might call them fallow.
Acceptable,
I cried.
Now that I'm near 75
And find myself still up, alive,
Regarding age, King Lear was right:
Ripeness is all; death is a blight.
While Thomas knew the use of rage,
I fooled myself at my mother's grave.
My shallow mind:
Unripe, unkind.
#202
Andy Panda #17
Andy Panda submarine,
Sailing on a cloud serene,
Up above all towers high,
Cloud-capped Andy rides the sky.
#203
Andy Panda #18
Andy Panda in the closet,
Looking for his sweetheart's locket,
Found instead a nest of Ants,
Hanging out in Andy's pants.
#204
Andy Panda #19
Andy Panda foster child
Of angry woman, husband mild;
Simple Andy had a thought:
Anger leaves you overwrought.
#205
Andy Panda #20
Andy Panda bought a horse,
Called him AbelBaker,
Rode him down to Richmond town
To try a boiler maker.
Andy Panda!
#201
The Grave Man
I tell myself I want to die,
Since die indeed I must;
And yet I think those awful words
Are just so much bleak dust
To keep the awful truth away
That death seems so unjust,
Since truly I don't want to die
While life is this robust.
At the same time I have been reading G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy on my new kindle. The book was free, along with his Heretics, his Father Brown Stories, The Wind in the Willows, a Spanish version of Don Quijote, the Gospel of John, and Alice in Wonderland. In Orthodoxy I have just reread the "Ethics of Elfland." What a delightful chapter: "...stories of magic alone can express my sense that life is not only a pleasure but a kind of eccentric privilege." If my hands worked well, I would quote a number of examples of his insights. "...we should thank God for beer and Burgandy by not drinking too much of them." But they don't. So it's off to find #201 in the plethora of delightful things around me. "The greatest of poems is an inventory." GKC
#200
Getting the Mail
The wind whips through the white pines,
Roaring like a long freight train,
Coming down upon me
With the force of a driving rain.
Still the sun is shining
And the jonquils bob and weave,
While I hurry up the driveway,
Giving thanks for this reprieve.
2/23/12
#199
Andy Panda #15
Andy Panda bought a boat
To sail upon the ocean.
Lost at sea he quickly moaned,
"This was a stupid notion!"
#198
This Means War
We're overrun with rodents,
Rascals everyone.
They tyrannize our feeders;
I ought to buy a gun
And blow the little devils
To Pandemonium.
