Sonnets

In The Shadow Of Your Warm Love

Paul Holmes

In the shadow of your warm love
I feel so safe and secure,
And your soft, caring hands
Urge me on to bravely endure.

Your smiles soothe and ease the pain
Of another dark and lonely day;
The rainbow appears amid the rain,
My sorrow as quickly melts away.

A reassuring glow within your eyes
Tells me that you understand
The complicated ways of my sighs
Born of thoughts truly grand.

I continue to look upon your face
And gain a calm heart, my sweet solace

Stay Or Go?

GA Thompson

The days go by, then a month, then a year,
and still through the days I see not a change.
No matter what happens, you still aren’t here,
and how you just disappeared is what’s strange.

No explanation, no warning, just gone.
I wish I had just some of your courage
to go leave one rainy morning at dawn,
to leave one day without any message.

How I long for somewhere to be renewed
or to just disappear, just not to be,
not to see, not to feel, not to hear you,
the ghost that you are, which I long to be.

But as many days that I want to go,
there are more that I want to stay to know

Autumn Storm By Firelight

Katherine Marek

A flash of lightning streaks across the sky.
We huddle close beneath the trembling eaves
As thunder roars a nightmare lullaby
And strips the trees outside of summer leaves.

The fire is warm. Its light is warmer still.
A gentle beacon holding back the dark.
Yet, in the light of day, we know we will
Deny the fearful pounding of our hearts.

The ancient wonder once again is near.
The fury of the storm awakes our past.
When gods and nature both were to be feared
And spells of warding were by fire cast.

An autumn storm returns us to that place
When nature’s glory awed the human race.

Ode to Dragon

An ode to a dragon,
What a wonderful beast!
With scales and tails,
And teeth and claws.
With plumes of flame,
And powers of flight.

Magnificent in everything they do.
Scales shimmering with a beauteous radiance
As they dive for the kill
That will become their meal.
What an honor to be a dragon’s meal!
A most honorable death!

With tails of gold,
They strike down countless opposition.
With teeth and claws,
They rip apart food and enemy alike.
With plumes of flame,
They burn anything and all.

To be a dragon,
Those who have unlocked flight,
And mastered it’s secrets.
The right is theirs to gloat
With roars that shake most to its very core;
The right to spray the air with flames.

And now, as this ode closes,
Come to think of a dragon
As one worthy of respect.
And if you ever have the fortune
To meet such a being,
Rejoice with your entirety.

Ode To Fall

Cool days, cooler evenings
Time for sweaters.
Chop the wood, stack it high
Get out the leathers.

Trees of yellow, orange and red
Mums in full bloom
Roses bending, lilacs sad
Skies of gloom

Chili on the stove, stew at a simmer
Aromas fill the room
Apple pie, hot cocoa sweet
Just a good time before…
Winter’s gloom

Ode to My Socks

By Pablo Neruda

Maru Mori brought me
a pair
of socks
which she knitted herself
with her sheepherder’s hands,
two socks as soft
as rabbits.
I slipped my feet
into them
as though into
two
cases
knitted
with threads of
twilight
and goatskin.
Violent socks,
my feet were
two fish made
of wool,
two long sharks
sea-blue, shot
through
by one golden thread,
two immense blackbirds,
two cannons:
my feet
were honored
in this way
by
these
heavenly
socks.
They were
so handsome
for the first time
my feet seemed to me
unacceptable
like two decrepit
firemen, firemen
unworthy
of that woven
fire,
of those glowing
socks.

Nevertheless
I resisted
the sharp temptation
to save them somewhere
as schoolboys
keep
fireflies,
as learned men
collect
sacred texts,
I resisted
the mad impulse
to put them
into a golden
cage
and each day give them
birdseed
and pieces of pink melon.
Like explorers
in the jungle who hand
over the very rare
green deer
to the spit
and eat it
with remorse,
I stretched out
my feet
and pulled on
the magnificent
socks
and then my shoes.

The moral
of my ode is this:
beauty is twice
beauty
and what is good is doubly
good
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool
in winter.

Acrostic Poems

CATS

Cuddly

Acrobatic

Tenacious and terrifying

Softly purring

FEAR

Frightening

Eerie and strange

Anxiety rises

Ready to flee

SPRING

Sunny days

Plants awakening

Raindrops on the roof

Interesting clouds

New flowers

Gray skies

HOUSE

Home

Open and inviting

Universal

Safe and warm

Everything

Family

Fiercely loyal to those we love.
Accepting each for who and what they are.
Matchless in our hopes and dreams for one another.
Instilling pride in our hard-fought heritage.
Learning about our past guides us in the future.
You love and cherish the people of your heart.

Dragon

Deep and dark
Red as fire
Angsty
Growing, yet
Older than time
Never to be seen

Dinosaur

D aring
I nteresting
N ice
O bvious
S uper big
A wesome
U nforgettable
R awr
S uprising

How Sweet It Is

By James Taylor

How sweet it is to be loved by you
How sweet it is to be loved by you

I needed the shelter of someone’s arms
And there you were
I needed someone to understand my ups and downs
And there you were

With sweet love and devotion
Deeply touching my emotion
I want to stop and thank you, baby
I wanna stop and thank you baby, yes I doHow sweet it is to be loved by you
Feels so fine
How sweet it is to be loved by you I close my eyes at night
Wondering where would I be without you in my life
Everything I did was just a bore
Everywhere I went it seems I’d been there before. But you brighten up for me all of my days
With a love so sweet in so many ways
I wanna stop and thank you, baby
I just wanna stop and thank you baby, oh yes. How sweet it is to be loved by you
It’s like sugar sometimes
How sweet it is to be loved by you. You were better to me than I was to myself
For me, there’s you and there ain’t nobody else
I wanna stop and thank you, baby
I just wanna stop and thank you baby, oh nowHow sweet it is to be loved by you
How sweet it is to be loved by you
How sweet it is to be loved by you
It’s like jelly, baby, oh now. How sweet it is to be loved by you, oh now
How sweet it is to be loved by you
Just like honey to the bee baby, yeah now
Na, na, na, to be loved by you

Shower The People

By James Taylor

You can play the game
You can act out the part
Though you know
It wasn’t written for you
Tell me how can you stand there
With your broken heart
Ashamed to playin’ a fool? One thing can be to another
It doesn’t take any sacrifice
Oh, Father and Mother
And sister and brother
If it feels nice
Don’t think twice. Just shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Things are gonna work out fine
If you only will
Do as I say. Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Things are gonna be much better
If you only will. You can run but you cannot hide
This is widely known
Now what you plan to do with your foolish pride
When you’re all by yourself alone. Once you tell somebody
The way that you feel
You can feel it beginning to ease
I think it’s true what they say
About the squeaky wheel
Always getting the grease. Better to
Shower the people you love with love
Yes and show them the way that you feel
I know things are gonna be just fine
If you only will, what I like to do to youShower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Things are gonna be much better, if you only will. Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way you feel
Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feelShower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feelShower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feelShower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Shower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feelShower the people you love with love
Show them the way that you feel
Shower the people you love with love

The Tale of Custard the Dragon

By Ogden Nash

Belinda lived in a little white house,
With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse,
And a little yellow dog and a little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Now the name of the little black kitten was Ink,
And the little gray mouse, she called her Blink,
And the little yellow dog was sharp as Mustard,
But the dragon was a coward, and she called him Custard.

Custard the dragon had big sharp teeth,
And spikes on top of him and scales underneath,
Mouth like a fireplace, chimney for a nose,
And realio, trulio, daggers on his toes.

Belinda was as brave as a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chased lions down the stairs,
Mustard was as brave as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

Belinda tickled him, she tickled him unmerciful,
Ink, Blink and Mustard, they rudely called him Percival,
They all sat laughing in the little red wagon
At the realio, trulio, cowardly dragon.

Belinda giggled till she shook the house,
And Blink said Week! , which is giggling for a mouse,
Ink and Mustard rudely asked his age,
When Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

Suddenly, suddenly they heard a nasty sound,
And Mustard growled, and they all looked around.
Meowch! cried Ink, and Ooh! cried Belinda,
For there was a pirate, climbing in the winda.

Pistol in his left hand, pistol in his right,
And he held in his teeth a cutlass bright,
His beard was black, one leg was wood;
It was clear that the pirate meant no good.

Belinda paled, and she cried, Help! Help!
But Mustard fled with a terrified yelp,
Ink trickled down to the bottom of the household,
And little mouse Blink strategically mouseholed.

But up jumped Custard, snorting like an engine,
Clashed his tail like irons in a dungeon,
With a clatter and a clank and a jangling squirm
He went at the pirate like a robin at a worm.

The pirate gaped at Belinda’s dragon,
And gulped some grog from his pocket flagon,
He fired two bullets but they didn’t hit,
And Custard gobbled him, every bit.

Belinda embraced him, Mustard licked him,
No one mourned for his pirate victim
Ink and Blink in glee did gyrate
Around the dragon that ate the pyrate.

But presently up spoke little dog Mustard,
I’d been twice as brave if I hadn’t been flustered.
And up spoke Ink and up spoke Blink,
We’d have been three times as brave, we think,
And Custard said, I quite agree
That everybody is braver than me.

Belinda still lives in her little white house,
With her little black kitten and her little gray mouse,
And her little yellow dog and her little red wagon,
And her realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Belinda is as brave as a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chase lions down the stairs,
Mustard is as brave as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard keeps crying for a nice safe cage.

Poems 10/11

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

BY ROBERT FROST

Whose woods these are I think I know.   
His house is in the village though;   
He will not see me stopping here   
To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   
To stop without a farmhouse near   
Between the woods and frozen lake   
The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   
To ask if there is some mistake.   
The only other sound’s the sweep   
Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep,   
And miles to go before I sleep.

maggie and milly and molly and may

E. E. Cummings – 1894-1962

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it’s always ourselves we find in the sea

Bleezer’s Ice Cream

Jack Prelutsky

I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
I run BLEEZER’S ICE CREAM STORE,
there are flavors in my freezer
you have never seen before,
twenty-eight divine creations
too delicious to resist,
why not do yourself a favor,
try the flavors on my list:

COCOA MOCHA MACARONI
TAPIOCA SMOKED BALONEY
CHECKERBERRY CHEDDAR CHEW
CHICKEN CHERRY HONEYDEW
TUTTI-FRUTTI STEWED TOMATO
TUNA TACO BAKED POTATO
LOBSTER LITCHI LIMA BEAN
MOZZARELLA MANGOSTEEN
ALMOND HAM MERINGUE SALAMI
YAM ANCHOVY PRUNE PASTRAMI
SASSAFRAS SOUVLAKI HASH
SUKIYAKI SUCCOTASH
BUTTER BRICKLE PEPPER PICKLE
POMEGRANATE PUMPERNICKEL
PEACH PIMENTO PIZZA PLUM
PEANUT PUMPKIN BUBBLEGUM
BROCCOLI BANANA BLUSTER
CHOCOLATE CHOP SUEY CLUSTER
AVOCADO BRUSSELS SPROUT
PERIWINKLE SAUERKRAUT
COTTON CANDY CARROT CUSTARD
CAULIFLOWER COLA MUSTARD
ONION DUMPLING DOUBLE DIP
TURNIP TRUFFLE TRIPLE FLIP
GARLIC GUMBO GRAVY GUAVA
LENTIL LEMON LIVER LAVA
ORANGE OLIVE BAGEL BEET
WATERMELON WAFFLE WHEAT

I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
I run BLEEZER’S ICE CREAM STORE,
taste a flavor from my freezer,
you will surely ask for more.

Poems 10/4/21

Bed in Summer

by Robert Louis Stevenson

In Winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle light.
In Summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

Adventures Of Isabel

by Ogden Nash

Isabel met an enormous bear,
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t care;
The bear was hungry, the bear was ravenous,
The bear’s big mouth was cruel and cavernous.
The bear said, Isabel, glad to meet you,
How do, Isabel, now I’ll eat you!
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry.
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She washed her hands and she straightened her hair up,
Then Isabel quietly ate the bear up.
Once in a night as black as pitch
Isabel met a wicked old witch.
the witch’s face was cross and wrinkled,
The witch’s gums with teeth were sprinkled.
Ho, ho, Isabel! the old witch crowed,
I’ll turn you into an ugly toad!
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry,
She showed no rage and she showed no rancor,
But she turned the witch into milk and drank her.
Isabel met a hideous giant,
Isabel continued self reliant.
The giant was hairy, the giant was horrid,
He had one eye in the middle of his forhead.
Good morning, Isabel, the giant said,
I’ll grind your bones to make my bread.
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She nibled the zwieback that she always fed off,
And when it was gone, she cut the giant’s head off.
Isabel met a troublesome doctor,
He punched and he poked till he really shocked her.
The doctor’s talk was of coughs and chills
And the doctor’s satchel bulged with pills.
The doctor said unto Isabel,
Swallow this, it will make you well.
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She took those pills from the pill concocter,
And Isabel calmly cured the doctor.

Every Time I Climb a Tree

by David McCord

Every time I climb a tree
Every time I climb a tree
Every time I climb a tree
I scrape a leg
Or skin a knee
And every time I climb a tree
I find some ants
Or dodge a bee
And get the ants
All over me.
And every time I climb a tree
Where have you been?
They say to me
But don’t they know that I am free
Every time I climb a tree?
I like it best
To spot a nest
That has an egg
Or maybe three.
And then I skin
The other leg
But every time I climb a tree
I see a lot of things to see
Swallows rooftops and TV
And all the fields and farms there be
Every time I climb a tree
Though climbing may be good for ants
It isn’t awfully good for pants
But still it’s pretty good for me
Every time I climb a tree.

The Road Goes Ever On

by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod

by Eugene Field

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe,–
Sailed on a river of crystal light
Into a sea of dew.
“Where are you going, and what do you wish?”
The old moon asked the three.
“We have come to fish for the herring-fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we,”
Said Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe;
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew;
The little stars were the herring-fish
That lived in the beautiful sea.
“Now cast your nets wherever you wish,–
Never afraid are we!”
So cried the stars to the fishermen three,
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam,–
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home:
‘Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed
As if it could not be;
And some folk thought ’twas a dream they’d dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea;
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one’s trundle-bed;
So shut your eyes while Mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:–
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.