This was a project I did basically during the pandemic. I started writing a poem a day. Once ‘real life’ started again it got harder to write everyday, which is interesting.
I have started to edit some of these mostly the kids poetry. I think there might be enough here for a book. We shall see.
sometimes life tips over
Sometimes life tips over
Water spills out from its place
Beauty once, now strewn about
A tear rolls down your face
Time must pass
The wet will dry
Some small goodness
Opens your eyes
Upright the vase
Arrange the blooms
Joy again
Floods your empty room
Larry Lonondinger
Larry Lonondinger
as lazy as a man can be
let’s walk through a week with him
and we will surely see
On Monday
he does no work at all
claiming it is healthier
to start things with a crawl
On Tuesday he pretends to work
but nothing moves along
that’s because he thinks
the week is very long
Larry, he is quite skilled and deft
at counting days that are still left
On Wednesday you would think
his excuses would run out
but not with Larry, not at all
with him they sprout and sprout
oh today I am quite tired
or, it is very cold
or, I ate too much for breakfast
or, this pen is far too old
On Thursday there’s a turn
a switch, a counterpart
now it isn’t too soon to begin
it is now too late to start!
On Friday, well, what’s the point?
the week is nearly done
why start now, it’s best to wait
On Monday we start our new run
it isn’t only weekdays
that we see old Larry laze
the weekends soon become
a slothful, idle haze
On Saturday
the errands — they will have to wait
for now Larry needs to rest
the fatigue of the work week — so great!
On Sunday — well, that’s a rest day
we can’t expect that he would work!
to even ask the question!
are you some kind of jerk!?
and then right back to Monday
the week begins again
there is Larry Lonondinger
the most lazy of all men!!
Shelter
A wildness lives in the world.
No fort provides
perennial protection.
We all feel the wild sometimes.
When the winds of loss and grief howl
do the walls creak and moan and hold
against the rush?
When the rain of disappointment floods down
and the river seeks to pull you under
what fortress do you run to?
All castles have cracks.
When the cold air of loneliness
creeps in and whips around your ankles
do you have a blanket
in your own closet
to throw over your shoulders
as you shudder?
Are you willing to leave your refuge
when the sun of possibility shines or
do you cower and wait for the rain?
We all feel the wild sometimes.
What shelter do you have?
Waiting for Peter the Bee
What happened to Peter the Bee?
We met him but now where is he?
The weather turned colder, they all went inside.
A bee surely needs warmth, in cold weather they hide.
I am sure soon enough Peter will be
out for adventures and then we will see.
For now we just wait, the flowers will come
and then Peter Bee’s song surely will hum.
patterns
the page is hungry for words
but
words fail
ideas crack
the world is once again frozen
my comfort
the creature at my feet
a dirty, matted, smells like a frito because he needs a bath, barks too loud and too often, best dog in the whole wide world
but
he is hungry
he is always hungry
I relent
the dog is full
the page is full
once again
I Wanted to Write
I wanted to write about the wind
But my words kept blowing away
I wanted to write about the trees
But my ideas got tangled in the branches
I wanted to write about the sun
But my words got too close and burned
I wanted to write about ideas
And my words started blowing and got tangled and hot
Wizzelly and The Snow Day
It snowed hard all night long and when they all woke up,
the message from the school came through —
“Go ahead, have another cup.”
“We won’t be having school today. The roads are far too bad.”
While mom and dad, they groaned a bit,
Wizzelly was way beyond glad.
To say he was elated is still to understate.
He was the most excited kid!
To have no school — beyond great!
He knew what he would do for the entire day.
He would be outside with friends
and play and play and play.
He ate some oatmeal quick. His mom said “You have to.”
He dressed in record time
and out the door he flew.
Bundled as he was, he lumbered down the street.
The snow was all around, he thought,
“Man, the whole world looks so neat!”
He was reaching the corner when here came Walt and Will —
Wizzelly’s best good friends.
They set to planning out their thrills.
First, it was a snow fort built in Walter’s yard.
Then it was a snowman
imagined as castle guard.
As the boys were adding a stick that was a sword,
A new boy named Henry
came walking toward.
They all knew him already, he lived three streets away.
Henry asked if he could play with them
and the boys said “Sure, ok.”
It worked out in their favor. It was time for snowball fights.
The teams would be even now —
two on two was perfectly right.
Will and Walt joined together, leaving Henry and our Wizz.
They moved a small distance apart
and began the analysis.
How many balls to make? How big and how hard packed?
The planning of the thing
was as fun as the attack.
They finally started moving, Wizzelly watched Henry’s making.
Saw him shove a rock inside!
Wizzelly’s stomach started quaking.
He didn’t know what to do but those rocks seemed really bad.
Right away he heard the voices
of his mom and of his dad.
“If you are around something that seems not a-ok,
you should either leave the scene
or find some words to say.”
“What are you doing? You put a rock inside.”
Henry looked up at Wizz and flashed a grin,
“It makes them really glide!”
“But someone might get hurt!” “Don’t be such a baby.
I thought we wanted to win this fight!”
Wizz weakly answered “....maybe....”
“...but not by hurting someone. I’m out, I will not play.”
With that he spun around
and began to walk away.
Will and Walt they yelled, “Hey Wizz, where are you going?”
He didn’t quite know what to say...
he shrugged, “I don’t feel like throwing.”
But then he thought about it and joined them down the street.
“Henry’s putting rocks inside.
That’s wrong and is a cheat.”
Will and Walt shook their heads, agreeing with their friend.
“Guess the fight is over,
time for it to end.”
The three boys walked together leaving Henry all alone.
In one hand he held a snowball,
in the other a small stone.
You might think he would throw it at the boys who walked away.
But instead he dropped everything
and ran up to them to say,
“Hey guys, sorry, I was joking. I won’t use the rocks.
Let’s get back to playing,
building forts with big snow blocks!”
Will and Walt weren’t sure, they both looked down at their feet.
But Wizz said “Sure, just no more rocks.”
And they got to building forts — real neat!
As they were building, Wizzelly thought inside his mind,
“It was good to do the right thing,
and I’m glad I was still kind.”
They had an epic battle, but eventually moms called from the flanks.
As they started towards their homes,
Henry looked at Wizzelly and said “Thanks.”
Wizzelly had learned some lessons about how to be and how to play.
Now he knew he had the courage
to say what he needed to say.
something happy
I hope you find something happy
to bundle and put in your pack
fill your whole day with lightness and play
as you walk, feel the sun on your back
meet every person
with joy and good will
smile through foibles
laugh at the spills
I hope you find something happy
to carry through all of your days
always shine bright, laugh and delight
rejoice in love’s brilliant rays
risk flight
trapped in a nest of thoughts
twigs of worry sticking through
leaves of dreams
made to create comfort
now soggy
packed with the mud of options
a rough jumble of apprehension
risk flight
some dilly, some dally
a life filled with silly fun things
like dawdle and scribble and maybe some zing
times when you rest and lay in the grass
let nagging worries walk on right past
dangle your feet in some cool water
wasting time becomes your new charter
start adding in some dilly, some dally
stroll on down to green lazy valley
turn all your work into your play
life just might be better this way
Candy Sandy
Sandy loved her candy,
it’s all she ever ate.
Her parents tried to stop it
but her love was
just
too
great.
One time Sandy
imagined something wild.
A whole person made of candy!
Oh, her mind became beguiled!
hair of licorice string
eyes of chocolate
nose a little gummy
teeth made of pop rocks
the mouth could be a twizzler
turned up into a smile
a candy person would surely grin
wide enough to see for 10 miles!
the whole of the body
could be made with yellow peeps
those little easter duckies
a molded shape — those could keep!
the arms and legs could be
yummy peppermint sticks
the feet could be tootsie rolls
sculpted just to fit
the hands, they are harder...
what could they be?
maybe little candy stars
the points like fingers — do you see?
Oh! This sweet creation
Sandy made in her own mind.
Her dreams that night — delicious!
She ate the tasty person she had designed!!
Returning to Normal
A hug, a handshake?
How long to get a table? We’ll wait.
Want to grab a drink?
We need reservations I think.
Let’s go see a movie.
That new coffee shop looks groovy.
The dentist, a haircut!
We will be early.
No one will be there yet but
we can sit and chat,
talk of this and that.
I’ve missed you very much.
It’s so weird that we can touch.
Old MacCollum and The Gold
Old MacCollum was walking
down a garden path.
He spotted something shiny
under the bird bath.
He walked up real close,
inspected with his eyes —
a pile of gold nuggets!
Imagine his surprise!
He stood up quite tall
and looked all around.
Is there any person here
who sees what I have found?
His eyes did not spy
any people near.
The true nature of MacCollum
will now become clear.
He could take the nuggets,
a treasure — like a king,
have an artist fashion
Mrs. MacCollum a gold ring.
Oh, she would love that.
Would love to show her friends.
So, it is decided?
No, that is not how this ends.
MacCollum instead turned
and left the gold behind.
Now on a mission,
the gold’s owner he must find.
That is Old MacCollum —
a man that you can trust.
Aware of his greedy side
but do the right thing, he must.
I’m sure you will wonder
what happened next.
MacCollum found the gold’s owner.
How the gold got there is complex.
Thrilled to have found it,
the owner felt quite free.
He said to MacCollum,
What can I give to thee?
My wife would love a ring
to show all her friends.
She got a gorgeous ring
and now our story ends.
Lazy Louise
Lazy Louise rolled over
when she heard her alarm
but instead of waking up
she reached with her left arm
hit the little snooze button
to give herself more time
nine more precious minutes
until the next round of chimes
to Louise there was no rush
no hurry to wake up
all she had to do later
was put some coffee in her cup
Louise did not schedule
things into her day
content to let stuff happen
happy to let time unravel away
nine minutes turned to eighteen
and then to twenty-seven
pretty soon Louise was sleeping
until almost eleven
now the clock strikes twelve
and now it’s almost three
now it’s getting dark
bedtime soon to be
poor old Lazy Louise
spent the whole day in bed
hitting that little snooze button
a pillow under her head
but poor old Lazy Louise
doesn’t seem to mind
the laziest kind of person
you will ever find
Grumbles
Do you have Grumbles in your town?
Where I live they are all around.
At the house and the playground,
you don’t see them but they make sounds.
You find them at the store or on the bus,
where folks gather to discuss.
A Grumble might like to moan,
or mumble in a lowish tone.
Some Grumbles are louder sorts,
you can hear them gather at team sports.
Some Grumbles, they might sigh,
or whine and bellow and seem to cry.
Grumbles are a part of life,
they make their noise but cause little strife.
If you meet a Grumble in your day,
he will want to have his say,
but once done, he will go away.
Where is Our Bedtime Story?
Where is our friend the fox?
Is she hiding in a box?
Is she hiding in a tree?
Where is she? I can not see.
Where is our friend the rabbit?
He has a peculiar habit
of hopping away. He never does stay.
Where does he go? I really can’t say.
Where is our friend the squirrel?
Around and around she does whirl.
Up the tree and then back down.
She seems to be all over town!
Where is our friend the skunk?
Into which hole has he slunk?
Let’s leave him alone, he is at home,
last time we saw him he stunk!
Where are you my friend?
We are here reading, but now is the end.
Lay down your head and snuggle in bed.
Our bedtime story, it has been read.
Serious Sarah
Serious Sarah wakes up
opens her green eyes
she thinks of all she has to do
this is no surprise
Sarah likes to be
effective and precise
on the ball, never late
her planner is quite nice
you might think that Sarah
would be a little dull
not at all, her life is full
there never is a lull
she is always doing
just the most right thing
if she has a moment
her phone will likely ding
Sarah is serious
about doing all she can
you must agree to do that
you need a right good plan
if you meet this Sarah
you will find a smile on her face
this is what can happen
when you find your right good place
yes Sarah, she is serious
but never is she sad
she fills her day with doing
and doing makes her glad