There was an old tortoise named John
maybe 100
maybe more
maybe less
It's hard to say
John was much travelled
maybe Saipan
maybe the furthest side of the world
maybe not
It's hard to say
For all of his travelling
John wasn't a mover
he mostly just sat
that's why he was lonesome plus
His home was a closet
John wasn't aggressive
he didn't like to fight
he was good-natured, polite:
he couldn't run away, that's why
His hard shell
John wasn't good looking, not handsome:
skin dark wrinkly,
stubby tail, nostrils like eggs,
slippery tongue (for examining things)
Thin not very long
John didn't eat all that much:
he liked squash,
both summer and winter,
roses too, but his favorite was
Aleo vero, succulent and sweet
John's story seems sad
just growing older and older
as others passed on
all except for
Sarah who visited one day
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Childhood songs
Childhood songs
I came into the world
before there were words
before there were shoelaces
before dry ice
Childhood sang songs
reciting, memorizing, gaining mastery
kittens, toy boats, chicka-dee-dee calls
don't touch dry ice
Songs I once knew, I would hear them again
arithmetic was easy
I think further now
but forget
What once seemed simple
the difference between plus and minus:
really doesn't matter
getting dressed was good exercise for later
School had disadvantages
one can learn something for life anyplace
streams become rivers that run to the sea
mermaids riding dolphins sing under the stars
Grains of sand in the hour glass
accumulate below what once formed above
time is a lesson:
missed, premature, correct
My father said don't touch dry ice
I came into the world
before there were words
before there were shoelaces
before dry ice
Childhood sang songs
reciting, memorizing, gaining mastery
kittens, toy boats, chicka-dee-dee calls
don't touch dry ice
Songs I once knew, I would hear them again
arithmetic was easy
I think further now
but forget
What once seemed simple
the difference between plus and minus:
really doesn't matter
getting dressed was good exercise for later
School had disadvantages
one can learn something for life anyplace
streams become rivers that run to the sea
mermaids riding dolphins sing under the stars
Grains of sand in the hour glass
accumulate below what once formed above
time is a lesson:
missed, premature, correct
My father said don't touch dry ice
Saturday, October 1, 2011
A likeness
His great pleasure was a broom,
batting it
he stood on kitten-sturdy-stubby hind legs
He was Dickon after
the familiar who fired Mother Rigby's pipe:
("Dickon...a coal for my pipe!")
his orange coat the impetus.
He came into this world
a playful soul
fifteen years ago
April last
He came into this world
a random soul
his mother half-feral, a tortoiseshell stray
He came into this world
to sleep in baskets (clothes),
to loll in the sun:
one time he caught a bat
It's fall now,
will Dickon another April have
Once we were of like age
now he's more,
older
Each morning he's
like all elderly and frail
who wake to the dawn
For Dickon
morning's brightening's
an eclipse:
Dickon who used to
find wonderful fun in all things
batting it
he stood on kitten-sturdy-stubby hind legs
He was Dickon after
the familiar who fired Mother Rigby's pipe:
("Dickon...a coal for my pipe!")
his orange coat the impetus.
He came into this world
a playful soul
fifteen years ago
April last
He came into this world
a random soul
his mother half-feral, a tortoiseshell stray
He came into this world
to sleep in baskets (clothes),
to loll in the sun:
one time he caught a bat
It's fall now,
will Dickon another April have
Once we were of like age
now he's more,
older
Each morning he's
like all elderly and frail
who wake to the dawn
For Dickon
morning's brightening's
an eclipse:
Dickon who used to
find wonderful fun in all things
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