Gravity and Garden Gnomes

Gravity

Things that bounced now are saggy

What once was tight now is baggy

Skin so smooth has become flabby

All of this just makes me crabby

I was once so lithe and supple

My bosom made a lovely couple

But now there's no way to pretend

That gravity is still my friend.

Garden Gnome

He stands alone in my flower bed

A floppy hat upon his head

He doesn't move he doesn't talk

Just stands there stoic by the walk

He watches with a stony smile

When I visit for a while

As I dig and plant and  hoe

I tell him things no one can know

My dearest friend my garden gnome

Living just outside my home

Atop the body buried there

Keeping secrets he can't  share

Forest and Flame

Forest Bathing

Forest bathing 

So good for the soul

You stand amongst the trees

Silent and still

Breathing in the scents of pine

    and earth

Listening to the birds

    the squirrels

    the rustlings of other life

Feeling the air on your skin

    the wind in your hair

    the sun on your face

breathe deeply

    again

    and again

Feel one with the earth

Feel rejuvenated

Forest bathing

     no tub required

Flame

Today I saw my old flame

I couldn't remember her name

Or the feel of her touch

Or anything much

But she gave me a hug, just the same

Ether and Eyes

Ether (haiku)

A sore tooth strikes fear

A mask and some gas...relief

How I love ether

Eyes  (limerick)

My girlfriend has beautiful eyes

As blue as the bluest of skies

When she looks at me

It's easy to see

The love that she never denies

Dancing shoes and Donuts

Dancing Shoes and Donuts

When I put on my dancing shoes my spirits fairly soar

I swoop around and around the room and barely touch the floor

All the girls are jealous of and wish that they could be me

But it's only because of these dancing shoes that I can be so free

Their red and shiny and light as air and oh how they do shine

My feet are fleet and fancy-free and oh, my legs look fine

But alas even my special shoes will not for long support me

If those damned donuts I so love continually thwart me.

Caterpillar and Cloudscapes

Caterpillar

The caterpillar is a busy thing

munching leaves all through the spring

gathering strength for the big change

Having wings will feel so strange

Does he know what lies ahead?

That the cocoon that is his bed

Will change him in a special way

To the butterfly he'll be one day.

Cloudscapes

I look out the window of the plane and see

cloudscapes

A fluffy white wonderland surrounding us

I want to climb out the window and wander through

exploring behind the pillars of white and gray

walking on the carpet so soft and white

Actually I would rather be anywhere than on this

damned

plane

Beads (haiku)

Multicoloured beads

of every shape and size

A necklace is born

The Basket

An old lady stood with a basket of flowers

I had no doubt she had been there for hours

Her clothes were worn and her shoes had holes

Her face was wrinkled, scattered with moles

As I hurried past, I was busy you know,

I heard a voice come soft and low

Why such hurry, come smell my roses

No others like it make happy noses

I couldn't stop too much to do

Bills to pay and shopping too

I didn't stop, I didn't smell

happy noses?  what the hell?

But all day long I thought of the flowers

That I didn't smell and it seemed like hours

before I could pass her way again

I'd stop and I would smell them then

But she was gone and what was left

was a ragged basket now bereft

wilted leaves and faded scent

the chance for joy had come and went.

America

America

Oh  America you are such a bully

Throwing your weight around

Your people staring dully

As your crimes abound

Who's going to make America great

When the one who leads you

Has only made you hate

Which seems to please you

Oh America you think you're above us

Bigger, better, faster, smarter

It's plain to see though, you don't love us

If you did you would try harder

To help the ones who need it most

The sick, the poor, the hungry too

The need is great from coast to coast

But you only think of you

Well Bullies are really sad and weak

And pick on others less than them

But the tables are turning as we speak

And you won't get a chance again

To be the powerful "Great I Am"

Another country will take your place

And dismiss your Uncle Sam

And wipe that smug smile off your face.

Arrowroot Cookies

How we loved our Arrowroots

When we walked 'round in baby boots

Their firmness soothed our tender gums

And gave some peace to our poor mums

But the thing we loved the best

Was the sticky gooey globby mess

The cookies made all over us

Causing mums to make a fuss

But we grew up and on to Oreos

I'm sure you know how that story goes

Way too cool for baby food

We'd never let on they still tasted good

And now I sit here in my chair

Wrinkled hands and graying hair

I'll have that arrowroot with relief

For these small biscuits

require no teeth.