Poem 43: Golden Wedding toast

(The poetic form selected for this month is the English or Shakespearean Sonnet. This is the last Sonnet for this month.)

At minus two degrees it’s just like summer,
At least that summer fifty years gone by.
Let’s face it folks, that summer was a bummer;
It made the global warming stuff a lie.

Fifty years ago my girl was ice;
She told me straight, go jump into the lake.
Some other things she said weren’t quite as nice.
I took the plunge and stayed, for goodness sake!

Well, next she entered riding on a high horse
Just as autumn leaves were shedding gold;
She sneered and said go take a hike, of course.
So once again I stepped out in the cold.

A toast to icy days when we were young;
Yet winter’s snug because she’s summer’s sun!

To hear the poem read aloud click HERE.

Poem 42: That empty chair

(The poetic form selected for this month is the English or Shakespearean Sonnet).

That empty chair I see across the table
Reminds me; I must phone my headstone mate
And ask him if in any way I’m able
To cut on costs without been thought a cheapskate.

Quite frankly, funeral costs went through the roof.
The walnut chest you wanted I ignored.
Instead I thought of something on the hoof
And nailed a box up out of some old boards.

I didn’t think too many would attend
A funeral service in a pricey hall;
The obit. read: No flowers, we don’t intend
To celebrate her life and death at all.

At least the whole affair has one bright spot:
I’ll sell your chair and hope I get a lot.

To hear the poem read aloud click HERE.

Poem 41: I wish I were a clown

(The poetic form selected for this month is the English or Shakespearean Sonnet).

I wish I were a clown and worked with youngsters.
I’d wear a funny hat and great big shoes.
I’d wield a water-pistol like those gangsters
In the movies, and play at peek-a-boo.

Instead, I am a joke, they laugh at me
And shout offensive names that get me down.
Hey Scrooge McDuck! Hey Greedy-Guts! You see
They think I am the fool who’s not a clown.

It’s true I’ve lots of money that I’ve saved.
I live alone. My wife died years ago.
The kids around here aren’t that well behaved,
But then again, there’s no space here to grow.

I guess I’ll bite the dust one day, but hey!
This clown shall leave a park where kids can play.

To hear the poem read aloud click HERE.

Poem 40: Dare I compare you to a hippopotamus?

(The poetic form selected for this month is the English or Shakespearean Sonnet).

Dare I compare you to a hippopotamus?
You know you’re overweight and find it difficult
To wear nice clothes that fit and aren’t preposterous.
It’s really not your fault; it’s how you’re built.

You call me your giraffe because I’m thin.
I try to eat a lot but nothing works.
I walk on legs that look like skinny pins.
You laugh at me, and yes! your laughter irks.

But what a pair we are! The butt of jokes!
The fatty and the skinny grocery shopping!
One short, one tall, a pair, a gal and bloke,
The hippo and giraffe, one lean, one whopping.

And yet you are my love, my day, my night,
My sun, my moon, my stars, my world, my light.

To hear the poem read aloud click HERE.

Poem 39: It seems we’ve entered into winter’s frost

(The poetic form selected for this month is the English or Shakespearean Sonnet).

It seems we’ve entered into winter’s frost.
Your sullen glances hold a cold distain.
Fourteen years together look as lost
And rain an icy sleet. There is no gain.

There was a springtime time when all was new.
We’d picnic in the willow’s lovely shade
And talk and dance and laugh the season through.
We thought our love was truly heaven-made.

As all four seasons come and all four go
Time turns quaint foibles into tiresome ways.
“Whose turn to cook?” is greeted with “Dunno”.
What future? How much longer are our days?

Tonight we both saw light on wedding bands;
Our children sang some songs, and we held hands.

To hear the poem read aloud click HERE.