A fish-poem assignment run amok

Bing image

A wee silverfish

hides in a china cup

in the cupboard's dark.

 

Thirsty in springtime,
I reach, finger a delicate piece

for morning's coffee.

 

Oh, blech! I exclaim

and drown the interloper

under the tap,

 

wash and dry the frilly cup,

fill it with black liquid.

Later, at Goodwill,

 

I spy a sparkly circle--

stones the shape of silverfish--

amethysts and opals,

 

emeralds and rubies

encased like stained glass

in metal. No errant

 

piece to escape

and nest in my china cup

like a silverfish.

blogging about birds: poems

Google image

 

HAIKU

#170-15

 

up early

but not before

the birds

 ~~

 

#165-15

 

CINQUAIN SEQUENCE

"On the Front Porch"

 

Hearing

a flutter,  like

a flag flipping, I look

up to see a crested bird fly

hither

 

and yon--

on the swing chains,

the wind chimes and the bricks.

"What are you looking for?" I asked.

it flew.

~~

 

# 166-15

 

TANKA

 

the nerve!

a mockingbird

mocking me

calling

"kitty-kitty-kitty"

~~

 

#174-15

 

TANKA SEQUENCE

brown thrasher
thrashes
and thrashes
in the birdbath
fluffs, then flies

followed
by a redbird
who sits a spell
(testing the temp?)
before bathing
~~

c 2015 PL



Blogging with a poem about writing and cooking

Left Brain, Write Brain
( a villanelle)

This morning, seeking strong iambic line,
I'll heed a heady hankering to cook.
By suppertime, both food and lines will shine.

Thesaurus on the table where we dine,
its dog-eared pages ready for a look
this morning, seeking strong iambic line.

Beef bouillon cubes lie melting into brine
for cabbage, prairie onions from the brook.
By suppertime, both food and lines will shine.

I boil potatoes, eggs to cut up fine;
doorbell unplugged, the wall phone off the hook
this morning, seeking strong iambic line.

I bake fat oatmeal cookies, sweet outline
of finished meal--at least in Rombauers' book.
By suppertime, both food and lines will shine.

The brain lobes, left and right, somehow combine
to write and cook--how little time it took!
This morning, seeking strong iambic line,
by suppertime, both food and lines will shine.

c 2015 PL, written while living in Arkadelphia, 1997-2002

(Mostly) Modern tanka for May

MODERN TANKA do not have to stick to the traditional 5-7-5-7-7 form if the image(s) can be seen in fewer syllables.

muffled radio
and hammering
at the nearby building site--
my outside coffee/news place
contaminated

May 8, 2012
~~

FOUND tanka

"The marathon . . .
a learning experience
that keeps on teaching . . ."
never enter another
without a post-race goal

- idea from Celia Storey, AD-G,
May 12. 2003
~~

small, 2-college town--
without PhD after
your name, you're no one
especially in churches
with large music ministries

[traditional form]
May 18, 1999, Arkadelphia
~~

bouquet of clover
privet and honeysuckle
plus dandelions
   the strong scent
   reminds me of Mother

May 12, 2010
~~

thumbing through GLAMOUR
in the Texaco station
waiting room
hurry fellows,
it's beginning to rain

May 18, 2006
~~
~~
c 2015, PL, dba lovepat press

Poetry blog: April through the years

CINQUAINS

Going
through the pollen
thing twice--at home, again
in north Arkansas. Oaks just now
greening.
[2004]
~~

"Myrtie May's"

Nature
and tourism--
a swap-off. Seeing the
forest through the windows of the
diner.
[2004]
~~

"Power Restored"

From black
to blinding light;
from silence to the din
of hums, thrumbs, clicks of a noisy
household.

[from The Observer, Arkansas Times,
4. 27. 2011]
~~

"Late April"

My yard
a-scent with lush
limbs of blooming privet
and honeysuckle--a generous
nose nosh.
[2011]
~~

After
a devotion
using "worry stones," we
toss them plop, plop, plop into the
bayou.
[2013]
~~

Stirring
chicken, boiled eggs
for an Easter salad,
the old conundrum pops up: which
came first?
[2015]
~~
~~

c 2015 Pat Laster dba lovepat press

(What I call) the Yellow Rose of Texas--in the backyard - PL

 

"Surprise X Two"

 

Double

oh  my gosh! es:

Yellow Rose of Texas

in full bloom! Near the street, a white

iris!

 [4.3.'15]

~~

 

after the stroke

he gardens

in orange buckets

 [4. 2. '15]

~~

 

a t-storm brewing

north of here

first taste of melon

 [4.1.'15]

~~

 

redbud and thrift

replacing

spent daffodils

 [3.31.'15]

~~

 

by the henbit

a patch of bluets

... and a violet!

 [3.31.'15]

~~

 

through new oak leaves

and haze of dusk

the gibbous moon

[3.31.'15]

~~

c Pat Laster dba lovepat press 2015

Flowers into verse

steady rainfall/ under the young tulip tree/ pink and white petals

~~
eve of summer/ I plant marigolds/ where the pansies died
~~

dead of winter/ two yellow mums bloom/ on closer look … silk
~~

before the ice storm/ fresh camellias/ grace each room
~~

peepers croak/ from a marshy bog/ here, violets bloom

~~

before daffodil/ or purple martin/ a killer tornado
~~

petals fallen/ under the red camellia/ April’s rain in March
~~

jonquils/ drooping in their first rain/ the umbrellaed walker
 
c 2015 PL