Rest PAD 30-3

 

Boredom

 

Sometimes work is more relaxing

than having nothing to do.

Boredom is a weighty load,

that can depress and injure you.

Rest PAD 30-2

 

Inspiring Rest

 

It’s a lovely feeling

embraced by a comfy chair,

giving weary bones a rest,

after a hard day’s work.

 

Forgetting those clamoring voices

that echoed my mother, long ago,

who tried to wake me up

by saying, “Get up and work!”

 

She never realized

her words only inspired me

to bore more deeply

into my covers.

Rest PAD 30-1

 

To-dos

Go marching by

In my dreams

As I fall asleep

In my recliner

Frustration PAD 29-3

 Gadgets

 

My gadgets are distracting me.

By messages and Facebook posts.

I check the weather, but there’s Lee.

My gadgets are distracting me.

I scroll an hour, two or three.

“Time’s a wasting” nobody boasts.

My gadgets are distracting me.

By messages and Facebook posts.

Frustration PAD 29-2

 Up, up, up

Down, down, up, down, up

Down, down, up

Up, down, up

Up, up, down, up, down, up, up

Trying to lose weight

frustration PAD 29-1

 I feel creaky in my bones.

Hubby listens to my moans.

He is creaky too.

There’s naught he can do.

So we harmonize with groans.

Celebration PAD 28-3

Yippee!

 

Y ippy! Hooray!

I celebrate today.

P eople I love

P romises from above

E arthly blessings

E ternal hope.

Celebration PAD 28-2

 The Light

 

The fragrance of fallen leaves

while walking in the rain.

 

Learning one more thing

I can to do on the computer.

 

Finally getting into the groove

post-trip with a new schedule.

 

The multitude of people

who help my friend after she fell.

 

My husband’s giggle as he walks

down the hallways with his walker.

 

I think of the things

I’m thankful for this morning.

 

I see that they are bright spots

through struggles.

 

So I celebrate the light

that dispels darkness.

Celebration PAD 28-1

 

Holiday Season

 

That Christmas of ’81,

my tummy resembled

a Christmas turkey,

but we had burgers,

since my first was born

three days later.

During the holidays,

we have one more

reason to celebrate.

Remix PAD 27-3

 

Day 24, If you blank, added four sisters

 

If You Knew My Family

 

If you knew my family

of my childhood, you’d remember

my oldest sister, a leftie,

banned to the end of the kitchen table,

so she wouldn’t bump anyone.

 

You’d remember my second sister,

between dad and my third sister.

We had to speak carefully;

she was squeamish. I loved chicken skin,

but I couldn’t use those words.

 

You’d remember a little red-haired girl

making her way across

an ear of corn on the cob

and dinging at the end

like an old typewriter.

 

You’d remember me,

never heeding Mom’s warning

about tilting back my chair.

But I never fell and killed myself

like she thought I would.

 

You’d remember my little sister

crammed between mom and the leftie.

One time she put olives

on all of her fingers.

Funny things to remember.

Remix PAD 27-2

 Day 24 metaphor From free verse to rhyming verse

 

Reading and Writing

 

Reading: The jet that flies you

to faraway places

in the comfort of your chair,

and to meet new faces.

 

Time machine that transports you

back one to many years

to see long-ago people,

not bombarded by fears.

 

The magic that enables

to explore fantasy,

wild landscapes and characters

no one has ever seen.

 

The rocket that launches you

to Jupiter and Mars,

Or to the unexplored worlds

far beyond moon and stars.

 

Writing: Makes you jet pilot,

Time machine’s scientist,

Magician of the magic,

and Astronaut of space.

 

 

 

Remix of earlier poem PAD 27-1

 Day 9 Weird , from haiku to dizain

Accents

 

A Southern Baptist preacher came to town.

Began a church when friends and I were teens.

And we invited those who lived around.

About the Bible none of us knew beans,

But were enthusiastic, so it seems.

So summers, kids from south came to our aid,

And helped us with the church that we had made.

From north and south, we all had fun till through.

“Ya’all are weird they drawled,” and teased and played.

And we retorted, “Yins are so weird, too.”

Fire/Ice PAD 26-3

 Icicles

 

I cicles, like spears, hanging from the roof

C apturing the sun light

I admire them first

C old and gleaming

L ong and sparkly, bulgy and pointed

E nding with a crash

S ince I clear them away for safety.

fire/ice PAD 26-2

 Fire

 

F lames flickering and dancing

I nspiring while repelling

R adiating, illuminating

E nchanting, compelling

fire/ice PAD 26-1

 

Weather Warning

 

I walked around the park yesterday. Twice.

Not a flake of snow or patch of ice.

But the sky looks ominous this morning.

The weather man has sounded his warning.

No traveling today was his advice.

Nature PAD 25-3

 Keystone Lake

 

An eastern sun shone on the lake

And made my sister’s silhouette.

It’s Keystone Lake where we once swam.

A place where we would not forget.

 

Sis three and I once walked around

That pretty lake, a couple miles.

Though we got sunburnt to a crisp,

It still brought forth a lot of smiles.

Nature PAD 25-2

 Childhood Home

 

In field, behind where home once was,

A deer stood perking leaf-like ears.

Nearby, the hill where we rode sleds.

We had such fun in childhood years.

 

It looked curiously at us,

As “remember whens,” we went through.

I snapped a pic, the deer ran off.

For that is what deer often do.

Nature PAD 25-1

 

Shannon Creek in PA

 

I peered through the thick green foliage.  

A trickle of water ran through.

Could this be the creek we spent hours

With whatever we’d find to do?

 

We built dams to make swimming holes,

Played tornadoes kicking our feet,

Caught minnows, frogs and let them go.

Those summer memories are sweet.

If you blank, PAD 24-3, PB food item

 If You Knew My Family

 

If you knew my family

of my childhood,

you’d remember

a little red-haired girl

making her way across

an ear of corn on the cob

and dinging at the end

like an old typewriter,

one of my favorite

memories of my third Sis.

If You Blank PAD 24-2, PB food item

If You are the Only One

 

If you are the only one

who likes sweet potatoes,

wrap one in plastic wrap.

Microwave a few minutes.

Forget the brown sugar,

marshmallows, whip cream,

pecans, any of that stuff.

A sweet potato is great plain. 

If you blank, PAD 24-1, PB food item

 If You are Invited

 

If you are invited over for Thanksgiving

and you take a green bean casserole,

and your daughter tries to snitch some

before it’s time to eat,

don’t scold your child by saying,

“Don’t do that,

it’s the best thing on the table,”

(insulting your hostess)

like my friend once did,

and I still have to choose to forgive her

every time I think about it.

Wanted PAD 23-3

 Mansions

 

When we were fourteen,

my best friend and I

would get out pencils and paper,

and draw the mansions we wanted:

large bedrooms with fire places,

kitchens, pantries, dining rooms,

studies, play rooms, laundry rooms,

game rooms, theaters, gardens, gyms,

libraries, ball rooms, six- car garages,

swimming pools, tennis courts,

and more, but we both ended up

with cute, common houses

and are quite content.

Wanted PAD 23-2

 

Wanted

 

W e wanted a variety of things,

A nd prayer gave our desires wings.

N ot what the Lord objects to, but

T he things He’s designed to see us through.

E ternity’s pull weighs more than desires,

D oing what God wants never expires.

Wanted PAD 23-1

 

Conflicting Desires

 

When I looked at the scales this morning,

I took the number as a warning.

I wanted to be thin, but I wanted to eat.

Now it’s getting difficult to see my feet.

So many people say this works and that.

I try them all, but I’m still getting fat.

So for breakfast, when I eat eggs and ham,

I’ll be grateful that I’m not fatter than I am!

Machine PAD 22-3

 Fixed



My husband fixed my toaster.

Or so he says.

He doesn’t fix things,

just makes them work another way.



The toaster toasts four bread at once.

Now, that he's repaired it,

the left side works fine,

but the right side won’t pop on its own.



So when the left side pops up.

I manually pop the right side,

but when I do, the toast flies

right out of the toaster.



It’s hard to get good help these days.

Machine PAD 22-2

 

The Ghost

 

Sometimes, it seems

my new Camry

wants to drive itself.

 

When I go a little over a line,

it feels like a ghost

is trying to take the wheel.

 

Often progress

Isn’t.

Machine PAD 22-1

 

All my employers ask

Is to do a computer task

And though I try

It makes me cry

My smile is just a mask

Against Advice PAD 21-3

 

I don’t know what to do.

Then do this.

And they do the opposite.

Against Advice PAD 21-2

 

Kids

 

We tell them over and over,

“Be kind to one another.”

And our advice

flies over their heads

like soaring eagles.

I guess adults do that, too.

Against Advice PAD 21-1

 

Mothers’ Advice

 

As a young mom,

my mother-in-law said,

“Let the baby cry.”

 

My mom said,

“Don’t let the baby cry.”

 

With my own mistakes,

I bumbled through.

 

And by God’s grace,

my kids survived.

Metaphor PAD 20-3

 

Reading and Writing

 

Reading

The jet that flies you

to faraway places

in the comfort

of your recliner.

 

The time machine

that transports you

back in time

to mingle with persons

of long ago.

 

The magic

that enables

you to explore fantastic

worlds and characters

no one has ever known.

 

The rocket ship

that launches you

to other planets

Mars, Jupiter, Neptune

and beyond.

 

Writing makes you

the pilot of the jet,

the mad scientist of the time machine

the magician of the magic,

and the astronaut to outer space.