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Sorry I didn't make this clear: “the meanest things in creation"1... 10/19/2023 1 - (quote coined by) Ichthyologist William Leo Smith.
The acrostic is Stargazer... a Stargazer in this sense is the ocean fish I wrote about :)
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Thanks! I recognized the accrostic but I didn´t know it was the name of a fish.
Word Can poem (10/19/2023): pest, hay, fresco, place, redeem, moon
askance the harvest moon
askance the harvest moon
al fresco dining
with a lacy table cloth
and antique place settings
upon hay bales for
table and seating - bales
redeemed from the fields
citronella wafts in
the light breeze to help
keep the pests away
and dinner lingers on and on
as long as memory lingers
10/19/2023
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
My poem assignment for today's Thursdays at Two poetry group: Pencil
"Ideas are elusive, slippery things. Best to keep a pad of paper and a pencil at your bedside, so you can stab them during the night before they get away." - Earl Nightingale
Pencil
Porcupine quills are barbed. You’re
echidna wary if avoiding the sure
needles, pins, darts, and stings to
cacti glochidia things. Do you see
icicles after a severe freeze ? - the
lances stabbing downward en point.
11/2/2023
Golden shovel: “You’re sure to see the point.” Last line
from THE PENCIL’S STORY by Florence Hoatson
Acrostic: Pencil
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Sorry. tailor. I somehow missed the word can poem from 10/19/2023
I liked this poem about a cozy harvest dinner on hay balls like in the old times!
***
Enjoyed the Pencil poem. Dutifully read THE PENCIL’S STORY by Florence Hoatson which must be an usual school assignment in USA. And learned what a "Golden shovel" is in poetry:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden...aying%20homage.
Thanx :)
re: Sorry. tailor. - Lol, I just posted it. The poem was a hand written poem that I lazily took until today to type it out and add.
re: Pencil... - here's the link and analysis I forgot to post... https://englishsummary.com/lesson/th...ish-class-9th/
I am using Florence's poem as my offering for our Thursdays at Two segment of reciting a poem by another author AND used it as a vehicle for my assignment poem too (two hours to go!!! :) ) I hadn't run across the poem until I went into research mode for ideas.
I find adding an acrostic front end to my Golden shovels helps me with the writing of some assignments because they're practically half written and all I have to do is fill in the blanks :) . Unfortunately the content usually suffers for the form, but once in a while they come out just fine :)
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
My Word Can poem for 11/2/2023: substance, laborious, fuel, guidance, lockbox, council, aisle, court
lock box
in the courts of academia
a lockbox is consulted
located in a lonely narrow aisle
opened then shaken like a word can
polished bones are interpreted
over which they stand in council
laborious is this stalwart task
but it fuels their imagination
and gives them guidance - but
of substance... not so much
11/2/2023 r.
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
?-Looks like a class of medical students-Anyway a bonny poem.
Yeah, maybe a clunker... how about the following idea for my next assignment (4-5 words I don't usually use) for 11/16/2023 ?
just kidding around
as a child I practiced lamprophony,
necessary in a family of five children,
often employing gerdoying to great
effect with cars and trains and planes,
and space battles played on paper:
x's vs. o's drawn at random then
slicing laser beams from x or o drawn
by pencil with catastrophic results
- who needed a video game back then?
speaking of games my father taught
me lessons of the scacchic persuasion
we had woopies that we either visited
or were visited by that we adored, a
Grandfather from Alaska and a Great
Aunt who lived just a few blocks away
lines: well, tried for a decastich here;
came up with 101.230448921377 or so
11/5/2023
gerdoying: imitation sound of a crash
lamprophony: speaking in loud and clear tones
scacchic: of, like or pertaining to chess
woopie: well-off older person
decastich: ten-line poem
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Lol! Thanks for thevocabulary!
I liked the poem but there seems to be some problem here:
"lines: well, tried for a decastich here;
came up with 101.230448921377 or so "
Also this verse seems not to be so aligned with the rest of the poem.
The theme changes abruptly from childhood to the form of the poem.
I agree... just got an early start and thought to throw it out for some feedback :)
Took me more than 15 minutes to get 17 as an exponent as 10 with significant accuracy ( 10^1.230448921377 )... google kept asking me if I was a robot, lol.
Nearly time for church...
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Thanks!
Maybe you use another line with decastich in the poem and add that big number in a PS.
Ok, putting that poem on the shelf...
Latest idea:
Words may change... I have until next Thursday after all :)Code:abc-cadabra
abracadabra
blustery
mnemonic
dulcimers
endure
forests
dazzling
hilltops
glissandi
jigsaw
click
lick
blossom
nick
manifesto
portobello
umiaq
racing
starships
teleportation
impromptu
visions
curlew
xenial
vocabulary
zaniness
11/9/2023
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Loved the structure of this poem!:)
Missed some letters, like "H", "K", "W", "Q" and "Y". But as you also have some letters appearing twice, "C","D" and "M", that should be easy to change, if you want the whole alphabet in your poem.
re: structure - look closer and think of it as a turnstile with the spine showing the alphabet a-z :)
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Yes, ingenious! And I see why you imported it. On the Litnet page the formatting probably would be lost.
Yes, the format would be impossible without the advanced options... I had to play a bit with the "code" option because it too needed tweaking as far as wysiwyg... the advanced preview mode helped immensely in going back and forth... so very glad it's working :) Far easier to format in a word document like Rhyme Desk and my google.doc. The idea has prolly been done before but I haven't researched it... and no trickery here... no website mumbo jumbo templates used. The next logical step would be to make the "poem" more "poemish" or more impish... but I like it as is... we'll see :)
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
I`m curious about what follows, but first you have to get some sleep.
My Word Can poem for 1/4/2024: flim flam, kingdom, lit windows, inexact, shogun, nibble, occasion, into space, now, deep
To the Moon !!! Redux
“Now, it’s an inexact science going into space,
let alone the moon, but never fear”
said the flim flam man to the shogun
who appeared to be deep in thought
The lit windows in the tavern gave an amber glow
It was an occasion the kingdom would never forget
as a scroll was unrolled bearing a translation
of ancient hieroglyphs by Timotheses the charioteer -
and a price was fixed and plans were made for the
conquest of the moon! as mice nibbled on crumbs
of bread, contentedly, in the corner of the room
1/4/2024 r. 1/18/2024
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Was wondering where these poems were!Enjoyed specially the contrasts: earth and moon, ancient hieroglyphs and space project, humans projecting moon conquest, mice nibbling crumbs.
Word Can poem: Catalpa, noxious, mixture, clip, destination, fundamental, cupboard, pensive, impetuous
a winter outing
from my cupboard, squirreled away
in a sugar tin - next to the noxious
savors that go into soups, I grab some
mad money and place it in my money
clip - a mixture of $1's, $5's, and ten$
my destination takes me through the
Catalpa Pine and Douglas Fir forests to
the casinos - sure to be empty in winter's
solemn snows - an impetuous journey
but fundamentally sound in my estima-
tion: for number combinations of 7’s
or 1’s have been taunting me daily
pensively I stare
willing spinning reels to score
bells and flashing lights
1/15/2024 r. 2/1/2024
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Lol! Enjoyed! Here they are encouraging online betting now. Government is always sure to win!
My Word Can poem for 2/1/2024: unabashed, pressure, cactus,
participation, patter, worthy, principle, conversely
Worthy the Christmas Cactus
Worthy the Christmas Cactus
unabashedly blooming
a bit early; its participation
in the season’s celebration
with lovely red and pink blossoms beaming
the patter of children throughout the house
unprincipled in anything less than
that of utter joy as the men focus on football games
conversely Mother, as usual, under pressure
to provide the tidiness and order and
meals the family would enjoy
2/1/2024 r. 2/15/2024
and a poem in progress:
“There is an ocean of silence between us… and I am drowning in it.” ― Ranata Suzuki
Love ~ A Work in Progress / Acrostic/*Golden shovel
whispering sweet nothings to the wind I
hold true to a chaste devotion and choose
inspiration's sweet kiss - a poem to
shower you with - of everlasting love
preternatural in its scope, that you
ever may be celestially bathed in
radiant light from on high. Then silence…
daffodils bow low when you are nigh: For
acclamation precedes royalty in
rapturous procession breaking silence
lightsome in its very character - I
incandesce in my innocence to find
noble solace burning gallantly - no
greater yearning for fear of rejection,
befitting a lowly incarnate I
endure - seeking the higher ground to choose
love in its purest expression, yet to
overcome my natural man - a love
valiantly pursued to best honor you
eternally, mute in my silence in
devotion I embrace my loneliness…
love; we mere mortals scarce understand: For
out of love was existence conceived in
victorious holiness; loneliness
elegantly raised in grand design no
less... no need to fear being alone - one
is never truly alone... each one owns
glorious kinship to deity - you
have but to seek, petition in prayer - but
to do so with faith, mastering the me,
butterflies dance in the light - shouldn't I
let loose my mortal chrysalis and choose
unblemished, yet earthly existence to
seek a celestial leaning - to adore
harmoniously from afar as you
inspire, a diadem you are ___ from
ngadistance…
chForadistancerwillmshieldemerfrompain,
transcendentiImchooseetolkisseyousinsthewind…
dandelions testify of heav'n, For
eachvtheowindtisigentlerothannmylips,
heIachoosevtoeholdnyoulinymydreams…
reForqinumyidreams,tyoueternityhave- nodeath, only love abides... there is no end.
2/15/2024 *Golden shovel source: by Rumi -
“I choose to love you in silence…
For in silence I find no rejection,
I choose to love you in loneliness…
For in loneliness no one owns you but me,
I choose to adore you from a distance…
For distance will shield me from pain,
I choose to kiss you in the wind…
For the wind is gentler than my lips,
I choose to hold you in my dreams…
For in my dreams, you have no end.”
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Very intense poem. I can see why Petrarca inspires you so much.
Silent love is the burden and the solace of timid people (like us).
My Word Can poem for 2/15/2024: elevator, single, survey, enhance, nag, miracle, hopeful, break
My Saint Valentine’s Poem
the thought nagged at me -
ten co-workers cramped in the
lift at dusk’s break as I surveyed uncomfortably;
‘tis Saint Valentine’s Day
a day for hopeful miracles for singles, et al,
especially enhanced at work’s end, when
the Muzak plays, innocuously at first
for the first few floors when “Love in an
Elevator” by Aerosmith begins to play
and everyone in the lift begins to crack up
Current Poem assignment: For 3/7/2024 -
Note: Symploce: Combining anaphora, & epistrophe (S1 - S3); Simple rhyme (S4); Remainder: Haibun (Prose ending with an Haiku)
What If ?
What if I had simply taken a ride
offered by a friend to Monterey...
Would I have felt guilty as my friend
drove - would my heart be at rest
knowing of an approaching blizzard ?
What if I had just taken a bus, or two,
transferring before arrival in Monterey...
Would my car have been safely parked
against vandalism? - I couldn't rest
with the costs and concerns, logistics, no...
What if I had decided not to try
to drive, on my own, to Monterey...
Would I have found closure over
the loss of my dear friend laid to rest ?
Such were my thoughts as I planned
to honor my friend and his family - and
on a Thursday noon late in February
set out from home in Garden Valley, wary,
yet overcoming my better judgment
due to anxieties while driving to the extent
that my meds had been elevated just
weeks prior and I set my thoughts to trust
that my body and mind could manage
driving the "backroads" without damage
In hindsight better route planning
and allowing for extra time would
have been more prudent, but I drove
with a will: Marshall Road to Placerville
to Plymouth to Ione... then lost in Ione -
missing a turn and my bearings for what
seemed half an hour then on track to
Buena Vista to South Camanche Parkway
to Burson and Wallace then Clements
then a wrong turn again onto Jack
Tone Road, South, toward Manteca...
my nerves holding up far better than
I had imagined... then a jog or two east
by way of correction to Oakdale and
Turlock, but as daylight was running out
so too were my nerves as I limped into
Los Banos, once "The Baths", in Spanish
now relegated to "the bathrooms" and found
refuge for mind and body for the night
at an inn, then checked in with my ailing
wife by phone, stranded herself in Arizona
The night sped peacefully, and I dined
on chocolate, raisins, and beef jerky and
planned my next assault to make my
appointment in Monterey at 1:00 pm,
and I slept; at 7 am, having showered, I
began my journey towards Gilroy. Ah, as
fate would have it this was no backroad
and upon learning my error I left the
highway at the first sideroad seeking a
better route - my maps showed it went
through, but alas, was blocked by a fence
and after much time and deliberation and
encouragement from my wife via phone
I screwed up my courage to re-enter
the highway and faced my first true trial
Pacheco Pass sounds innocuous at best,
Pacheco meaning "The Noble One" in Spanish,
but not for the timid and infirm of mind -
a 2-lane highway passing through miles
of tall hills surrounded by semi-trucks I fear-
fully stayed right lane at 55 miles per hour,
10 miles per hour below the highway limit,
steeling my nerves with prayer... alert to
follow the least fleet of semi's I could find
and after much stress and still more prayer
I was in Gilroy, safe, albeit with frazzled nerves
The backroads from Gilroy to Monterey were
much tamer... via Mt. Madonna, perfectly
named to restore my tranquility, meandering
peacefully into Watsonville with but a few mis-
steps and finally into Salinas, with Monterey
seemingly in my grasp to make my 1:00 pm
service appointment - only to be disappointed
by my faulty Alexa app directing me North
to Marina... finally backtracking and arriving
at my friend's family crypt 20 minutes late,
disappointing, but a victory nonetheless, the
family still mingling there and we adjourned
after an ill advised u-turn and a short trip
for a fabulous luncheon at Tarpy's where
stories were told and my friend was extolled
as father, brother, etc. beyond measure, then
took my leave to return and spend the night
in Salinas in my car at a Walmart I had difficulty
in locating, but finally hunkered down to sleep
On awaking I found a fast food place quickly
and after breakfast spent a penny and began
my last gasp drive home expecting feet of
snow on arrival in our Gold Country hills -
but full of bright spirits nonetheless for I
planned to bypass Pacheco Pass altogether,
Ha!, and meandered with only a misstep or
two to Gilroy over the blessed Mt. Madonna
Pass to Monterey Road North to San Jose
feeling full of myself for having found a squiggle
of a road on the map that was route 130 by
name: San Jose to the city of Patterson via
Alum rock, altitude 151 feet above sea level,
and soon... all that mattered as my mind
was all but shattered unceasingly was His will
be done: "I can do all things through Christ Jesus"
again and again a chain prayer for miles upon
miles, 19 miles in truth, with 365 curves to the
top of the mount, I googled after the fact! (all
of the curves worst than the ones gracing
Chili Bar near home where I used to creep at
5-miles per hour before giving that route up)
hugging the center of the narrowest of roads
shrouded in mists, just as well, with sheer cliffs
hoping for no cars nor cyclists coming down -
then snow on the ground before reaching the
summit 4,265 feet above sea level was Mount
Hamilton's peak and Lick Observatory; inter-
estingly enough there was a sign at the summit
to be quiet for workers at sleep, but I couldn't
even had made a peep if I wanted to.........................
then down through the snowy road meandering
down and down past rock slides and other hazards
the snow on the road slowly giving way as the road
continued on and on and on... to Patterson where
I finally was able to catch my breath at last, my
mind shredded to insignificance in the immensity
of my ordeal and my agonizing communion with God
Thirty minutes or more before Turlock my left knee
and ankle had to be tended to and so I took a break
and spent a penny while a man weed-wacked the
grounds - it seemed a normal thing for him to do.
From there the drive home was blissfully uneventful
with but a short pace where talking to my wife, Gail,
grounded me as I drove through Oakdale North to
the little towns I had passed through before, and
once I made Ione I cranked up techno music to spur
me on, though a bit less than the speed limit thereon
making it home about 6 pm to a 43° Fahrenheit home
with two chilled kitties, and a dead wood stove…
power still on the grid and nary a flake of snow in sight
facing new trialsmortal weaknesses laid bareI will trust in Him
3/7/2024
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Enjoyed both poems or better the Valentine poem and the Saga about your trip.I never learned to drive but I tried to imagine myself on those roads. You drove on unused roads and that was part of the ordeal but also the adventure. And the destiny seemed to be rather far.The important thing was as we say here: mission given is mission accomplished.
About the form:I liked the combination of form finishing with a Haiku.Such à journey must be told in prose.And I liked the humorous touch in spite of all despair.
Thank you!
An assignment poem for today's Thursdays at Two poetry group: Gratefulness
Gratefulness
gently they came bringing
rains that swiftly melt
april's sparse snows away
thankfully so, the
earth refreshed
felicitations upon my lips
unabashedly toward heav'n
lightening my spirit as
neighborly visiting
evanescent
sculpted clouds
sail upon azure
4/18/2024
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Charming poem! I guess the chill is traveling south. Today after many hot months, 18ºC as maximal temperature.
Cool weather must be a blessing after your terrible summer heat... not looking forward to ours. I'm grateful for a bit of moderate weather hereabouts where I can rest a bit worrying about firewood... grateful for the moderate winter we had regarding snow and the ample rain :)
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
It is. Autumn is my favorite season. As for the firewood, I guess you have to chop it every day.
I think I lean toward Autumn too. Wood - not every day. I get some delivered (the product of church wood cutting projects )... maybe 3-4 pickup truckloads each winter already split as well as make "rounds" with my chainsaw of downed trees which I split with a heavy maul... it gets stacked, or not, and covered with tarps to cope with rain and snow, with maybe 3-days supply stacked indoors near the wood stove. I think I've split close to 1.5 cords of wood this past fall/winter myself... with a little bit more to do.
My latest Word Can poem from our poetry group: form, grovel, spray, limestone, proximity, otherworldly
Raid !
otherworldly beings - our new over-
lords have us join queues - long lines
of humanity now grovel within
their proximity upon a limestone
laid courtyard - I laugh in a
Pollyannaish way to myself -
wishing I had a can of bug spray
4/18/2024 *goes with my AI/Overlord poetry arc as of late nicely :)
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
My assignment for today's Thursdays at Two was to include an idiom, or even make one up, within a poem. I do this quite frequently anyway so it was no stretch, but still a fun exercise:
a poet's shoes...
a poet's shoes should be
like a gardener's hands -
worn, earth stained
from scouring landscapes
picking under leaves
invoking rainbows and celestial
dandelions three where I
released a dundered wasp that
was bashing at an indoor window
pane with its antennæd
head on a fool's errand
waiting for it to crack
a poet knows pain -
one wouldn't know it
by the stiff upper lip
one could suffer so
waiting for it to crack
some say I'm a few rivets
short of a pair of blue jeans;
me - I like blue jeans
like my memory the faded
the better, soft and blue
like my blue jeans too
not cardboard rigid as if
waiting for them to crack
they're offering euthanasia now
trafficking to a new extreme
I hope I don't become like
the befuddled wasp and find
my way to their picture window
banging my head for attention
waiting for it to crack
4/29/2024 r. 5/2/2024
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Enjoyed the poem it's not usual to write about the poet's shoes. And I love blue jeans.
From our Tuesday's at Two poetry group:
I have a proud heritage of ancestors that goes back to the Mayflower and to Presidents John & John Q Adams - this poem is not about those Adams…
Word Can poem: prearrange, encounter, refluent, towel, various, extraneous, bi-weekly, pool
In the Adams’ Tradition
bi-weekly, yes, prearranged twice a week,
and every other week, to the pool refluent in
my diligence schooled in the Adams' tradi-
ition to always carry a towel, I’m no fool, in
case of an encounter with any of the various,
extraneous aliens should one ever be encount-
ered on my travails - a hitchhiker to the stars
5/2/2024
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Lol. Wasn´t acquainted with this particularity of the Adam's tradition. Just musing a bit on the role of a towel in case of a surprise encounter with one of those extraneous beings. Enjoyed the poem!
Putting it all together after an edit or two to avoid the "Banned" notice: no joy ??? Oy.
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
My poem for 2pm today (PDT)...
“Wednesday's child won't go to bed” 1
Days blur together at a certain point. Our
abstractions of Monday thru Sunday's voices
yearn for clarity and meaning. What then must
transcendency have to offer? Perhaps to bide
aware of our timeless state we become like
lucid thought itself seeking wonders yet unsettled
each moment no more than transient ghosts!
6/20/2024
Golden shovel ref: L5 of With Writings and Tomes of Bards Who Have Braved by MJ Donnelly
1 alternate saying to traditional nursery rhyme
6/20/2024
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
Enjoyed the poem. Can relate to that feeling about the days of the week. Glad that nonsensical has come to it's senses.
Agree... hard to believe a spurious link would cause so much trouble with an erroneous notification.
Roll Over Robert Graves
Livia loathed the republic
poison, et al
Lucius Aelius Sejanus
suicide in a jail cell -
all in her repertoire
she was the life of the party
to have survived so long
dear Claudius, how ?
a pillow to be worried for
masked by skilled examiners -
poison not so much
for love ever abiden
as for the nation
as it went up in flames
it mattered not -
better a republic in ruins
Livia would have harped
and in the end
all will be forgavin
6/29/2024
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor
School outing: To the grocery store !
Let's go down to the grocery store !
and see what fine foods we could
once afford - ah, see the bacon
behind the case let's race down
the isle to gawk at the steaks and
ribs - ah, I remember when Dad
would bar-b-que on his tiny round
rig with charcoal piled high - a
sprinkling of lighter fluid - and
WHOOSH! with the touch of a match,
seems so long ago. Though the state
has placed a tax on butchering the
beasties - thank heavens for the feral
piggie invasion - who needs a lawn or a
victory garden when doctors can cure
trichinosis prophylactically
7/1/2024
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor