The Rivals

MAGPIE TALES

http://magpietales.blogspot.com

supplied the prompt

THE RIVALS

By day they gazed out silently,

Both being where they ought to be;

One, in bronze, full length, erect,

The other with a gaze direct.

Lenin and Yul, both widely famed,

Both men whom Mother Russia claimed.

Immobile, through the sunlit days,

Both with an unmoving gaze.

But when the secret night fell down

And all was hushed about the town,

The arguments would always start;

It was hard to keep the two apart!

'A poster, showing your photograph!

Yul, old man, don't make me laugh!

You can be ripped down in a flash;

A poster's ephemeral and brash.

I, on the other hand, stand tall;

Not a mere picture on a wall.

I'm made of metal; I'll last for ever.

You are stupid and I am clever'

Then Yul would start his dissertation

Regarding his rival situation.

'Lenin, old chap, your days are over!

And, you must face the fact, moreover,

That there is only one of you

In this city. That's very few.

Whereas, my face is everywhere!

When people see it they declare

'Let us see him on the screen tonight'.

I'm more famous than you, all right!'

Nobody heard these conversations;

Nobody guessed at strained relations.

The sun came up and all seemed well.

But, oh, what a tale the two could tell!

*

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BINGO!

(Written when we were asked to use a list of related words)

My mind was thin and frugal

So I made a stab at Google

To get a list of words that I could rhyme.

I'd been told to use a list,

And I said 'If you insist';

It seemed a little tricky at the time.

I found a site called 'Bingo'

Which had a way with lingo,

Creating lists for bingo games in schools.

For the topic I chose 'Climate';

If I found a word I'd rhyme it;

It seemed a game without too many rules!

*

So here goes! I'll have a try.....

I see 'wet' and I see 'dry',

I see 'humid', and a reference to 'snow';

I see 'desert' I see 'grass'

I see 'frost' that shines like glass,

I see 'muggy' when we'd like a breeze to blow.

I see 'permafrost' that will stay

For ever and a day;

I see 'tropical' a glimpse of Paradise.

I see 'tundra', rather bleak,

And not a place I'd seek;

I see 'steppes' the site of freezing snow and ice.

'Semiarid' I must say

Says to me 'Best stay away'.

But 'savannas' sound enticing in a way.

'Subtropical'? Sounds good

And, clearly, so it should,

That's the climate that I'm living in today.

*

There are some that I have missed

In this Bingo Climate List,

And my verses are the opposite of lyrical.

But the fact that I could trawl

And find anything at all

Was, to say the least, an unexpected miracle!

*