Pumpkin Pathos

ABC WEDNESDAY
http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com.au/
letter 'P'

PUMPKIN PATHOS

I sing of the pumpkin,
So golden of hue,
Which wakes in the meadow
All sparkling with dew.
He knows that he's ready
And fatly mature.
He'll end up as dinner
Of that he is sure.
Imagine the shock
When he's carved with a knife!
It's not how he thought
He would exit this life.
His mother had told him
He'd be on a plate,
And he had been, secretly,
Proud of this fate.
He knew he'd be tasty,
He knew he'd be praised,
And he knew that for this
Useful task he'd been raised.
I sing of the pumpkin
Who's really surprised
When he finds as a human
He has been disguised.

They've chopped and they've gouged

Till he looks like a man!

He hadn't expected 

This change to the plan!

When someone lights a candle

Inside his carved shell,

How the pumpkin reacts

It's not easy to tell.

But suffice it to say

(And, I beg you, don't mock)

Our big handsome pumpkin

Is in for a shock.

*

------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOST LOVE

Losing love is like losing life;

The pain of it twists like a knife.

Everything single thing he said

Writhes and pierces in your head.

You feel that you cannot go on,

Because your Only Love  has gone.

You're completely devastated;

When he said 'Love' was it then he Hated?

Has it all been a pretence?

Nothing's making any sense.

*

The thought of death is in your mind;

So sweet, so soft, so dark, so kind.

Death, which could take the pain away

And, at the same time, make him pay!

How he'll suffer when he learns

That you've gone to the land of No Returns!

Maybe you'll hover above his head

And hear his response to the sad words said....

'She's killed herself! Oh no! Oh no!

Why did someone so lovely go?

She was an angel! I see that now!

I'll repent for ever! This I vow!'

You'll have had your revenge. You'll have saved your pride.

In the course of which, of course, you've died!

*

I was a young girl long ago,

So this sad scenario I know.

This is a message I send in rhyme;

'It'll get better, given time.'

Punish him by living well.

Play-acting can often break a spell.

Pretend his hateful words weren't spoken

Pretend your heart was never broken.

Go out and act a happy part;

Then watch the healing process start!

In months, or, maybe, in a year

You'll forget you ever shed a tear.

Suicidal thoughts will have truly waned;

Instead if losing, you'll have gained.

You'll be involved in your Plan B

And Lover Boy will be......

Memory.

*

Inclement

THE MAG

http://magpietales.blogspot.com.au/

provided the illustration

INCLEMENT

There's a time in all our lives........

Before we're grandmothers and wives.......

When weather hasn't any power,

Be it deluge, be it shower.

As we age we start to grizzle

About the dampness of the drizzle.

We start complaining about the breeze

And how it's whipping round our knees.

We squabble over the allocation

Of the umbrella's situation.

'Hey! Mind my eye! with those blasted spokes!' ......

And, believe me, we're not making jokes.

But there are times when we recall

That weather didn't count at all

In those long-gone days of sweet romance

When all the raindrops did was dance.

Even the cold rain of December

Felt like a benison, I remember.

If we felt damp, and water trickled,

It didn't chill, it merely tickled.

And then we laughed and laughed together,

Sharing the big joke of the weather.

These two will, one day, be so staid

That rain will make them both dismayed,

But, just for now, soaked to the skin,

It's a perfect climate that they're in.

*

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE EAGLEPHANT

(A Fable)

An Elephant and an Eagle chanced to meet one day.

Said the Elephant to the Eagle 'Why do you look that way?

Why have you mighty wings that beat and let you rule the sky?

How come you are the King of all that great big realm on high?'

Said the Eagle to the Elephant ' It's because I am the best;

Very much superior to you and all the rest.'

'Oh no!' replied the Elephant ' I am of much more worth

Because I rule the creatures that are living here on earth.

My strength is truly wondrous; I could crush you with one blow.

I am superior to you. I think you ought to know!'

They argued and they argued about who should be the King,

The creature on Terra Ferma  or the creature on the wing.

They wrangled and they wrangled  and they almost came to blows

Till they both said 'This is silly! Why should we two be foes?

Let us combine our attributes, then all will be aware

That the mighty Eaglephant is King on Earth and in the Air!'

And so the Eaglephant was born, in truth a mighty creature

An Elephant with Eagle's wings, a most unusual feature.

But it was one that could not fly because of the great weight

And, in the jungle, it could not move! Such was the creature's fate!

Time and again the Eaglephant tried to run and soar,

Testing its equipment till it could try no more!

Exhausted, collapsing on the ground, it admitted its defeat

Admitting that an Eaglephant is an easy thing to beat.

So one went back to flying and one to stomping round,

Both of them magnificent, in the air or on the ground.

The moral of this story is  'Be happy with your lot'.

Or else you may lose even that which you thought you had got!

*

No Escape!

IMAGINARY GARDEN
http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com.au/
The theme is Halloween; I chose Witches

NO ESCAPE!

How terrible to be a witch
In the days of the ducking stool!
Say something out-of-line
And a swift death was the rule.
When one was strapped in the ducking-stool
It was only a matter of time
Before one died a dreadful  death,
Whatever was the crime.

The stool was held out over water
And the witch was dunked right in.
If she died that was certain proof
That she'd committed a sin.
But, if she lived, it was equal proof
That witchcraft had saved the day,
So the 'witch' was taken and burnt at the stake
In a truly horrible way!
'The good old days' ? I think not.
Nowadays were much more free
And you can cast your witchy spells
With equanimity.

*

--------------------------------------------------------

                                          Newcastle; NSW

BULGING WITH BLUES

Sailing into my home port after a week on the ocean,

I felt an unexpected joy that was sentimental emotion.

Newcastle isn't fashionable, it's full of industry,

And it's really quite peculiar that it means so much to me.

Growing-up in English prettiness, then living in London Town,

With a stint in glorious Cape Town, truly South Africa's crown,

A middle-sized city Down Under, designed for hard work and trade,

Surely can't compete with Sydney, which wins every accolade!

But sailing into the harbour, I rejoiced in the pleasant views,

And, most of all, in the blues and blues and blues and blues and blues.

*

---------------------------------------------------

PS

Nearly all my pee-esses seem to involve food! Yesterday a group of us met to celebrate The Fifth Monday. I have instigated this, being President of the Probus. We normally do things on Mondays, but a few times a year there's a left-over Monday, a fifth one in the month, so I thought we could meet for lunch that day. We went to The Burwood Inn on this occasion and we enjoyed the fod and the company.

Stormy

Sandy

THEME THURSDAY
http://www.theme-thursday.com/

STORMY

Every so often they come along.....
Wild and raging storms,
With rain and wind! It's Natures wrath
In all its many forms.
We think we're so important
And yet we have to quail
As roofs are blown off buildings
And cars are wrecked by hail.
At the moment New York's suffering

And the city's in our thoughts.

This will be a mighty storm

According to reports.

Soon it will be over

Skies will clear again,

Rubble will be cleared away

And all signs of rain,

But for a while well remember

That we are far from strong.

And then we will forget it

Until another storm comes along.

*

------------------------------

EXOTIC?

To those of you in milder climes

These flowers are not exotic,

And labelling them as something rare

Is really idiotic.

But where I live in New South Wales, 

Down beside the sea,

Pretty little Springtime flowers

We very rarely see.

We have our jacaranda

And our wattle's golden bright

And the curtains of wisteria 

Are a truly lovely sight.

But cowslips, bluebells and the like

Are something rich and rare

And so we travel to the Highlands*

To see them growing there.

*

* The Highlands of New South Wales!

Submarine Sensation

                           Semenov

RUBY TUESDAY

SUBMARINE SENSATION

Oh Jellyfish! Thou haunts the deep,

And, similarly, when I sleep,

Thy tentacles enfold my brain

Wafting from thy black domain.

Some people fear the squirming snake

And hissing sounds that serpents make.

Rats that nibble human toes

Disturb some minds, when in repose.

Spiders are creatures that create

Terror as they lie in wait.

But, Jellyfish, thy tentacles

Are horrifying spectacles!

Thy sightless look appears to peer

Into the dark and spy me near!

Thy jelly blubber is nauseating

Utter revulsion in me creating!

Imagine if thy floating hairs

Should catch this swimmer unawares!

Imagine if I were entangled,

Sucked at, squeezed and even mangled!

They tell me that, in far Japan,

Jellyfish the size of man

Float in their millions in the seas

In wafty giant colonies!

Even thy watery friends, the sharks,

Don't rate the exclamation marks!

And, judging by the number here,

You'll realise I have a fear

Of jellyfish. But I never swim!

So the chance of meeting one is slim.

And thou art a pretty red.

In thy defence that can be said.

*

--------------------------------------------------------------

REALITY CHECK

Little ducks upon a pond

Are things of which we're very fond.

'Look at their little paddling feet!

Look at the ducklings! Oh, how sweet!

See each gorgeous burnished feather!

See how they  swim along together!'

It's only when they're on a rack

That we see them as a human snack.

We see them dangling side by side,

Merely protein exemplified!

We look at them and lick our lips,

Fancying a plate of duck and chips.

Thoughts of 'ponds' are cast away

As we become predators, ducks prey.

Take a look at slices of ham,

Bacon or beef or veal or lamb.....

When they sit upon a plate

In their ultimate gravied state,

They seem removed from agony

As far away as they can be.

They seem inanimate, unfeeling,

Not victims of our double-dealing.

Animals are 'cute' and 'sweet'?

Oh no, they're just our human meat.

But when we see them in a line,

Prepared for a meal (no doubt with wine),

There is a certain reality shape

That our dulled senses can't escape.

'It was ever so' we say

And simply turn the other way.

*

Ethnicity

BLUE MONDAY

ETHNICITY

I described a show as 'Ethnic'

And I thought I knew what I meant.

Somehow I saw someone 'Ethnic'

As living in a tent,

Wearing lots of gaudy beads,

Dancing to exotic beats,

Dressed in brilliant colours

And eating strange sugary sweets.

'Ethnic' meant speaking a language

That was gibberish to me,

'Ethnic' meant having different ideas

Of home and family.

Then I looked the word up on 'Google'

And found, to my surprise,

That 'Ethnic' doesn't mean 'darker-skinned'

Or 'having oval eyes'!

'Ethnic' means 'Belonging

To a group in a foreign land'.

So here was an explanation

That I could understand.

I belong to a cohort

Of 'English living in Oz',

Held together by memories

Of our Homeland that once was.

I don't wear brilliant colours,

My skin is a boring beige,

But I, too, could do an 'Ethnic' dance,

If I chose to, on Life's stage!

*

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THOROUGHLY MODERN GHOST

If there were ghosts in this modern age

They'd inhabit technology.

They'd hide in the corners of computers

And haunt creatively.

They'd be very poltergistic

In very modern ways;

They'd send us curious messages

And cause untold delays.

They'd do spirity things in the keyboard

Causing mis-hits and mistakes;

They'd make curious tingaling noises

And send us email fakes.

They'd make us lose our programs;

They'd make the screen go blank.

Forget about gloomy corridors

And dungeons dark and dank.

These modern ghosts would never stoop

To just saying 'Whee!' or 'Boo!'.

They'd live inside our computers.

 In fact, I think they do!

*

Busby

PINK SATURDAY

BUSBY

Remember Busby Berkeley? No of course you don't!
He was famous much too long ago.
He lived in an era even earlier than mine
And he could really put on a quite a show.
He used human bodies filmed from up above
At a time when film was in it's infancy.
Tricks were quite surprising, no one was blasé:
Everyone gasped at things that they could see.
If they saw massed bodies they knew that they were there
It wasn't case of multiplying one.
A hundred dancers dancing was exactly what it seemed.......
A hundred dancers dancing. What great fun!
So what does Busby have to do with the flowers up above?
Look closely at the petals there displayed.
See the faces? See the bodies and how cleverly they pose.
Marvel at how cleverly they're made.


From the 1930s
*
--------------------------------------

EBB AND FLOW

(After Patience Strong)

The tides of life must ebb and flow;

In they come, then out they go.

One day we are full of cheer; 

The next day we feel more austere.

Happiness may sometimes surge;

Sometimes sadness sings a dirge.

But as the rhythm of the sea

Repeats with regularity,

So do our moods swing back and forth,

Sometimes South and sometimes North.

The secret is to stand aside

And view the ever-changing tide

As something passing, either way;

Good or bad will never stay.

When in luck don't stand and crow

On the highest hill for all to know.

When down don't wallow in despair

Moaning that life just isn't fair.

Remember that our lives are strange,

Always influenced by change.

Today you may feel pain and sorrow,

But you will jump for joy tomorrow.

If you are ebbing, at least you know

Tomorrow you'll leap into the flow.

*

Risk Taking

Journey One

Journey Two

SUNDAY SCRIBBLINGS
http://sundayscribblings.blogspot.com.au/
chose the topic

RISK TAKING

I'm  a reasonably lively person
At times I'm almost brisk,
But I certainly am not the type
To go in search of risk.
You won't find me sky-diving
Or considering a gamble
And when I walk I take such care
I almost seem to amble.
And yet, not once but twice in life
I've upped and emigrated!
And that's a move that friends of  mine
Have never contemplated.
My risk-takings never physical
It's adventure that I've craved
And thats why joblessness and such
Has been,quite gladly, braved.
What is a risk to one person
Isn't a risk to all
I'm a midget in some areas
But in others I stand tall.

*

-------------------------------------------------

ADVICE

Ask for advice when you're in doubt!

Don't think you can do without.

Verify all that you are told.

If possible sort dross from gold.

Consider all things with great care.

Everybody has good advice to share!

*