Number One

                                    By Kat

I have just discovered that my BLEND (Blog Friend) Kat has painted one picture in his life. This was it.

I think he should continue to paint, don't you?

The news from India, Kat's homeland, is very worrying today. So this is a little sort of get-well token.

NUMBER ONE!

(The first of many.)

To one who painted one,

From one who's not painted any!

Keep  at it, my dear Kat.

Let us see many, many!

When the world is looking grim,

We need a painter's eye

To point out all the lovely things

That may have passed us by.

Opposite Attraction

OPPOSITES ATTRACT
ARIES with TAURUS



Like oil and water this is not the simplest sort of mix!
'Home-body' meets 'High-Flyer'! A tricky one to fix.

There's Aries, dressed-up to the nines, longing to hit the town,

And Taurus saying ' Let's relax.' and 'Why don't you calm down?'

Taurus can be a solid mate, rather dull but stable,

And always with a  weather-eye beamed on the dinner-table.

Taurus is a manager; Aries likes to spend;

But maybe they can compromise and do well in the end.

Taurus can be possessive, which can cramp an Aries' style,

But Aries may like to be 'possessed', sometimes, for a while.

In bed they'll both be really great, but, sadly, in the morning

Aries may still find Taurus dull. That's when Aries will start yawning!

Aries enjoys a conversation, problems must be aired,

While Taurus can be so laid-back the soul is never bared.

This frustrates poor Aries, who often may explode,

And even, when things get extreme, Aries may hit the road!

But, if they hang-on long enough, Aries will come to see

That Taurus can be a steady sign to have in a family-tree.

The home will become a haven, not just a some 'gilded cage',

And this is a couple who may grow close.

Like wine, they'll improve with age!
*

211. Sasparilla

SASPARILLA!

Sasparilla's been a word that's always fascinated!

Although I hear that, now, the concept's really rather dated.
*

Growing up in England, I heard this Yanky word,

And I thought it was the most romantic name I'd ever heard!

I was drinking lemon juice or something else quite boring,

While, over in America, the populace was pouring

This wildly stimulating drink down each and every throat!

Oh how I longed to pack my bags and get on the next boat!
*

The very word rolls off the tongue in a manner so exotic!

Surely it held ingredients quite dangerously hypnotic!

Picture a grey mid-winter's day in  a little British town

There's 'Rinkly' thinking of the drink, longing to gulp it down;

To be whisked away to join the Sasparilla devotees,

Lounging in gay abandon underneath strange foreign trees!
*

With President Roosevelt looking manly standing at the tiller

Easing his tension with a handy glass of Sasparilla!
With a young girl on a skyscraper wrestling a gorilla,
And winning easily every time she sipped some Sasparilla!
With Raymond Chandler writing books, possibly a thriller,
Getting inspiration from a glass of Sasparilla!
With Al Capone, a Mafia lad, but an efficient killer,
Demanding his favourite sustenance, gin and Sasparilla!
*
What an exciting life they led on the other side of the ocean!
Merely thinking of it now fills me with deep emotion!

Please write and tell me (making sure,of course, that it's the truth!)

How Sasparilla brought a reckless element to your youth!
*

210. Mud Bath

The Bath area of the West of England is noted for its healing springs. This legend celebrates its founder.




MUD BATH!

In the dimness of antiquity, there lived a handsome Prince,

Whose name has been revered and praised by all men, ever since.

Bladud was the young man's name; he knew his destiny

Was to rule his nation; to this end he studied constantly.

In search of learning he went forth and finally came to Greece,

Where he hoped to learn the ways of truth and dignity and peace.

But, sad to say, in Athens, he contracted leprosy

And a sad, disfigured Prince returned to face his family.

'You cannot rule' his father said 'You'd bring our family shame!

Flee somewhere far away, my son! Don't besmirch our regal name!'

His mother wept at her poor son's plight, and handed him a ring.

'Keep this safe as a gift from me while you are wandering.'

So the sad Prince left as a peasant, with neither hearth nor home,

Disfigured by his leprosy and destined the earth to roam.

'I must work to live' said Bladud  'Since no royal crown is mine.

I'll live as so many peasants do, herding the humble swine.'

So, for many years, he herded pigs across the countryside

Until, at last, they sickened too and many of them died.

He must have been a sorry sight, his remaining pigs were few,

And he was covered in lesions! What was a man to do?

But suddenly a pig went wild and galloped off until

It came to a pond of thick black mud, at the bottom of the hill.

It jumped right in and almost sank; it was in it to the snout!

So Bladud clambered in as well. He must get the creature out!

The rescue took a while, of course, as the animal thrashed and squealed,

But when it staggered to the bank, its leprosy was healed!

So Bladud wallowed in the mud, constantly, day by day,

Till his leprosy finally disappeared in a miraculous way.

Then back to his parents he returned, an older man, it's true,

But he showed his mother's golden ring, so everybody knew

That he was the rightful future king. And he quickly made it known

That his saviour had been a humble pig, one animal, on its own.

So Bladud founded a city, where healing waters run,

And he ruled in Bath for twenty years as his father's rightful son.

He governed with honesty and wit; his edicts all were sound

But he never forgot the lowly pig who'd turned his fortunes round.

209.Duck for Cover!

'No sex please, we're British'! Isn't that a well-known saying? Anyway, this joke complies with the order!

DUCK FOR COVER!

A woman carrying a duck arrived to see the Vet.

She was crying very salty tears for Cuddles was her pet.

'Doctor! Doctor!' she wept and wailed ' Tell me it's not true!

Tell me that Cuddles isn't dead! I don't know what to do!'

The vet put on his stethescope and placed it on the bird,

But not the slightest beating of a little heart was heard.

'I'm very sorry, Madam' he very gently said

'I'm afraid I have to tell you that your little duck is dead.'

At this the woman went berserk; she loudly cried 'Boo hoo!'

Refusing to believe that the words he said were true.

She began to question, she began to plead

'Get me a second opinion! That is what I need!'

'Certainly, Madam, if you wish. I'll see what I can do.

Although my diagnosis is quite definitely true.'

He rang a bell, a handler came, with a Labrador on a lead.

The woman, I can tell you, was very surprised indeed!

She was even more astounded when the dog leapt on the table

And began to sniff her  little duck as fast as it was able.

It sniffed the head, it sniffed the tail, it even sniffed the feet.

No sniffing in the whole wide world was ever so complete.

It clambered down  and sadly shook its head from side to side,

Indicating that the duck, had, very surely, died.

After the dog a cat came in and clambered on the bed.

The woman was so speechless that not a word was said!

Again the duck was sniffed and sniffed, and even gently licked!

The woman wondered, as you would, what sort of vet she'd picked.

The handler took the cat away, and then, as you'd expect,

The vet soon gave her his account. She hoped it was correct.

Amazed she saw that she'd been charged five thousand dollars plus!

The vet said 'Twenty dollars is all that comes to us.

But I gave you what you wanted; I did my very best;

The Lab report and Cat scan accounted for the rest!'

208. Ooops!

OOPS!

They call us the Land Down Under

But see! We're the Land Up Top!

Look at this! Is it any wonder

We think we're cream of the crop!

207. The Parting of the Ways

                                                                    Magritte

(Written for the SIMPLY SNICKERS prompt. A SUNDAY SCRIBBLINGS effort can be seen below.)


THE PARTING OF THE WAYS.

So you see a bird!

I aways knew we were incompatible!

How dull you are;

Seeing what you think you have to see.

Doing as you're told!

Your horizon limited by what you think you should see.

A mere human in a world of angels!

So bland, so conventional, so boring!


I'll give you the horizon;

That I also see.

But a bird?

Don't be absurd!

I see a grey, blotched wall

And an oddly-shaped window.

The top swoops down like a twister;

The left-hand side bears a startling resemblance

To a chimp begging for a kiss;

And, on the right, there's a hill

With an interesting cave.

I long to squeeze through that jagged window

And hover in that blue sky,

Like a bird.

But my own bird, not yours.

I'll pack my bags in the morning.