The Duel

SATURDAY CENTUS

http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com.au/

supplied the illustration

THE DUEL

'Ah!' said the Atom, 'You shine too brightly;

You're clinging to pre-eminence tightly.

You've dominated since the Creation,

Overseeing the situation.

Everything comes, they say, from you,

There's no end to what your power can do.

But Man released me from non-existence!

I am rewarding his great persistance

By trying to destroy you, Sun!

I'll vanquish the lot! Won't that be fun!

The genie is out of the bottle now

I'll have my way though I don't know how.'

*

'Try as you may' said the sun, in return,

'Though you shrivel the earth I still will burn.'

*

(100 words)

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                      Brenda Bryant

ENVY!

'It isn't fair!' said the seagull. floating on the great wide lake,

'Just look at that magnificent bill! Like a sword, for goodness sake!

And look at those wing-feathers! So rich! So fine! So black!

Mine are little grey things lying flat upon my back!

That neck! It's almost like a swan's! Look at that elegant curve!

I'd really like to speak to him but I haven't got the nerve!

His shadow on the water could almost be that of an eagle!
I'm sure he's stolen my shadow from me! I wonder if that's legal!

I know I'm not so beautiful and I do try not to care.

But not to have even a shadow! 

Life certainly isn't fair!'

*

Phew!

CARRY ON TUESDAY

http://carryontuesdayprompt.blogspot.com.au/
We are asked to use the final sentence of 'Gone With the Wind'
'After all, tomorrow is another day'.

PHEW!

After all, and I can vouch for this myself,

Tomorrow is another  brand new day.

And I will face it gladly, with a smile,

For 'Carry On', it seems, is here to stay.

Last week I felt down-hearted and depressed;

That weekly stimulation had now gone;

Life had lost it's lustre in a trice

And I, put simply, couldn't 'carry on'.

But lo! The sun was just behind a cloud!

It now has sailed into the azure blue!

I vow I'll visit everyone who writes!

I'm born again! (And all of this is true.)

*

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UNTITLED

They stick their labels on me, indicating parts quite vital,

But what I'm really after, isn't labels, it's a title!

My cuboid bone's unchanging, it always keeps its name;

I'd really be much happier if my titles stayed the same.

My collarbone and sternum  have been labelled such through life,

While my titles have been 'Baby', 'Sweetheart', 'Teacher', 'Mother', 'Wife'.

Sometimes I've been called 'Actor' and 'Poet' has been used,

And there's been 'Stupid', there's been 'Fool' when I have been abused.

Recently I've heard  'Senior' and 'Pensioner's another,

And then there's the title I quite like; the title of 'Grandmother'.

So is it any wonder that I'm really in a jam.

Till I get a permanent title I don't know who I am!

*

Oh dear! I've suddenly realised I haven't been too clever!

When I get the title 'Ancestor' I'll keep that one for ever!

*

Wasted Effort!

GRANDMA'S GOULASH

asks for a VERY short story

WASTED EFFORT!

A ginger cat

Said 'What is that?

It looks just like an egg!

I'll roll it and catch it!

And I'll  warm and hatch it!

By standing on one leg!'

(140 characters)

*

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IN THE PINK

Four pink hats among the others,

Worn by all the giddy grandmothers!

Here's our Choir, decked out for the day,

Waiting for Lois to sit and play.

She's our pianist, on the right,

She bosses, and we put up a fight.

Pam, on the left, in a hat of gold,

Also says 'Do as you're told.'

But the older we get, the worse we are.

Sometimes she says we go too far!

We'd no idea life would be fun

When it was nearly over and done!

A happy photo, don't you think!

And all of us are In The Pink!

*

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PS 

We had a great day yesterday. My Melodrama group met to discuss our next play, which is to be a 'cavalcade' version of the history of our town, Newcastle in New South Wales. It's a tongue-in-cheek look at the history with a fair bit of humour and song in it. I call it 'Taking Liberties' because I've certainly taken liberties with history, and the convict women, who are the chief characters, also had their liberties taken away. It will be quite a challenge as there are more scene and costume changes than we normally undertake. We're hunting round for a hall which has two stage entrances and doesn't cost too much!

We met at Roslyn's house, which is very large and overlooks the sea and Ros herself was a wonderful hostess. We had chicken, salad, home-made ice-cream and champagne to sustain us. Here are some of us at the table.

Bev, Pam Morrison, Ros, Betty and Shirley.

Yvonne, Loretta and Pam Boyd.

A rather strange picture of me! Ros frequently has bone problems and so she and her husband have installed a rather grand lift in their house, for future years. Hopefully, they'll never have to use it! But it was the centre of interest when we first arrived yesterday. I enjoyed my ride. As I'm pointing to heaven I may save this picture for my funeral! Just joking!

*

Both Sides Now

BOTH SIDES NOW

The year was 1956 and I was on my way

Off to live in Africa. I longed to get away.

Life in a little village was proving rather staid;

I wanted to see the big wide world, where my fortune might be made.

As we waited on the platform I took this parting shot.

How cheerfully they're smiling; yet, inside, they were not.

My mother and my father, so roughly cast aside!

Did I care about their welfare? Maybe a little bit.

But I was young and excited; my old life didn't fit.

I was impatient to get going. Oh, I'd come back some day

But I wasn't making promises. I was keen to get away.

And the train came in, and the train steamed out and they were left behind.

And how they felt about me was the last thing on my mind.

*

The year was 1996 and my son was going to fly

Off to live in London. We had to say goodbye.

We gathered at the airport; I swore I was going to smile

But to London from Australia was many a weary mile.

'I'll definitely come back some day'........ my son gave a cheerful grin,

Quite unaware of the turmoil that his grieving mother was in.

He was so light-hearted; my heart was heavy as lead;

I wasn't really listening to the comforting words he said.

I disgraced myself by crying behind a pillar in the hall,

And I remembered my parents, who hadn't cried at all.

Was I caring, now, too much and then just not enough?

Were my parents, long ago, just made of sterner stuff?

It hadn't really crossed my mind during all the years between;

It took me forty years to learn how cruel I had been.

*

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AT THE READY

Lined-up for the party, regimented row on row,

The wine-glasses are waiting for the liquid gold to flow.

Polished to perfection, shining in the sun,

'Bottoms Up!' everyone will cry!

Ain't life fun!

*

Pink Pearls

PINK SATURDAY

PINK PEARLS

Usually reserved for human girls,

Here's a string of expensive pearls.

Little Puppy, what do you think

Of these little stones that are coloured pink?

I have to say you look quite sweet,

Folding your little furry feet

And gazing with such big brown eyes,

 So solemn and so very wise.

Dogs in dresses I disdain;

Bonnets and bibs must cause them pain.

Pooches wearing fancy dress

Must be feeling such distress.

This little thing may feel dismayed

At all the fuss that's being made,

But there's no mockery intended.

The humans feel she is befriended.

What's the name of this little girl?

 Without a doubt it must be........... Pearl.

*

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BLUE BLEND

Just a TV Studio, but, when we're passing by,

We see the glass reflecting the blueness of the sky.

A cloud floats above the entrance, and trees are in silhouette,

While the blue on blue on blue is as blue as it can get.

*

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PS

We are asked to look-out for a girl in her early teens with an unusual right eye. See the black streak? This girl was abducted some  years ago and she could be anywhere in the world now. Her name is Madeleine McCann. You never know.....she may be standing by you in the check-out lane somewhere. Keep an eye open for her eye!

Caged?

THEME THURSDAY

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

Zoos

CAGED?

A newborn human baby, setting out in life,

May be facing a life of pleasure, or, possibly, one of strife.

Baby animals, also, have no idea what's due;

It could be a great life in the wild, or else life in a zoo.

It's easy enough to criticise the life of a creature, caged;

When we hear of cruelty we're suitably enraged.

But take this little fellow, looking out of a 'human' cot.....

Maybe he's unhappy but maybe he is not.

He knows no other life-style, he's well-fed and adored

And he is not yet old enough to feel confined and bored.

Babies in his jungle home may be eaten by their foes,

Farmers may often shoot them, as everybody knows.

The 'natural' life's not heaven, although it's great to see

Mighty orangutans in the wild, swinging from tree to tree.

We have all been horrified by caged wild animals, pacing,

Imagining the horrors of the prison life they're facing,

But zoos these days are more humane; the creatures are given space.

Let's hope this little fellow grows up in a compatible place.

*

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SNACK-TIME

I don't tell everyone this,

So don't you pass it on.

My family may hear of it

And my cover will be gone.

I've a passion for all left-overs,

Provided they're not too old;

And I'm particularly partial

To hot food that's gone cold.

Last thing at night, before bed-time,

I  go on a cold-food-raid;

The house is full of shadows,

But I am not afraid.

The lure of some cold stir-fry

Is the greatest lure of all;

See me licking greedy lips

As I tiptoe down the hall!

If I chomp on a cold potato,

My pleasure is manifest.

There! I feel much better

Now that I've confessed!

Some people confess to murder,

Some people to multiple rape;

I merely admit to snaring

A potato that couldn't escape!

*

The Minefield

THREE WORD WEDNESDAY

http://www.threewordwednesday.com/

'juggle, navigate, fawn'

THE MINEFIELD

Living life is like making one's way

Through a minefield that stretches ahead.

Any moment an unaware step

May mean that your hopes are all dead.

A false step, a careless mistake,

A mismanagement lacking in thought

May mean that the route that you'd planned

Has exploded and all life is fraught.

We may fawn at the feet of the great,

We may juggle with this and with that,

We may navigate, barter and plan,

But a trip may mean that we go 'Splat!'

When one reaches a great age and finds

That one's managed to cross the terrain

Without too many pancake landings,

And too many wrestles with pain,

Then one has to be thankful to Fortune,

Or the series of games we call Choice,

For Life is, for certain, a minefield

And we hope, at the end, to rejoice.

*

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THE EXPERIMENT

Sweet Flower of the Forest, I have removed one rose.

Oh! I didn't realise it was holding up your clothes!

Let me remove the left-hand one, just to check the theory.

My thoughts are absolutely pure, my innocent little dearie.

Did I tell you I was a Scientist? Why, it seems to me

That only a thorough removal will establish Q.E.D.

*