Galapagos's tortoises maintain An interesting reflex when a bird Alights upon them, it's as if the brain Declares all other stimuli deferred- They haul their massive carapaces high As short and stump-like legs will them allow, With necks upraised, gravity to defy, As still as figurehead upon ship's prow. This unresponsive state lets native finches … Continue reading June 14: The Finch Response
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June 13: Purpose Full
I have forgotten what it's like to lack A deadline looming just around the bend. Accustomed now, I'm quite taken aback When there's no challenge for me to transcend. My mind feels stagnant when I do not write, And sluggish at those times I do not read, Or work up well-loved poems to recite, And … Continue reading June 13: Purpose Full
June 12: Tried Patience, or, Happy Birthday, Mom!
O Sainted Ellen of the Grilléd Cheese: You fed the hungry lunch in bright array, Our childish apprehensions did you ease, And with your laughter banished our dismay, And with a bowl, as first donned by St. Loony Up the Cream Bun and Jam, upon your head Made golden halos seem supremely puny, Declaring naughty … Continue reading June 12: Tried Patience, or, Happy Birthday, Mom!
June 11: Le Pew
When through the open window evening breeze Delivers a distinctive sort of funk, I know that for some time I'll take my ease Surrounded by the stink of eau de skunk. Inhaling that distinctive sulfurous scent, Reminds me of my childhood when a whiff Of woodland musk inevitably meant That with a skunk our dog … Continue reading June 11: Le Pew
June 10: Summarize Proust
My seatmate said, “That book is pretty big- What's it about?” I truly wish I knew How to describe without seeming a prig Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu. “The longest greatest longest novel ever written?” “Reflections on names and shifting perceptions That chronicle the joy of being smitten By literature and love … Continue reading June 10: Summarize Proust
June 9: Fifty Meter Freestyle
With plays and poems Shakespeare did decree The iamb as the undisputed king Of metered feet, disdaining the spondee And anapests to make his poems sing. Verses sound unbalanced with a trochee Swapped for each iamb, one foot left over, And lines that are all spondees can't not be Bland stuff that could not urge … Continue reading June 9: Fifty Meter Freestyle
June 8: Least of All Possible Evils
When deadlines change from three weeks into one Priorities must then be rearranged: Allot the maximum that can be done And hope that no one task will be shortchanged; For when there are three tasks, and two of them Involve a partner, you'll be glad you worked The solo parts: strategically condemn The groups and … Continue reading June 8: Least of All Possible Evils
June 7: The Cliff
One's first activity in several weeks That works to stretch the body and the mind Is sure to put some roses in one's cheeks And afterward will help one to unwind, Endorphin clouds in which the body drifts, Warm muscles loose, the brain demanding naps, All make one blissfully oblivious To immanent and foreordained collapse. … Continue reading June 7: The Cliff
June 6: Grr
Through growling grogginess I do perceive A growing groundswell of determined grit To grab with gruffness, nevermore to grieve For time lost as in gross gridlock we sit. Grandiloquent is our collective grouse, With gravitas our grievances we air, Grappling regret we ever left the house, Exchanging the most gratifying glares. It's said that misery … Continue reading June 6: Grr
June 5: Craft
It's pleasurable to take a single word And craft a couplet that conveys a thought That won't seem obvious or too absurd, And won't result in language overwrought. So when a thought's expressed in prosody That mimics a vernacular expression, By means of dictional simplicity, That stylish choice can cloud lines of succession- For oh, … Continue reading June 5: Craft
Libby Weber 