A Pair o’ Dactyls about Pterodactyls

 

Flippety Flappety

Big flyin’ reptiles

Once dominated

The skies over Earth

Paleontologists

Dig up the fossils and

Museum curators

Give ‘em a berth!

A dactyl (DACK-till) is a type of “foot” in poetic meter, composed of a long (stressed) syllable followed by two short ones. A more famous example of dactyl poetry than my silly ones above are Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, although they were written in Greek, so translations may not have this rhythm.

Robert Browning's poem “The Lost Leader” uses the dactylic rhythm to great effect:

Just for a handful of silver he left us

Just for a riband to stick in his coat

This helpful info came from Wikipedia! 

If you'd like to read more about dactyl poetry, click here, and please support Wikipedia, a not-for-profit foundation.

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/pterodactyl-dinosaur-creature-8240037/

Grace

I listen while Bono sings

"Grace Finds Beauty in Everything"

I want grace, the lightness of being

The love, the quiet joy in heart

The stillness of the soul

The mercy conferred, "there but for the grace..."

Gracious is the giving and forgiving heart

Graceful is the one who moves through the world

Disturbing nothing, leaving a tender air

Of peace, that is

Grace.

Image from Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/photos/rose-flower-petal-love-floral-3142529/

The Sky Afire - Picture of the Day on Pixabay for 6/25/14

Not only is Pixabay a fabulous site for finding free-use photos and graphics, it's also a great writing prompt! One of my favorite things to do is go see what picture is being featured on Pixabay's home page and let that be an inspiration for a post. This picture from June 25, 2014 of an evening sky aglow with the fiery color of sunset inspired me to write a poem, if you will:

The sky is afire

With a shivering, shining glow

A flickering shimmer of amber above

Casting warmth on the land below

The trees stand in stark relief

Silhouettes against the molten flow

Are they not consumed by the conflagration?

The rustling leaves whisper, No

The kiss of the wind protects the trees

Even from this fiery show

They will survive years of dawns and dusks

And be just so, just so.

Image Credit » http://pixabay.com/en/sunset-red-clouds-sky-evening-376071/

Haiku Poems for Fall

 

The Essence of Fall

Crisp blue morning chill

Yields to golden afternoon

Trees wave colored leaves

...

Trick or Treat: A Halloween Haiku

Sheet-wearing ghosties

Scamper among skirling leaves

Candy-bags rattling

...

Oops: A Thanksgiving Haiku

You silly dudebro

Trying to fry a turkey

Burned down your garage

=====haiku is a Japanese form of short poetry that is comprised of three lines, in a 5-7-5 syllable pattern, usually with nature or the natural world as the subject. It is intended to challenge the poet to distill an observation to its essence to create the simplest, purest, and most powerful impression.===

Find more haiku here: 

https://theviewfrommounthelicon.blogspot.com/2023/01/lights-of-new-years-eve-and-other.html

https://theviewfrommounthelicon.blogspot.com/2024/05/haiku-battle-rap.html

https://theviewfrommounthelicon.blogspot.com/2024/12/procrastination-haiku.html

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/road-forest-fall-path-trail-trees-1072821/

Bad Halloween for the Creature

The Creature from the Black Lagoon

Went out on Halloween

He had too much to drink, and soon

Was feeling pretty mean

He started, then, to growl and roar

And staggered from the bar

He broke the windows of a store

And vandalized a car

He left his slime on everything

And ran through people's yards

He smashed their jack-o'-lanterns

That they'd worked so hard to carve

He went around and scared some folks

Who were just trick-or-treat-ing

But to their rescue came some blokes

Who gave that fish a beating!

The Creature fled back to his lair

Beneath the waters deep

The people said, "You stay in there

And don't come back, you creep!"

The moral of this tale of mine

Is very plainly seen:

If you simply cannot hold your wine,

Stay home on Halloween! 

Image Credit » https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Still_from_the_Creature_from_the_Black_Lagoon_%2815666911261%29.jpg

Song of Late Summer

The afternoon sun

Shines golden and warm

Onto the couch, creating an oasis for lazy cats.

---

Voices of children

Bubbling laughter, tickling in from the street

They hold onto the summer magic for as long as they can

---

Last-minute splashes in the pool,

Last-second stampedes for the ice-cream truck;

The school supplies are bought and waiting

---

The heat now diminished

From a parching sear

To a glowing kiss, this will be missed in the depths of chill

---

But for now, Autumn beckons

With apples and red and gold leaves, football and cool blue skies

Until next year, sweet Summer...

Image credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/calm-lake-surrounded-with-trees-under-cloudy-sky-5118298/

The Easter Bunny is Kind of a Punk

 

I came to the conclusion, once

While searching like the dickens

That brightly colored Easter eggs

Must come from colored chickens

Chickens purple, green and blue

Chickens orange and pink

Some chickens must have polka dots

And some have stripes, I think

Why would the chickens hide their eggs?

I pondered this, most solemn

They say a rabbit is involved

I think the bunny stole 'em!

I know that rabbits don't lay eggs

The hens do all the work

He steals the eggs and hides them all

That bunny's quite a jerk

Now I understand just why

(In order steam to let off)

They make him out of chocolate

So folks can bite his head off!

Free use image from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/egg-colorful-hare-easter-eggs-256025/

Floating Away

 

The softly rolling tide brought a little boat to you

It kissed up against you, but

Every time the boat gently nudged

You pushed it away

Just as gently.

It would swirl, confused,

Regathering,

But drawn back again by the sweet rolling waves.

One time when the little boat came back to you,

You pushed it away again

A little farther this time.

A new current caught the little boat

And it floated away.

Free-Use Image from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/paper-boat-origami-float-childhood-1644988/

Christmas Day: Shaken

 I knocked, and he didn't answer

(okay)

Texted, and he didn't reply

(surprised)

Called, and he didn't answer

(concerned)

His car was there

The neighbor hadn't seen him

We had plans, I explained

We always do, on Christmas Day

The neighbor knocked, loud

On doors, windows

Yelling his name

(worried)

I called the police

He's on the transplant list, I explained to the officer

(crying)

She kicked the door in

He was there

(...AND???)

Just asleep, she said

(embarrassed)

But he wasn't

He wasn't okay

(scared)

The ambulance came

(on a mission)

Took him to the hospital

They asked

Are you a family member?

No

He's my friend.

They said 

He's lucky you were there

He is going to be okay.

(exhale)

Savannah Song

Lions lie lazily in the limpid light

Elephants effortlessly enter, effecting egrets' flight

Cheetahs chase chipper chimps in channeled tracks

Secretary birds stealthily stalk snakes for snacks

 

Leopards loll languidly, lithe and lissome

Wildebeest wander, their wee waifs so winsome 

Buffalo brash about, bellowing, boorish and brassy 

Swift servals slink by, sleek and sassy

 

Monkeys meander with muttering maws

Giraffe jounce juicy leaves with gyrating jaws

Gorillas grunt gruffly in gravelly tones

Zebras...um...I have nothing further to say about the zebras. They know what they did. 

Image from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/photos/africa-savannah-national-park-tree-944465/

Can't Figure out Why It's so Hot?

It's not strange,

it's climate change! 

They told us this would happen.

But we kept using oil 

and polluting the soil,

and the ocean? We just threw crap in.

We didn't bother

to recycle or do other

things that could have saved us.

So now we'll burn;

We refused to learn

That we shouldn't have behaved thus.

Image from Freepik https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/broken-air-conditioner-office-is-too-hot_2528740.htm#page=1&query=too%20hot&position=2

Colores

Amarillo is yellow

Naranja is orange

To make this thing rhyme

Hold your nose and say "porridge". 

;)

Image credits https://pixabay.com/photos/cloth-fabric-red-orange-yellow-3672088/

https://pixabay.com/photos/plate-breakfast-porridge-morning-956784/

November

We're deep into fall, now.
Past the first blush of color,
The return to school,
The first game of the season.

Past the tiny costumes
Clattering up my steps
To ring the bell, all excitement.
The candy is gone;
The giant spider has been put away.

Now, leaves once red and gold,
Fluttering like flapping flags on breeze-tossed branches,
Are brown and grey, curled and crunching beneath the scamper of squirrels
Keen to hide the season's treasures before retreating to their winter nests.

Fall has gone from crisp to cold
Bright blue skies, free of summer haze,
Will soon yield to clouds, grey and low
And gravid with calm, silent snow.

The days ever dwindling,
Until the Solstice stops the night's advance
And lets the day begin
The long creep back in. 

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/boxelder-autumn-fall-rural-farm-216372/
Free use image