Two Part(y) Limerick

Two Part(y) Limerick

A gal who seemed guileless and sweet
Was riled when faced with deceit.
"I thought he was Dem
But he's one of Them
Who steal from the man in the street!"

She shook her head sadly and sighed
"Can a leopard change spots?" she decried
"This guy is so stealthy -
Gives alms to the wealthy.
Can an elephant change its thick hide?!"

M is for Merry-Go-Round

ABC Wednesday round 8 has reached the halfway point with the letter M. Click on link or banner to find what participating bloggers have posted.

The Merry-Go-Round
at Tilden Park

Anna (at left) on Tilden Park Merry-Go-Round

The painted horses go round and around
To the lilt of steam organ’s old-fashioned sound.
Go up, go down, go round and around
The Merry-Go-Round goes round and around
The years go around and around.

The toddler rides with laughs of delight
With Daddy beside her to hold her tight
And the years go around, up day, down night
And the Merry-Go-Round goes around.

The ups are winning, no downs today
As teenagers come to the park to play
And the sun shines bright on the Merry-Go-Round
And the years go around and around.

When did the years start to spin so fast
And the feet slow down? But the memories last
Of child and child’s child, now outward bound
And the years go around and around.

Who would have thought that I’d need to cry
When the steed you rode on came bounding by
Without you on it, that years would fly
As the Merry-Go-Round spun around.

My husband, Otto, and our grandson, Dr. Byron Shock,
without the dignity which their respective PhDs might imply,
ride the Tilden Merry-Go-Round.

The painted horses go round and around
To the lilt of the steam organ’s old-fashioned sound
Go up, go down, go around and around
The Merry-Go-Round goes around
And the years go around and around.

April 14, 2011 Phyllis Sterling Smith

Personal Freedom is Vastly Over-rated.

I don’t mean the kind of political freedom that brave men and women are dying for right now, democracy (if such a thing exists), but freedom of choice on a much smaller scale.

I have much more personal freedom now that I no longer have the love of my life beside me,

I am free to live anywhere I choose to. I chose to move to Washington State to be near one of my sons and his dear wife, rather than being tied to Berkeley where Otto had been a professor for the greater part of our lives.

The Entrance to My New Home

I can decorate my new small home in whatever manner I choose. And I have done so, employing more green paint than most households use in a lifetime. I’ve filled it with dragons from many parts of the world, sculpted, cast, or otherwise crafted, and have done away with any clutter that is not self-generated. Gone are the plethora of electrical parts for Otto’s inventions, the piles of scientific papers being written or critiqued, the stacks of technical journals and books, the scattered tools for modeling new improvements of his patents or for making our big house more livable and beautiful. I love making home improvements but must leave it to others, volunteer or professional, since my talents and physical abilities preclude my doing it myself. But I have enough money to be free to have it done.

A Few of My Dragons

I now have the freedom to spend the inheritance that Otto left me on my personal choices, free of the constraints that are imposed by a partnership that tries to meet the needs of two people. Due to that same inheritance, I am free of most of the economic worries of the majority of people.

And you know what? I would gladly trade that kind of freedom for one more moment with Otto beside me.


And, now that I have written this response to the Sunday Scribblings prompt of Free, I find that I am not free of tears.

For more responses to the Sunday Scribblings prompt, click here or on the banner at the top of this post.

I is for Interspecies Interaction

Mrs. Nesbitt's ABC Wednesday has reached I of the eighth round. For other entries, click on link or on badge at left, and it will lead you to participating blogs.

When we were way back at B, I posted something called Elegant Bears, which my son incorporated into a poster for his and wife Kristin's monthly Waltz Night, which they host and for which they and occasional guests provide the music, on violin (Kristin) and concertina or guitar (Otto) and on whatever instruments invited guest musicians prefer. His advertising posters have always incorporated this great impressionist painting of a dancing couple. It was my idea to add the bears. I decided that the next (April) poster should not leave each species on its own. In the friendly setting of the dance floor, it would be only polite for them to exchange dances. Hence these drawings.

She really isn't quite sure of this
especially after smelling bear breath,
but one has to be polite, doesn't one?

He, on the other hand,
finds his partner an excellent dancer
and is teaching her some intricate steps.

Raw

Intransigence

Take this hideous razored grief
so sharp in every part,
its spines all tipped with poison
and pointed at your heart.

Muffle it with music,
rub it down with prayer,
thrust it out and close the door,
pretend it isn’t there.

Watch closely, though, for treachery
when handling it tomorrow;
a grief is very hard to tame
into a decent sorrow.

Phyllis Sterling Smith

See other responses by Sunday Scribblers to the prompt of RAW.

Volcano

The Sunday Scribblings prompt is FIRE.

Volcano at Night

Edged with living fire
the thrusting molten lava
spews showers of stars.

Elegant Bears

This is my entry for Mrs.Nesbitt's ABC Wednesday a blog that has created a community of caring people. To read other "E" entries, click here.







I originally drew this pair of bears to illustrate my poem Ceremony, and it was printed as a background to that poem in the anthology Roots and Tendrils.


Then my son wanted a few more dancing bears for a poster he was making for the Waltz Night that he and his dear wife (dear to me too), Kristin, put on at monthly intervals. These were rather quickly done (while lying on my bed with the drawing pad balanced on my knees).

And this is the final result.