• About

Oceantics

~ because the waves and tumbles of life are only as serious as we make them.

Oceantics

Tag Archives: fun and silly rhyming verse

Epitaph

10 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by elainestirling in Fun and Silly Rhyming Verse

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

attitude, Elaine Stirling, fun and silly rhyming verse, plurality, poetry

002

I much prefer the company
of those whose expectations lean
toward outcomes of prosperity

inclined, each day, to gravitate
toward what might be
the greatest of societies

which cannot even hope
to be if I degrade toward what
has been, or murder with comparison

replacing I don’t know with sure
is far less pained a leap for me
than that of no to mediocrity

and when they carve my epitaph
or scatter carbon bits across
some vast untrammeled sea

somebody with unguarded heart
will catch a passing phrase
of overweening, slightly corny,
loudly rhyming poetry
and wonder—was that me?

~~~

© Elaine Stirling, 2015

Advertisement

DSM & Other Classified Disorderlies

16 Friday May 2014

Posted by elainestirling in Fun Rhyming Verse

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Elaine Stirling, fun and silly rhyming verse

ecstasy-large

Reader Alert: The following verse is meant to be read in the spirit of play. I have tremendous respect for people who work in the psychiatric profession, and empathy for those who struggle—and thrive—with mental illness.

~~~

I’ve taken a course
to understand
why the course
of my life has not
gone hand in hand
with the orders I gave it—
or somebody did.

I can’t quite remember.

I ordered a book
that took men and women
much smarter than me
sixty-two years
to determine what’s
what in the brain
we call normal

which was something
I thought I never
could be

and now,
having read
and not understood

—I am using the book
as a stool for the foot
that I used to put into
my mouth—

I can say
with undisguised glee
there are only three things
that are wrong with me!

#1

I have the ability to not sit still
in the presence of boredom disorder.

If you determine
I should take a pill,
I will reach for a pillow
resisting temptation
for I can delay
like nobody’s business
and save for a day
the gratification to whomp
it across your head.

And take a nap instead.

#2

In the face of anxiety
I do not panic
though I probably should
if not panic
do something

I’m too busy
thinking of all
of my options
in times of anxiety
there are only
three

fight
flight or
freeze

but when caught
in tight corners, the Fs
on my tongue get tied up
and I twist them to

fleas
fright
and frig it!

Then do what I please.

#3

On days like today
when I’m too sad
to play in the rain—
YET AGAIN!

and reading
the forecast with
pictures of suns they
delete (oops, wrong
again!) makes me feel
even more of a drip

I go on a trip
in my mind where
there’s no border guards
and the Silk Road
is booming

and buy myself
mansions with poets
in residence

ask Paco de Lucia
to tune my guitar—
he always say yes!

And I learn to play chess.

that is all
that is all
that is wrong
with me

~~~

DSM stands for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It was first published in 1952 and is now in its fifth edition, known as DSM-5.

© Elaine Stirling, 2014
The painting called “Ecstasy” is by Maxfield Parrish.

The Boy Who Played with ABZs

02 Friday May 2014

Posted by elainestirling in Fun and Silly Rhyming Verse

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Elaine Stirling, fun and silly rhyming verse, homage, poetry for all ages, Shel SIlverstein

Shel SIlverstein, 1930-1999

Shel SIlverstein, 1930-1999

A long time ago when the earth was green,
a boy was born named Silverstein
who, as he grew into a man
discovered that he had a hand
for drawing and for writing
poems that could
stretch the way
you looked
at
t
h
i
n
g
s
.

He wrote for
hottie magazines
with playmates
you
..u
……n
……….f
…………..o
……………….l
…………..d
………e
….d
while
he hung out
with the folkies
in a village
we call
Greenwich
but all THAT—

is ancient history

and Shel would never
want for us to go
all biographical
when good old
a-b-c-tical
is far more fun.

And so,
remembering
the day fifteen years
ago, the 10th of May,
when death bells
knelled
for our sweet
Shel, here is
an ABC that tells
of you and me
and him
and possibly
a guy named Jim.

A
A is for ardent, adapt, and allow
all manner of attitude, axeheads,
and awe.

B
Bet your bootie, beats all letters, see,
Because B reminds you, you simply
must be

who you are
for who else

C
could you be? Creeping on cautiously,
3rd letter C is for chick lit and Chiclet,
corporeal, cat…o’ nine tails*.

* see Things We Don’t Do Anymore
‘cause They’re Mean

D
D is for dreaming and doing and dollars.
The dark side of D stirs up devils and debt,
which we don’t fear as much as that
drop at the end we call death.

E
Eek is the sound we make, employing E,
when something elicits extreme-ities.
It’s also for elephants, egrets, and eggs.

F
Fight or flight, folderol, fiddle, and fart
are some of the F words I hold in my heart.
There’s others more fun but I can’t say them here.

G
G is for The Giving Tree, Shel’s famous book
that first was rejected since it didn’t look
like it fit anywhere. Gimp-headed marketers,
geez!

H is the letter of soft exhalation in howdy-doo,
happy, and hen—unless you are Spanish or
Cockney or French, then haitches switch
places or simply are mute.

I
I am the I of impossible, instigate, inbred,
ignore. I confuse me sometimes with the great
number 1 in this serif-free world, I’s a bit
of a jumble, me.

J
J is for jug or not, juggernaut, jig, jag,
and jump a lot. Juicy and jammy, an umbrella
handle, the letter you take in the rain.

K
K is the lazy man’s smartphone reply
to the guy who texts you to ask if you’ll fly
to Kansas or Kenya on the 4th of July.

L
L is for let’s and for lettuce and love,
for lilies and lilacs and sweet lullabies.
La-la-la, we’d not have, if it weren’t for L.

M
M is the sound of a ponderous thought,
shared by Mr. or Ms., Mademoiselle or Monsieur.
It also stands for mmm, delicious, and marshmallow.

N
N is the Z that tipped over and nipped
itself in to fit better in nylons and nougat while
nestling with Nefer—that’s Titi to you—on the Nile.

O
O when it’s tiny ° speaks of degrees. On a mouth,
it says shock or surprise. O…de-o-doh, with
scant ostentation leads ocelot, Oshkosh, and om.

P
Piffle and phew, will this alphabet stew never
end? I’m imPatient, too practical, pedantic too.
Now, posturing, pandering, these things I’ll happily
do!

Q
Queenly, indeed, is the letter Q, first an O, then
a tail, and wedded to U (not you!). There’s quicken
and quack, Q.E.D., quid pro quo, and that
Quaker still sowing his oats.

R
Rrrr is the roar of the nasty road rager, who, if
he’d relax would remember that R is a letter that
rrrrolls with the punches and rolls off the tongue
in languages otherrrr than English.

S
S is for syllable, sillabub, sibilant, silly,
serpentine, Spitalfield’s, saliva, spittoon.
(Yes, it’s that brass pot over to your left.
No snuff or gobstoppers, please.)

T
T is the letter that sounds like the word for
the drink that is supper and oft paired with cuppa.
But where would the tummy and tuba be
without our terrific T?

U
U in the world of Textese means you, how r u?
But underneath, like underwear, U’s still a letter
that we ought to understand and look up to.

V
Vim and vigor, that’s our V, sign for peace
and victory! Vampires like the letter too, for
vords that start with W. I don’t know vy that is.

W
W’s the letter for write what you want,
whatever, whenever, whyever, why not?
Permission is fine for w-wusses, not me.
I’m braver than that. Don’t believe me? Ask he!
…erm, him.

X
X is a Ximbol as much as a word
for a vote on a ballot, a kiss, and a mark
on a map that will make you quite rich
if the pirates and dragons don’t kiss you first.

Y
Yoh, bro, we’ve nearly come to the end
of the 26 letters we ought to befriend. Yoyo
and yak, and yakity-yak, you see why it’s good
to know your Y…and how and when.

Z
So here we are, Shel, at the Z, where zero,
zombie, zithers be. I hope you’re well and think
of me when I sign off
to
catch
some
Z
Z
Z
Z
s.

~~~

© Elaine Stirling, 2014
Image of Shel Silverstein from Wikipedia

Coriander Boogie

16 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by elainestirling in Fun Rhyming Verse

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

all in good time, cilantro, coriander, Elaine Stirling, flow, fun and silly rhyming verse, humour, letting things be, plants that bolt fast, poetry, tolerance, vibrational reality

IMG_0375

Coriander boogie
got me shakin’
in the morning
got me thinkin’
‘bout my baby and
the ways that we
been stormin’.

Coriander boogie
took me down
where there’s no
‘scaping, showed me
how we’s all behavin’
in a way that
keeps us slavin’.

So then I says to coriander,
what’s a gal to do when
all that’s sweet and green
and leafy turns to spice
that ain’t so nice?
You got advice?

And here’s what
coriander said to me:

You gotta let the green be green,
the fully ripened brings the flavour;
the twigs ain’t meant for eatin’
but they fed the seeds all season.

And the leaves that was
cilantro knew the time
to say, so long, and
that’s the thing you got
to learn that every reason
has its time. There ain’t no
right or wrong, only Mama
Nature growin’ up a bushel
and a beauty of a coriander,
once cilantro song!

~~~

© Elaine Stirling, 2013

Man of Magic, Woman of Wit

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by elainestirling in Medieval form poetry

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

cobla exchange, Elaine Stirling, for the love of Mexico, French medieval verse, fun and silly rhyming verse, humour, Law of Attraction, nagual, narrative poetry, Oaxaca, Occitan form poetry, partimen, poetic dialogue, rancheros, Tehuantepec, tenso

Oaxaca_centro

A Partimen with mature content: reader discretion advised

I met you on the streets of Oaxaca
at night, staggering home from a party
or fight, you were singing rancheros
with all of your might, and I feared
my chihuahua would die of sheer—

Frightened you were, my love, that
I agree, I affirm uncontestedly, but we
met on a boat in Tehuantepec. You
admired my muscles, the curve
of my peck—

No, no, no! A lady of virtue that
I surely am would never engage
in ogling a man, though as I recall
I was waving a fan in the heat
of the boat and your hand—

Two threes and a king
wouldn’t buy me a taco, but
you had this thing that you did
with your eyes, and my courage
she rose, and a thought came to
life in the crook of my thighs…

Go on, I’m listening.

…and I looked at the guys
who were looking at you—

And I knew when you won
with the crappiest hand I had
found me the one, a magical man
who could hold up his own in the
face of my wit on the boat,
the canal of Tehuantepec—

No, no, no! They never did
build the canal, I was wrong.
We met in Oaxaca, the streets
were quite empty, and your little
hua-hua despised my guitarra,
but I kept on singing ‘cause you
gave me power, and now we are—

Masterful, magic and wit, forever
inseparable, though I submit we
should quit this partimen and
find a cantina. It’s your turn to pay.

~~~

Walking the streets of Oaxaca
at night is not recommended,
but if you should find yourself
craving tamales, garnachas,
a nice chimichanga with no
other signs of a Mexican
hunger, then do check your
pockets and heart—not for
money, but things you believe
in. If love is not there or you’ve
squashed it with reason, look
around in the dark, in the shadows
you’ll find a handsome señor and
his foxy señora, their yappy
chihuahua who hates the
laments of ranchero guitarra.

They’ve come not to harm you
but show you a way to chase
the unwanted diablitos away
like this, sing with me…

Ay, ay, ay, ay, canta y no llores!

© Elaine Stirling, 2013
Image: streets of Oaxaca, Mexico,
from Wikipedia

Recent Posts

  • We are family, Dytiscidae…
  • The Boy Who Played with ABZs
  • Distancing
  • To Begin, Begin
  • I Cross the Street When I See You Coming

Archives

  • November 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • April 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blogroll

  • Discuss
  • Get Inspired
  • Get Polling
  • Get Support
  • Learn WordPress.com
  • Theme Showcase
  • WordPress Planet
  • WordPress.com News

Blog Stats

  • 40,642 hits

What I’m Tweeting these days

  • I just submitted "H.A.G." to @fadeinawards via FilmFreeway.com! - 4 months ago
  • Delighted that my animated musical feature TOAST has made the quarterfinals! twitter.com/screencrafting… 5 months ago
  • @SimuLiu I'm halfway through the prologue and already in tears. So, so happy for you! 8 months ago
  • RT @SimuLiu: Guys I think I made finally made her proud https://t.co/EnC4mvyfiV 8 months ago
  • In this uncertain Holiday Season, wishing all of you Peace, Joy, and Patience. And a splendid 2022! 1 year ago

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,344 other subscribers

Top Posts & Pages

  • Five Things I've Learned as a Finalist in the 2016 CBC Short Story Prize

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Oceantics
    • Join 1,152 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Oceantics
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...