doggerel – penpaletteheart

Thanksgiving Doggerel

Thanksgiving Feast

Mama’s in the kitchen

And dinner smells so good,

We’re sent to set the table

As all hungry children should.

We’ve folded all the napkins

And pulled up all our chairs.

Papa is so famished

He rumbles like the bears.

The potatoes have been mashed,

And the carrots have been creamed,

The turkey bursts with stuffing,

And the onions have been steamed.

As we sit around the table

With our relatives galore,

Papa says the shortest blessing

Than he’s ever said before.

Our eyes are on the kitchen,

With our napkins tucked to chins,

When Mama brings the platter

And Papa starts to grin.

The turkey smells delicious

As she wafts it by our nose,

And all of us together

Are curling up our toes.

There’s a leg for my big brother,

A wing for my dear sis,

And another leg for mother

While Papa takes some breast.

After all my aunts and uncles

Have each made their own pick,

There’s hardly any turkey left

For me to get a lick.

Because I am the youngest,

When the turkey has been cut,

I’m lucky if I end up with

What’s on the turkey’s butt.

Senior Locomotion

My perfume is linament
And I walk most carefully
Because at any moment
I could buckle at the knee.
Stairs are quite a challenge;
Going up I have no speed.
Going down them, I wobble,
Scaring those whom I impede.
Rising from chairs and sofas
Takes time and determined skill,
While I remember fondly
Youthful springing up at will.

elderly man wearing glasses using cane And dance which was so graceful
When I was young and complete,
Is more a lurch and stumble
Than light skipping of the feet.
Though my strong cane is stylish,

Carrying it can be a bore green-turtle-hi

‘Specially when I forget it
And it clatters to the floor.

If perilous my travel

Down life’s rugged trails,
I have some good companions
Among the turtles and the snails.

Doggedly Doggerel

I enjoy writing poetry which most would call doggerel. I write other poetry as well, but I like writing rhyming verse just for sheer fun. Here is one I wrote for a magazine issue with a pirate theme.

Buried Treasure

There was an old sailor who told the tale Of a dark pirate ship without a sail. This ghostly vessel was ever at sea But not always seen by you or by me. He said if I followed the moon at night My eyes would see a mysterious sight. A ship would appear, all battered and worn, With skeleton crew and captain forlorn. Forever they’d search the ocean wide, Looking for treasure tossed over the side. In the deepest part of the watery main Where guppies play and octopus reign, Is an iron chest locked with silver key, Full of pretty jewels and gold money. The fish swim over it every day Where whales serenade and sea horses neigh.

The old sailor winked when he told me his yarn, And showed me a map he had under his arm. “Here’s the very spot where it sank. It’s better than silver you’ve got in the bank.” The sailor was smart, my he was clever! Now, like the ship, I’m searching forever!