a Poem for Tuesday Platform -- Sweeping, Dustpans, Crumbs

Sweeping up the crumbs

Seems my life has forever been sweeping up the crumbs
Crumbs left from the night before, sometimes days before
Even stretching onto days and months, seasons and years
Crumbs left from the night before.  Those crumbs we have

Most are from nights of enjoyment, eating, living to fulfill
Fulfilling the dullness of our lives. Pleasurable moments
Then the price to pay is the broom handle of the mornings
Oft time much more cleaning than the broom can do

I'll take the broom in hand, and the dustpan I've waiting
Waiting on the wall just for the crumbs of the night before
Those crumbs are from my hand, once in while from my foot
But generally there has been a partner as part of the crime

One tale I'll tell, you can imagine others. Innocence can
be an excuse, often for my partners they were. When a teen  
I'd found a package of 'smokes', lying where I've never told  
Grabbed my sister by the hand, to the creek we hiked 

Down by the creek we smoked, on the tree lined banks
You might can remember your first smoke, this was hers
It was big time for me, grownup like, mimicking their pleasure
For her it wasn't fun, she puked the bottom of her stomach

I don't know if that was when we returned to the house or it all
happened down at the creek. She tells her story seems each day
How she quit the habit after two cigarettes, Never smoked again
I've spent a lifetime sweeping early crumbs, naughty boys and girls

Those other episodes I've mentioned, some were life changing
Other crumbs from the night. A lot firsts for me as a young adult
Times only me, one or a few others, and God. Some I believe that
I'm the only one left alive to tell.  Some I'll never tell to anyone 

Imagine what, likely they be.  Yours too, safe harbor in our heads
Mine keep my broom going, dust pan getting full. Empty it quickly  




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Photo and Poem Copyright © 2017 Jimmiehov
All Rights Reserved

I'm linked again with Kelly O'Conner at the Imaginary Garden
with Real Toads, The Tuesday Platform
~~ http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-tuesday-platform_28.html

Words Count challenge -- a Grandparents' poem for today.

Watching the Kids, Learning

The kids were huddled together
Little children, from six to eight
(Ours was seven, sweet granddaughter)
Larger boy showing his iPhone

Grandma said, Must be pretty pics
And Grandpa reasoned, Spelling words?
Oh sure, Grandma he-hawed, smiling
Grandpa checked. What is Pokey Man?

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Pictures and 
Poem Copyright, © Jimmiehov 2006 and 2017, All Rights Reserved

I'm linked with Mama Zen at The Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, 
http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/03/words-count-with-mama-zen.html

Our Word Quota here for M.Z. is 'No more than sixty words.'  I have forty-seven including my title. She asked us, "What have you observed that was odd, unusual, or just plain weird? Tell me about it in 60 words or less."

This evening we observed our granddaughter while in the playground at McDonalds eagerly comparing iPad notes with a fellow youngster.  This is what they were discussing, the Pokey Man.  There was not Larger boy, I felt this added to the weirdness with a bit of suspicion, "evil minds", a weirdo perhaps.

The Stranger ~~ a Poem for Tuesday Platform

.I am the stranger,

why won't you let me
into your heart
You are admired
by this one, still I haven't
the courage to tell

There was a time 
you were approachable,
then self-centered not
You love yourself now,
there is no room for me,
I dare not ask

So we shall live
our lives apart,
could you love me
like I love you
Love not fulfilled,
is love always wasting,
always I will pine for
your closeness again
.
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Photo and Poem Copyright
© 2012 and 2017 Jimmiehov
All Rights Reserved

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Inspired by:
"to the  stranger who has loved you 

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart."

 Excerpted from
"Love After Love"
by Derek Walcott
(Poem found here: Marian's find, http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-tuesday-platform_21.html )

Additionally, while writing his I was reminded of John Hinkley Jr's obsessive fixation on Jodie Foster (Wikipwaedia link)
 

His bag was packed ~~ a poem to show incongruity

His bag was packed ...

.

His bag was packed and food was in the chest

A place for the dog and his bike as well

Well-worn baseball glove stuffed beside some toys

All the things in life he had missed at hand

 

Our hero first stopped at the grocery

To buy a new tooth brush and some sodas

Coming out he found vehicle booted

The ticket read "Two Hundred Dollar fine"

 

"Improper parking" -- he's on the sidewalk

Nothing to do but call Dad and come home

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Photo and Poem Copyright, © Jimmiehov 2010 (photo) and 2017 (poem), All Rights Reserved
2010 Photo at http://jimmiehov.blogspot.com/2010/03/homeless-in-america-midweek-blues.html

I'm linked with  Fireblossom at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads,
http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/03/fireblossom-friday-incongruity.html

Her instructions were "... incongruity lies at the heart of humor, as well. It is the absurd, the thing we don't expect, that is often the very thing which makes us laugh. And so, your poem can be light, if you wish. So, mix it up, explore incongruity. Then link! Please write a NEW poem for this prompt, and no haiku or such like." 

Ides of March -- a Limerick Poem

Beware the Ides of March
.
See they are come The Ides of March
Still our leader is in the arch
He's alive and well
Seer's word he'd quell
Here yes, today's still 15 March

- - - click picture to enlarge, return vie "Back" - - -
- - - Picture is "Public Doman' from Wikipedia,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March#/media/File:Vincenzo_Camuccini_-_La_morte_di_Cesare.jpg

I'm linked again with Kelly O'Conner at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, The Tuesday Platform ~~http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-tuesday-platform_14.html
Notes:
 - From Wikipedia, The Ides of March originally was a religious holiday.  Also Ides is a mid month celebration, on the 13th or 15th, on the 13th for most months, but on the 15th for March, May, July, and October. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March
 
 - I first learned of the Ides of March from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. 
 
 - More from Wikipedia, "In modern times, the Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the senate. As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch,^[19] a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar no later than the Ides of March.

 - "On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, "The Ides of March are come", implying that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied "Aye, Caesar; but not gone."^[19] This meeting is famously dramatised in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March."^[20][21] The Roman biographer Suetonius^[22] identifies the "seer" as a haruspex named Spurinna." 

 - I really wanted to write modern Ides thoughts but time got away from me -

 - Happy Ides of March Day -

 - Celebrate, don't dread it -

Happy National Pi Day ~~ a Pi Poem (Pi-om), this year a Limerick

To the fridge Grandfather Jim went 
In there he'd find a pie for Lent
The fridge was oh so bare
Leftovers and a hare
Rabbit fit for pie he was bent
_ _ _ _ _

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I've used the rabbit picture before, first in 2008 (link) as my Easter Rabbit surprise.  I have no idea where it originated, it came on a chain e-mailing.
Poem Copyright, © Jimmiehov 2017, All Rights Reserved

I'm linked with Kelly O'Conner at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, The Tuesday Platform ~~http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-tuesday-platform_14.html

Today is National Pi Day (check it) to celebrate March 14 (3rd month, 14th day -- 3.14 = pi)

"Pi" is a mathematical constant equaling 3.14159265359.  For most applications 3.14 or 3.1416 is usually sufficient.  For approximation we can use 3 1/7.

A lot of people will be writing a "Pi Poem.  Different form and free form will be used, some will use a Pi-Kau, a three line special poem of  a three syllable, a one syllable, and a four syllable lines.  This year I am writing a Limerick, one year I wrote pi-kau form.
My other years 'pi poems' are here.

• Pi is useful for finding areas and volumes when the object is a circle or a cylinder. 
• In a formula we can abbreviate pi to be represented for pi by using the Greek letter "π".
• What is Pi?  It is the circumference of any circle, divided by its diameter.  Also using this equation, we can back out and find dimensions by manipulating the formula.
• For example, knowing the diameter ("D") of a circle we can find the circumference ("C") by using the formula, C = π x D. 
• Pi Day also happens to be the birthday of Albert Einstein. (born 1879) You could eat a pie or play an Einstein-themed trivia game, or have an Einstein impersonator contest. 
• Mrs. Jim is making me a pi Day pie, I hope rhubarb.

I used a Pi a lot in my studies as I have eight college mathematics courses giving me a Minor of Math to supplement my Economics Major for my Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Houston.
.

Oh Lady D, how I cherish thee ~~ a Poem for Tuesday Platform

Demeter
.

Oh Lady D, how I cherish thee
Unwittingly, thou passion's symbol 
Vineyard's safe keeper, of roses red, 
my vines of peanuts, and hibiscus

Nary a grape to be seen.  Beneath
your skirts perennial blossoms lurk
melons, tomatoes, and radishes

Guarded they are by your lingerers, 
heirs to your namesake, carrying it not
Without fail, every spring my tribute

Honoring you, comes to life planted
Planted among the daisies and corn 
See their beauty grow, dearest Scarecrow
Forever in my garden close by 
_ _ _ _
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Pictures and Poem Copyright, © Jimmiehov 2006 and 2017, All Rights Reserved
2006 Picture link, http://jimmiehov.blogspot.com/2006/10/halloween-wishes.html

I'm linked with Marian at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, The Tuesday Platform ~~ http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-tuesday-platform.html

The Tuesday Platform is a free forum meaning we can post whatever poem we liked.  Her instructions: "Dear versifiers, minstrels, balladmongers, and bards! (I might be a versifier) Please share a poem, ditty, rhapsody, or dithyramb* in the Garden today.

I chose a dithyramb* to honor the Greek goddess, Demeter**.  Did you know that the common scarecrow is a leftover show of homage to her.  Of the early farmer's worship of the gods, only Demeter** seemed to be of help to their crops.  Little did they know her image in the fields was scaring away the animals and birds who preyed upon the vegetation and seed.
Notes:
*Dithyramb:  noun: dithyramb; plural noun: dithyrambs --

a wild choral hymn of ancient Greece, especially one dedicated to Dionysus (I chose Demeter**); a passionate or inflated speech, poem, or other writing." (link)
 

**Demeter:  "Demeter was a peace-loving deity and the source of all growth and life; she was the goddess who provided all nutrition on the earth and taught mortals how to cultivate the earth and ease life. Demeter was most appreciated for introducing wheat to mankind, making man different from animals." (link)

A Flash 55 poem for the weekend -- Grocery Shopping

 

Grocery shopping
Isn't favorite thing to do
Math I've learned helps me not

Took my dolly too
Stopped at the Starbucks
Will coffee stunt our growth

Green things I don't eat
Red isn't much better
Do cookies rot my teeth

I went with Mother
She'll spend one quarter for me
What makes the onion cry

 

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Pictures and Poem Copyright, © Jimmiehov 2014 and 2017, All Rights Reserved
I'm linked with Kerry O'Conner at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, Play it Again Toads !, link is http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/03/play-it-again-toads.html 
 
I chose her first option for a Flash 55 poem.  It turned out also to have an option for it to be a Zen Poem with 55 words of which I'm not real good.  So I'm playing Kerry's prior request of Saturday, May 2, 2015.  It seems that I posted three poems for that day's call, none of which was a very good Zen poem.  The link is http://withrealtoads.blogspot.co.za/2015/05/flash-55-plus.html  I do have exactly 55 Words, with a questioning view and  a set of four Senryū verses which the Zen like.

Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do. Edgar Dégas
The same may go for poetry? (whatever, I enjoy painting with the words!)

Pictures previously posted here: (on a visit around at the Borough Market in London and in Vauxhall, London, U.K. in 2014--while visiting our daughter and granddaughter and SIL there while they were living for five years in London). http://jimmiehov.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-quiz-whats-your-favorite-eleven.html