- - a Poem for dVerse Quadrille #198 and NaPoWri Day 1

[Farm contoured, Bing search, (URL)]

  Contour Farming 

Down hills rains eroding 

Solve, County Agent comes

Nodding heads did agree

Surveyors measuring

Hills left with bright markers

Following them Dad plowed

Plowed more—Terraces made

Corn, Alfalfa between

Corn for feeding beef cows

With hay for winter meals

Erosion stopped, soil enriched 

_ _ _

 - Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2024, All Rights Reserved 

 - Photo, Bing Search, "Contour Farming" (URL) 

 - I am linked with Lisa for dVerse at   

    https://dversepoets.com/2024/04/01/dverse-quadrille-monday-198-fuzzy-frameworks/ 

where her instructions were to "Pen us a poem of precisely 44 words (not counting the title), including some form of the word contour." 

 - Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2024, All Rights Reserved 

 - I'm linked with NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 1 (URL)

 - Click here to read the other writers works 

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Learning outside the school building -- a Poem for Friday Writings

[please click on the picture to make it a bit larger -- I am the boy in back]

Rommy has invited us to write about an obscure bit of knowledge that fascinates us. 

 _ _ _  

The Storm; Rain, Hail, and Tornado

A scary day that ended in 

this little boy not scared at all 

He wasn't scared of the mean storm 

The rain, the hail, a tornado 

Appeared in school uninvited

Came knocking at our only door 

One room one door OSHA would care 

A student's dad and he did care 

The other kid in my grade's dad 

Came to get we kids to the cave 

Storm cave, one that gives memories 

of things our teacher might not like

He quickly informed the teacher

Her first inkling of this danger

The two of them ushered the kids

We quickly went, a scary trip

The dad was letting us all look

We'd stand up the stairs in the door

He would show us the cone move

Across the landscape mile away

It passed and we played with the hail

Baseball size across our green lawn

One I chose had a dark blemish

It seemed to be a piece of junk

Looking closer I found treasure

Kids treasure, a gear from a clock

How it got there we all wondered

Been fascinated by that still

- - -

185 words not counting the title 

 - Photo and Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2010 (URL) and 2024 Respectively, All Rights Reserved 

 - I am linked with Rommy at the Friday Writings #110, https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/ 

 - Rommy has invited us to write about an obscure bit of knowledge that fascinates us. I knew nothing about the power and cunningness of a Hailstorm until this episode of my life.  Now I have a real-time example to tell.  

 - Note: In the picture above, I was the boy in the rear. My cousin, John, on the right front was the other boy. My sister, Lois, was on the front left and another cousin, Ione, was to her right. Lois was probably in the second grade as she started school when she was four. That would put me in the sixth grade.  During my grade school there were generally four cousins.  

 - Click on the picture to make a larger view.

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Read it and, . . . -- for a dVerse Poetics and Friday Writings

[Taken on a road trip through Iowa, 2011 (posted about it, click here)] 

dVerse Poetics Poem: 

        Sign said, "Road Closed" 

The sign said that the road was closed 

But that wasn't enough for me 

Which way to go, there's no arrow 

Two alternatives, right or left 

Or is there a third, either way 

Perhaps they both end up, same place 

This was Iowa, new to me 

I took my chances and went left 

That's the way life is many times 

There is no Detour sign to say 

And there's plenty of Iowa's 

We'll read the sign and do our best 

     _ _ _ 

Friday Writings Special:

Like a Deer 

Storm has come tonight 

Skies are darkened as black ink 

Love to run in rain 

_ _ _ 

 - Photo and Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2023, All Rights Reserved 

 - I am linked with MS JADELI   at dVerse Poetics at  

   https://dversepoets.com/2023/09/12/dverse-poetics-semiotics-reading-the-signs/

 - Click here to read other writing concerning "signs". 

 - I am also linked with Magaly for hosting Friday Writings #94 at  

   https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/   

 - Magaly has invited us to "create poetry or prose which includes the following words:  storm; ink; and love" (I made a Senryu for her).  We have a choice as using her prompt is optional.  Due to my busy schedule I have opted to post instead a previously written work using "signs" for the prompt by MS JADELI.  

        _ _ _ 

 I used to like this song a lot:

 

 Detour — Patti Page

.. 

And this:

"Signs" (lyrics)
Recorded by: "Five Man Electrical Band" (1970)
http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/lyrics2/signs.html
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Grown Girl Advice -- a Poem for dVerse Prosery Night

Barbie Doll, dolled up in Pink

    The Mother's Advice 

"For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror.”

    Those my mother's words, as I stepped onto the train after we'd exchanged parting hugs. Irritated me a bit, I'm a grown girl who shouldn't need that kind of advice. 

    All was well when I chose my bench seat, all forward facing ones were taken in the section I was assigned.

    Thinking those words over, I know in the sight of many I am a pretty girl, young adult now. Younger less aware should heed them for sure.  

    My thought train was interrupted when the fellow next to edged my way, close making me feel uncomfortable. I gave him a defensive nudge to hint that he was sitting too close. 

    He didn't take that hint, played it like an invitation to come some closer. I jumped up, changed my seat. 

    Mom, you were right. 

     _ _ _ 

 - Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2023, All Rights Reserved 

 - I'm linked with Mish at dVerse, Prosery Night , 

    https://dversepoets.com/2023/07/17/prosery-rainer-maria-rilke/ 

 - Mish has a Poet tonight, Rainer Maria Rilke, chosen for us and are instructed to right a piece of prose, not more than 144 words, including the title.  That first line of his poem, “The First Elegy”, Duinos Elegies, was the opening line of my writing here, The Mother's Advice.' 

 - Click here to read the writings of other participants.

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Tell me it isn't -- a Poem for Friday Writings

    Uncultured Robotic Virtual Machine; 

        on our desks

        I am old fashioned 

        Sorry folks, once more 

        New "ism" cropped up 

        It's eating poets 

        Like pinball machines 

        Like computer games 

        ate with appetite 

        Our scourging demon 

        Men and women cursed 

        Like housewives succumbed 

        Teens and little kids 

       "Writing" poetry 

        Takes their time away 

        Pushing buttons 

        See where wheel will stop 

        This new monster chews 

        Swallowing, spitting 

        Tempting buttons pushed

        Just microseconds 

        Out comes a new verse 

        Verse they wanna call 

       "Poetry" blasphemed 

        Imbecilic words 

        Instant poets born 

        New Artificial 

        Intelligence reigns 

       "AI" victim's wooed 

        Another poet 

        is seduced to hell 

            _ _ _ 

 - Photo and Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2023, All Rights Reserved 

 - I am linked with Rosemary who is hosting for Friday Writings #78 this week 

 https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/?m=1

 - Rosemary has asked us to write something – anything – on the subject of AI.

.. 

"Learning How to Study" prose for Friday Writings

[click on picture for larger viewing -- our grade school, I am the boy in back]

I learned the hard way how to pay attention when a speaker is trying to make a point that we should know and learn.

Pay attention to the teacher, read the book, take notes!! I grew up on a farm and didn't plan on going to college. Probably do something related to agriculture after high school graduation. 

That all changed when a brownish post card came in the mail. It was from the University of Nebraska saying that I had been awarded a Regents Scholarship for five eights of my tuition, $50 a semester for four years.  

The kicker was that I must keep at least a "C" average to keep it. My grades slipped down; I decided that I must drop out so that some day I could get back in school later if I decided to. 

Later I was drafted into the Army, in my third year I opted a forty-three-week school.  It was for the maintenance and operation of a NIKE Hercules Missile Control Systems.   Three different radars and a van full of computers and consoles. I graduated third in my class of forty-some GIs.  Two officers had better grades; maybe I wasn't really "Dumb".

Towards the beginning an instructor taught me how to study.  Start with taking notes of the material being presented and from the books, then study the notes by reducing them to fundamentals, like an expanded outline.  Review these new pages and study to master items that give trouble.  Finally review before exams. An added benefit of taking notes is using another sense, of seeing what was being said, to that of hearing. 

I realized that since I needn't study in high school to make good grades, but in college I surely did. Seven years later I went back to college and after twenty more years I finished school with three degrees. 

Then I began teaching college and stayed twenty-two years until I retired. In my classes' beginnings when I found students not taking notes I'd tell them this story I've just told you. 

Worked for me, pay attention to the teacher, read the book, take notes and study them. I'm still doing that, even for church sermons. Two senses.

_ _ _ 

 - Photo and Prose Writing  Copyright, Jimmiehov 2023, All Rights Reserved 

 - I am linked with Magaly Guerrero for her Friday Writings #74 at  

    https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/?m=1 

 - Magaly's optional prompt is "all about the act of paying attention." in 369 or less words, I have exactly 367.  

.. 

Beat Generation - a Poem, Night Experiences for Me

              411 Westheimer, Houston Texas
       Open Mic Night POETRY SLAM, October 5

 Our Coffee House 

We sat in a circle, 

maybe a square 

if the group got large 

Passed the bottle of wine 

after a swig 

Took turns telling our woe,

or maybe read a Poem 

Ours if we had it written 

or maybe one we'd read 

that matched our mood

We all hated the war 

partly that's why we came, 

that and for the wine 

They called this place 

"The Coffee House" but 

"The Coffee House" had 

shut down 

We hose it down 

on Sunday mornings 

and mow the grass 

on Fridays 

The neighbors didn't 

mind that we came 

Oft times they'd show up 

up for the wine

Free to them 

and for us 

and next time or the next 

we'd bring one along 

Neighbors alright, 

all except one, 

a retired captain 

We read him his Rights 

and told him to shut up 

He minded real well 

and a few times bring some wine 

That guy hated the army 

and hated the war 

he'd had a leg shot off 

and became a bitter man 

A drunk one night 

wanted to change our name 

"boys and girls club" 

suited him fine 

We told him to shut up 

so he changed his mind, 

wanted then 

"Attica men and women 

against the war" 

Again we told him to sit down 

and shut up 

(the neighbors liked the 

coffee idea)

We all went home HAPPY 

as we'd done our part 

to stop the war 

We weren't draft dodgers 

but some they didn't like,  

especially with our 

Peace Symbol buttons 

Oh yes, some called us 

"Beatniks," 

we didn't mind 

 _ _ _ 

 - Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2022, All Rights Reserved 

 - I am linked with Sanaa at dVerse 

https://dversepoets.com/2022/10/04/poetics-allen-ginsberg-and-the-beat-generation/ 

 - Click here to read other writings of the Beat Generation 

 - I am also linked with Rommy at the Friday Writings #47 at 

https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2022/10/friday-writings-47-hobby-time.html

 - This is mostly true, The Coffee House for my experience was in Huntsville Alabama.  I did get drafted later, then I didn't wear Peace Symbol buttons but I did have a gold and large Peace Symbol necklace which had been given to me.

.. 

Kissing and Voting - a Poem for Friday Writings

Apple Decides; Tells; 

or what does it?

Twist the apple stem 

she loves me she loves me not 

(repeat) She loves me ... 

When the stem breaks we will know 

I'm tired of this game 

I've been tired since the first grade 

Led to storm cellar 

Show me yours I'll show you mine 

Strict Republicans 

and Liberal Democrats 

We vote, ballots filled 

When count is in then we'll know 

Majority wins 

most of times but not always 

 _ _ _ 

 - Photo and Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2022, All Rights Reserved 

 - I am linked with Magaly at the Friday Writings #46 

https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2022/09/friday-writings-46-different-points-of.html?m=1  

 - Magaly has invited us to write one piece of poetry or prose from two different points of view. 

 - Note:  With our, U.S.,  electoral college system of voting the college doesn't always vote the same as the popular majority voters. 

 - This has happened five times: 

John Quincy Adams (1824);

Rutherford B. Hayes;  (1876);  

Benjamin Harrison ; (1888); 

George W. Bush (2016; and 

Donald Trump (2020) 

[ https://www.history.com/.amp/news/presidents-electoral-college-popular-vote ] 

..

The Journey - a Poem for the Sunday Muse

  

Up; and loaded up 

We loaded up our old wagon 

and headed for California 

On top our earthly possessions 

Gold rush was over still there's jobs 

The kids and I were in the back 

Couple of kids and dog way back 

This would be my very last move 

Had an obituary in my briefcase 

Some clothes were stuffed in there as well 

Traveled light this would be my last 

When we got to Albuquerque 

wasn't feeling well, pain in chest  

They dumped me off and traveled on 

Said some prayers for me said goodbye 

Right there at the morgue I'd passed away 

I'm standing here now, Pearly Gates 

Saint Peter's directing traffic 

Some go Right, the others were wrong 

 

Never in my life 

was a lefty 

Kicking ye Old Bucket 

 _ _ _ 

 

Knockin' On Heaven's Door/Lyrics

Search Results

Main Results

Mama, take this badge off of me
I can't use it anymore
It's gettin' dark, too dark to see
I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door

Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can't shoot them anymore
That long black cloud is comin' down
I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Robert Dylan

Knockin' On Heaven's Door lyrics © Ram's Horn Music, Universal Tunes 

_ _ _ 

 - Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2022, All Rights Reserved 

 - I'm linked with Carrie for the picture prompts, at The Sunday Muse #229 where she has more, other writers' URLS also, 

 https://thesundaymuse.blogspot.com/2022/09/sunday-muse-229.html

.. 

Boy's Fun and Food - a Poem for dVverse Quadrille

My night out with the boys 

Hamburgers and hot dogs 

Be eating up a storm 

Doned my shorts and golf shirt 

That's dressing up for me 

Running shoes make the man 

Got there, party's on wild

Two drinks and I'm snockered 

Punch was spiked  

 _ _ _ 

 - Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2022, All Rights Reserved 

 - I'm linked with Dee Jackson, aka Whimzy Gizmo, at the dVerse Quadrille #160, for a prompt 44-word write that "packed a punch" using the word "punch"

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/19/quadrille-160-poems-that-pack-a-punch/ 

 - Click here to find links to others who had the same writing instructions 

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Our Days - a Poem with an Aphorism - Meet the Bar, dVerse

 

    Click on picture for larger sized viewing

  The Clock Ticks 

I'm facing the wall 

No turning around 

When I last saw him 

He was eight feet tall 

Bang. His gun went off 

I fell to the floor 

Down with a big thud 

My day is over 

When I awakened 

There's no blood no pain 

Why wasn't I dead 

Best wake and repent 

The clock is ticking 

and our days aren't long 

 _ _ _ 

 - Photo and Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2022, All Rights Reserved 

 - I am linked with Björn Rudberg (brudberg) in dVerse for Meet the Bar with Aphorisms, at  

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/08/meet-the-bar-with-aphorisms/  

 - Is there a growing old?  The final two lines make my aphorism. 

 - Click Here to visit the others writing Aphorisms this week

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