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Best Poems Written by Stanley Ohlswager

Below are the all-time best Stanley Ohlswager poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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Shady Lady

SHADY LADY   
There once was a lady who loved to face the sun
      Following it as it crossed the sky,
Particularly between the hours of eleven to one.
      But  no one could figure out why.
Some said to develop a sunny disposition
      To overcome a previous condition
For  it was rumored that this lady
      Had a background that was shady.

Details | Stanley Ohlswager Poem

Moses

Moses
In Deuteronomy
Couldn’t deal with masculinity;
Couldn’t deal with femininity, 
So he settled on 
Neuteronomy

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Arachne

ARACHNE

Athena, 
Goddess of Wisdom
In the heavenly arena,
Weaver of skill 
Was believing
That none could match 
The beauty of her weaving.
But a young mortal maid, Arachne,
Showed weaving of matching beauty.
So enraged by this travesty
Of equally beautiful tapestry, 
Athena, no longer able to abide her
Turned her into a spider* 
Whose webs of splendor
She yet does render.
I know this to be true, for one day
Arachne, sitting besider  
Did thus confide her
Before scaring Miss Muffet away.
                                                
                                                 * Spider, of the order Arachnid, having 
                                             8 legs; weaver of magnificent webs.

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Dinner

DINNER

Tonight we’ll dine 
At a restaurant fine
.To order, we’ll start 
With the French words,
Entrée and a la carte.

Hors d oeuvres, escargo, 
Brei and dubonnet.
If those mean food,
Why don’t they say?
Foi gras and boeuf.
Grass-fed beef?

Next on the menu:
Pesto, calamari,
Vermicelli, tortellini.
Served with bianco, chianti, 
Oh me!

Not to be out done,
The Greeks have their fun 
With: gyros, mousaka, 
Ouzo, and baklava.

Apparently it’s fashional 
To serve food international.
Adding to the appeal
Of a well-prepared meal.
OK by me!

Details | Stanley Ohlswager Poem

Bliss

BLISS

Reminisce
A kiss
Bliss

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Time

TIME              

Something you can’t see nor feel
      Something you can’t hear.
But something certainly real
      TIME is always here.
Is it stationary and stable?
      No, though we may have that notion
Can’t confine it to a table.
      For it essentially defines motion.

As in “long time ago”
      We say time is past and gone’
But then we often know
      And say” the time is yet to come”
It seems to be a paradox
      When the future becomes the past
Putting the present in a box
      A moment time stands still at last.

We say, “How long will it last?”
      Length?; does time have dimension?
If so, has it a shadow to cast?
      No, ‘tis an abstraction., that’s my contention.
Time, the great enabler,
      As recorded in earth’s journal,
Allows happenings to occur’
      Ranging from instant to eternal.

Time can go fast
      But as you and I know,
When it never seems to pass
      Time can be so slow.
“Time’s too short, it takes too long”
      But it can’t be both: is something wrong?

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Old Grump

OLD GRUMP

Old Grump, harumph
Lived in a shack,
No toilet,
House out back.
When approached,
He’d glower
With a face turned sour.
He felt the world against him,
And en-fenced him
To be fated 
To live isolated.
Then one day in May
His front stoop suddenly featured
A scraggly, mangy four-legged creature
With droopy ears 
And expression mournful.
Whose approach seemed to be only
That he was lonely
And a friend he wished to be
As he snuggled Grump’s knee,
Who, with slow comprehension
Felt a loving attention.
And, with a pat on the head,
Smilingly said,
“ You may be skin and bone,
And I a worn-out guy
But we can have a loving tie
And never again feel all alone.”
 Old Grump lost his scowl
And, with but a friendly feat,
Sour was turned to sweet.

Details | Stanley Ohlswager Poem

The Moon

THE MOON
We’ve a friend up there ever so high
A bright ball up in the sky.
There’s a full moon in June
When romance is enhanced, 
And young men on their knees,
 Oft’ submit marriage pleas.

Made of cheese green,
One week later can be seen
To have been nibbled upon
By a heavenly member of the Zodiac.
Pisces, the fish in fact.
At this phase of the moon, 
It is thought that a cow jumped over
As a dish ran away with a spoon.

When another week has passed
It has been nibbled in half
By Taurus, the bull’s young calf.

Another week it looks forlorn
Having been chewed by the goat,
Named Capricorn.

End of fourth week
There is practically no more,
But the black new moon
 Will see it’s  slowly restored.

Details | Stanley Ohlswager Poem

Face the Facts--Relax

Face The Facts--Relax

When a senior widower I became
      I joined others whose situation is the same.
One of those independent living places
      Where you see many new faces.
Was told I might even attend
      To the discovery of a nice new lady friend.

The widowed women unencumbered
      Had us men far outnumbered.
I was told of all the dangers
      Of being approached by  female strangers.
Alas, now I’ve come to realize
      This attack by women would not materialize
 
Can’t blame the weather or the season
      Aha, I think I’ve found the reason;
I have now but a fraction
      Of the old attraction.
I’ve lost that old ability
      Because of my senility---oh well!

Details | Stanley Ohlswager Poem

Exfoliation I Am

EXFOLIATION, I AM      
 
In my advanced age am I but 
       The castoff--remnants 
Of a vitality that once was and has  been pushed aside?
      Am I only its exfoliation? 
I  don’t want to think so, but that is now;
      What came before is shown below:
      
For decades three plus three
      Nature with her laws discovered by
Newton, Boyle, Bernoulli 
      Was companion to me 
As I experienced the excitement of creativity
       In my work overriding the possible drudgery
Of  jobs that have little rewarding activity.

Half century plus ten I was blessed with
      Wife and family and the role of
Provider, father, lover shared with She
      Who enlivened me.

Car full headed North, lake in view,
       Wife, three kids oh so very excited.

Driving West, mountain view.
       Watch for antelope, but watch for rattlers uninvited.
Reading  aloud became good habit,
       Followed the adventures of rascally Brer Rabbit.
Later the kids entered college by matriculation.
       Then we proudly attended their graduation.
Followed by weddings three,
        Grandkids soon to be.
A basement room all mine to whittle and carve,
       Saw and drill, all to my own design!
And all this with wife’s loving smile,
       Nurturing care for me and family.
And special nighttime treat for me:
       The warm curves of femininity.
Yes, a house, a home, a nest
       For fulfillment of many a quest.

Then all suddenly gone--no more       
Wife taken by stroke at 84.

 Now living alone in senior facility for independence
       With feelings of life in the deep-end-ence
Of water’s eddying spirals 
Of gremlin virals 
In Devil’s domain 
       Of assorted pains
And energy gone south.
Through West window I can see
       A hospital’s room emergency reminding me 
Of the fragility of my mortality.

Enough of this gloom! Look about this room,
       There are friends on end!
I do have a special friend, 
One who sustains me
       And when I do see often
The hardness of loneliness does soften.

I see no need of future to aspire to, just experience today.
       For now, yes, we have the exfoliation 
Of our prior activities whose flakes are shards 
       Of knowledge and creativity. Use them!
Exfoliated for me has been a love of writing poetry.
       (on that I needn’t expound; 
On reading here I trust you’ve found).

When at times I feel alone and tired to the bone
       I must remember I can draw on the past (not live what was last )
Or devise something new for something to do
       The next hour or two.
Adhere fast to life! (with rivet or glue)* JUST LIVE IT!
* As an avid consumer of metaphoric humor
                    This; rivet or glue, I couldn’t resist. 
            So see, just writing this has brought life to me!