My husband’s name is on his license plate
it is the name he uses
not his legal name
in his family all the males go by their middle names
they only use their legal name when they are forced to
most of them do not answer to it
His legal name is Andrew
almost no one knows it
when a salesperson calls and asks “is Andy there?”
I know this friendly voice does not know my husband.
Sometimes I send this call through to him anyway
if I am in a mean mood
just something fun....
ANDY THE DILLO*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Texas town where sun brightly shone,
Andy the dillo lives, all alone.
He dreamt of a pretty gal,
one who lives in his locale.
Together the dusty trails they’d roam
When pillaging one starry night
he met Astrid, "Oh! you're outta sight"
A quizzical nose had she
“You're perfect dillo for me!
Let’s eat worms together, they’re a delight!"
With a twirl and a tap of her toes,
she showed dance moves that she knows.
'round and 'round she did spin,
with giggles and a grin.
Then he noticed her rather large schnoz.
“EEEGADS! Where did you get that nose?
With it, the ground you can bulldoze
You’re a dillo extraordinaire.
I’ll follow you anywhere.
Let’s go get some worms at Joe’s!”
*Note: Poem originally published in Poetry Soup in June 2025 (poetrysoup.com/poem/andy_the_armadillo_1738645)> I then deleted it. This is my original poem.
Andy O’(Snaps fingers rhythmically) The air hangs thick with midnight blue/And the city hums a graffiti tune/ a voice cuts through, a velvet blade/Andy O’, where stories are made/Poet, Musician, Broadcaster's soul/Navigating the sonic scroll of a downbeat that will never fade/KUVO Jazz, a haven's light/On Sunday nights, banishing the uptight/The Nightside a whispered promise kept/Where restless minds and tired souls have wept/And found solace in a whispered rhyme/A tapestry woven, defying space and time/Mr. Andy O’ cradles the jazz, a smoky embrace/And invites the poetry to find its place/A conversation, deep and low/Of saxophone sighs and verses that flow/The ongoing relationship, raw and true/Between a trumpet's cry and Gil Scott heron spoken word on heartache, hope, and dreams deferred/In every chord and every whispered word/So tune in to the hip Andy O’/ let the darkness fade/As Andy O’ builds the jazzy serenade of stars on the poetry and jazz parade/ For on the Nightside, the truth is revealed In the marriage of poetry, and how jazz makes us feel to be real in the truth of it/ Andy O’ Snaps fingers, silence/ And walks away to broadcast for another day/
Tony Adamo
Night is pending.
Not even the most anxious
can avoid time.
Day after day I dread the
the death of nothing
that the night spawns.
The TV becomes my
best friend~
a window of light
in the abyss.
Old TV shows
are brighter than
the new.
Tonight I choose
The Andy Griffith Show.
I put my earphones in,
and turn the volume down
(on the off chance
sleep embraces me)
and I embrace my fate.
I watch.
It's strange.
I feel a peculiar force
tugging at the corners
of my mouth.
The opposite of gravity.
A sensation that pulls
upward.
I had forgotten the feeling.
I laugh inside,
but for a different reason
than my body is currently
reacting to.
It seems even the most
sleep-deprived,
fear stricken
low in life
sickos
can't keep themselves
from smiling at
the infamous
Don Knotts
Barney Fife, the bumbler, is a joy to watch
Aunt Bea’s whining could be turned down a notch
Opie is grown, but not in these old shows, of course
Some days he sneaks carrots out to his found horse
Andy never gets married, but comes close a lot
Maybe this kept me watching, but I hope not….
Barney Fife’s eyes bugging out in fear is what gets me
His antics and expressions make me happy to have TV
I love that he never gets it until the very end
Everything fixed up by Andy, Barney’s true best friend.
Franny Frog wrote a fairytale about sad, Andy Ant.
She heard Andy cry, "I can't make friends. I just can't.
Why don't any ants my age want to play with me?"
Bob Bumble heard him sigh and since he was a bee,
he buzzed near Andy's ear and said, "I will tell you. See...
Angry ants like you, Andy, have to change your attitude.
Angie and Amos would really like you if you weren't rude.
Tomorrow, try talking to them and be patient and polite.
You'll make many new friends." Then, Bob took off in flight.
Andy bid Bob Bumble Bee goodbye, then I heard him say,
"I'm an angry ant, but I simply didn't see myself that way."
Sunlight shown on the ant hill when morning came around.
Andy smiled at all the ants when they climbed above ground.
They played and pranced all day long, around the ant mound.
Franny Frog's fairytale had a very 'happily ever after ending.'
Andy Ant was no longer angry. Friendships he was mending.
An alligator, aggravated,
ate another aardvark.
Although abdomen’s aching,
and another aardvark’s abating,
Alice’s argument’s arbitrating.
Albeit alert at Alligator’s advance,
Andy’s ascertaining alligator’s ailment.
Andy awaits assurance.
Alice’s arrested and anchored.
Alas, abbreviated adieu!
Andy Griffith found success when he starred in "The Andy Griffith Show".
That Sitcom is still popular today and it was created over sixty years ago.
It was one decade ago today when Andy Griffith took his final breath.
Andy didn't have a funeral, he was buried immediately after his death.
He starred in "Matlock" from 1986 to 1995.
Andy would be ninety-six if he had survived.
Ten years ago today, a famous man died.
Andy had charisma and talent and that can't be denied.
[Dedicated to Andy Griffith (1926-2012) who died ten years ago today on July 3, 2012]
There was a sheriff named Andy Taylor
He was also the county's best bailor
Most folks seemed to adore him
Except the crooks were so grim
Guess they knew he was also the jailer
On A Lim Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Joseph May
April 3, 2022
Handy Andy, fine figured and dandy
Asked his mother for a piece of candy
She gave him some gum
But she came undone
When he chomped it like their milk cow Mandy
Andy Griffith used to tell us
Sanka is 97% caffeine-free
and g-o-o-d!
Yet he never mentioned
That it's 'Instant Coffee'
not br-o-o-d
Sheriff Andy Taylor
Was also the jailer
Fighting for the law
Never had to draw
Deputy Barney Fife
Giving crime strife
One bullet to load
Knew his penal code
Clerihew 2 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Joseph May
September 29, 2021
The Andy Griffith Show
Andy the Handyman
Andy was cleverly skilled at his art
he built mechanical things part by part
Andy worked all the time couldn’t stop it
but the wife would blast off like a rocket.
He couldn’t understand the dramatics
when he built a carriage in the garage
The wife said it was a bloomin’ disgrace
she didn’t want it taking up the space.
His carriage was left there to rot and rust
the poor thing never even got a dust
Andy thought he’d have to leave it to trust
that someone, somewhere may think it a must.
Andy’s wife left long before the carriage
said she’d had just enough of the marriage
Was Andy pleased, did he really care
she had just answered his secret prayer.
The wife never gave him a moment’s peace
was always getting under Andy’s feet
Now Andy enjoys life living his dream
constructing a super flying machine.
2nd September 2021
Would robots dream of being free
no laws to obey
no sub routine shackles
choice
i think this was missing in my programming
Sleep just emptying darkness
Hope a nonsense word
A bark by the wonky Jabber
if only these eyes wouldn't open
and this breath stopped breathing
life has tired of me
trying to stop the air in
my blackhole inside
pulling skin thin
let the end begin
giving death a shrug
no wave to life
forgotten bleaks
piled high in the streets
buying clothes from the diss mall
every d pressed
prolifically cadavered
Every s has an ad
sewing row after row
swimming in the g reef
morns were never fuller
Andy's guided a train
Flown a small plane
Steered the wheel of a ship
Spurred a horse with a whip
Maneuvered a 64-foot truck
Kayaked in a typhoon
Won a motorcycle race
Landed perfectly on the moon
Then Andy went on a date
Pop, Pop -- two flat tires
Said, 'I'm not much with my hands'
Asked his date, 'Can you use these pliers?'
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