Best Forty Winks Poems
I am a narcoleptic,
I sleep at any time,
no doubt I’ll drop off frequently
before I end this ………………………………rhyme.
It can be quite embarrassing,
between just me and you,
in the bank the other day
I dozed off in the queue.
As if that wasn’t bad enough
I let out quite a snore,
a real raucous rasper
that left my throat quite sore.
My constant napping problem
has somewhat skewed my fate;
destined to be a spinster,
I snooze on each first date.
There was one special fella
who took me out to dine,
my face was drawn into my plate
as I closed these eyes of mine.
He gave me money for the bill
and stifling a grin
he walked away and whispered
“You’ve something on your chin”
I think I’ll have to end now,
I’m sensing heavy blinks,
I cannot write another word
I need my forty ………..................... winks
** for Nikko's 'Your Snooze, You Choose' contest
While I gaze in your eyes, cool cerulean blue,
Sifting night, straining stars through morning’s sweet dew,
I can fathom the depths of empyreal skies,
Angels fluttering by, riding wild butterflies
While I gaze in your eyes, changing, aqua-blue greening,
I’m sucked into chasms, cascading, careening,
And yield to enticements which meekly disarm,
Seeping virtuous beauty, sad sensuous charm
While I gaze in your eyes, bleeding fiery blue
Ever tempting with treasures, with pleasures for two,
Being caught at the core of a blazing sapphire
Possessing, enthralling, aflame with desire
While I gaze in your eyes, misty emeralds, deep green,
Veiling laughter and banter, and echoes between,
Then I dream, so it seems, in whatever the place,
Of your scent, of your breath, of your radiant face
While I gaze in your eyes, at times placidly blue,
Near’ as calm as the weirs in the woods all bedewed,
Forty winks relegate to a shimmering lake,
Gently floating on lilies, while waiting to wake
While I gaze in your eyes, caught engulfed in the greens
And consigning my fate unto verdant ravines,
My reactions, at length, become shyer and shyer
Reminiscent of ravens at risk in the briar
While I gaze in your eyes, restless, hesitant blues
Overwhelming sensations with turbulent hues,
I’m succumbing to waves of a storm battered sea,
Being cast like a plank, never meant to be free
While I gaze in your eyes, shadowed, Midnight Lake green
Glowing hazy with dreams, misty thoughts so serene,
Sudden silence befalls me, a fast sinking stone,
Looming lost in your eyes, I am never alone
While I gaze in your eyes, saddened, lachrymal blue,
Spilling trickles of rain, pearls obscuring your view,
I’ll attend to your anguish and feelings morose,
Lightly kissing your tears, touching, holding you close
While I gaze in your eyes, pulsing infinite green
Of the earth and of heaven and all in between,
It is simple to see that my hands can hold all
Of the treasures I find which so humbly enthral
While I gaze in your eyes, when they’re bountifully blue,
I’m reminded, love’s lightning is granted to few...
While I gaze in your eyes, when they’re blindingly green,
I’m reminded, love’s lightning cannot be foreseen...
Yet I hope... and I wait...
Christmas Eve Mystery
The sun had set, and it was Christmas Eve.
Dear Santa finished up and packed the sleigh;
made sure his Reindeer were geared up to go
before they'd have some time outside to play.
Now it was time to go to North Pole Park,
for there they'd snack on greens below the snow,
and run and prance to loosen up their legs
for galloping through space 'neath moonlit glow.
There, Santa rested on his favored bench;
'tween nodding, saw them romping everywhere.
However, Rudolph proudly stood on guard
beside him watching with protective care.
But soon enough, except for one, they'd fled;
whichever way they looked, none to be found!
Rudolph and Santa surely seemed upset...
yelled out each name in hopes they'd come around.
Before long, darkness fell upon the park.
Did Santa's deer come back to join the team?
Yes...every precious gift arrived on time.
'Twas only Santa's 'forty winks' bad dream!
December 10, 2018
For the Contest, "The Park Bench At Christmas",
sponsored by Sara Kendrick, based on Picture #3
AUTUMN CAPRICE
With what ease he shifts
With such carefree abandon
Harlequin garb at death’s door
Time? Elemental
And his whisperings
Oh, God, his whisperings!
Behemoth strides with iron fists
But, oh, at times so gentle
He calls the dance fiddles a macabre tune
First smiles
Then frowns
Manipulating playthings
A sadistic clown
Relentless!
Nor even forty winks
The great beating heart tapping throbbing drumming
Till all lay lifeless
Only then this sleepy sigh
A white shroud
A conversation overheard between Shakespeare and his former muse.
"So many things hath turned to utter folly over the ages.
Hundreds of years since I've penned pages and pages.
What these ancient eyes of mine doth now conceive
plead, 'Return to thy grave, Bard, for here you'll grieve."
"In sooth, fair maiden muse, I know not why I am so sad.
Perchance to dream, is this a scheme or have I gone mad?
Enlighten me as to what's become of life as I once knew it.
Bitter dregs are coffee? Bring me tea or I shall lose my wit!"
"Fie to you and the darts of scornful glances from the eyes
of natives half-dressed. Is modesty held in compromise?"
It's accepted attire by everyone, nothing like in the past.
"I shall not rudely stare, but I find myself quite flabbergast.
What of the churl who spits venom into that man's face?
Doth women in this day act like shrews? What a disgrace!
Is not thy husband honored as both her lord and keeper?"
Women are equal. She looks at him like she's the grim reaper.
"The lady doth protest too much. That's what me thinks.
A goblet of ale tis what I need, and then forty winks.
That minstrel sings gibberish. Has he no pride in himself?"
He sings a Christmas song about an elf who sits upon a shelf.
"O, teach me how I should forget from whence I have come.
I do not belong here. I need a draft to sleep and benumb.
Romeo's poison was quick. Thus, with a tender kiss he died.
To chamber I betide to cleanse this stain I shall not abide.
Out! Out Damned spot! Thy splotch besmirches as if blood.
Begone fore I hear my heartbeats pounding with each thud.
On the banks of Stratford-On-Avon tis where I long to be,
rewriting Romeo and Juliet so in the future he will decree...
To Juliet when she says, Romeo. Romeo, wherefore art thou?
The lad shall reply, "What do you want from me, you cow?"
Dear Bard, you mustn't change a word of what's been written.
For centuries women have read your lines and were smitten.
"I shall nary breathe a word of this ill journey to the future.
Thine lips are sealed forever more without need of suture.
Back to the grave where I belong, most gladly shall I return.
In eternal sleep, ne'er to dream of such time I did spurn."
Now I lay me down to sleep
Alone upon these empty sheets
Of paper lying on the bed
Side table clock says 5 a.m.
Oh dark of night, I beg thee stay
Keep the morning light at bay
Oh dusk beloved!
Oh dawn be damned!
Me pull the curtains tight again
And only this I have to show
These tries at rhymes
Turned tales of woe:
Of sticky socks
On stinky feet
Sit ankle bones
Prop broken knees
‘Neath pasty thighs
With muscle pains
Crooked back
And shhit for brains
Tired eyes must take their rest so
Leave behind this manifesto
For the rights
Of righteous minds
To get their forty-winks, sublime
Después de la fiesta
While they take la siesta
Sun sets low
On the horizon
But lo, the sun set also rises
O’er every heart and soul supine
Crouched behind their window blinds
Who heave a sigh
At yet another
Evening pass without a slumber
All perchance to dream is lost so
As tonight is now tomorrow:
That is all
And with that said
I take me self to bed again
They sometimes come as strangers to the Earth.
But, often, they are unwelcome overflows.
From two pure elements they are always made,
And they are most essential to the welfare of mankind.
They have activated hormones now and then
And, sometime later results are proudly known.
Many sweaty brows of have been cooled,
After work in fields fed by spring showers.
As both adult and child I’ve slept to the
Rhythm of spring showers on tin roofs.
And the sleep resulting seemed much more refreshing
Than the forty winks I managed now and then.
Spring showers are our friends
But when carried by strong winds
Can bring devastation
And damage of historic proportions.
These gentle rains can mean
Life’s blood to some and death knell to others.
So, spring showers are many things
And memories galore flourish after their visit.
Written for Russell Sivey’s contest ‘Spring Showers”
04/14/13
Today
One sheep, Two sheep
I can’t seem to find sleep
Got thoughts in my head, so
Today will not let go
Hello… looks
Like a sleep.. less night
Three sheep, Four sheep
Tangled in the bed sheet
Tossing and a turning
Roasting hot and burning
Hello… looks
Like a sleep.. less night
Five sheep, Six sheep
Come on sleep, please creep
Get me out of this bind
Get her out of my mind
Yoyo… looks
Like a peace.. less night
She said, I said
Join me in the marriage bed
I don’t seem to think so
Today will not let go
Oh no… looks
Like a rest.. less night
Me thinks, She thinks
After I’ve had forty winks
I will see it her way
Get me out of today
I say… looks
Like an ease.. less night
Morning, Yawning
A brand new day is dawning
I know she’ll go loony
When I do a Clooney
Hey ho… looks
Like a sleep… filled night
Unquotable quotes – XII
To catch a monkey, you need a young coconut with three holes for eyes ; bore a hole in one and wait : the monkey will thrust its hand in to grab a mouthful and will not let go come what may.
To catch a false monk, you need an orphan.
To catch a thief, you need either a camera or a cobra.
To catch a bluffer, you need to make him believe ya.
To catch a fly, you need a spider with a parlour.
To catch a poisonous snake, you need a retracting loup on a long ten-foot pole.
To catch a giant, you need a sling with a stone.
To catch a Pharoah, you need his sister with a hisser.
To catch a priest, you need the advice of his Chief Geist.
To catch a stool-pigeon, you need another stool-pigeon.
To catch a plane, you need a valid ticket.
To take a train, you need a ticket-puncher.
To board a ship, you need to rise with the tide.
To catch the woman next-door, you need to wait until the paramour goes out the back-door.
To catch a ripe durian, you need to have a hard or an empty head.
To capture a girl in a burqa, all you need is another burqa.
To capture a rat in a hole, all you need is a secret service mole.
To capture a pirate ship in a canal, all you need to do is to lower the water-level.
To catch a polar bear and her cubs, all you need to do is to raise the level of your exhaust fumes.
To catch a lark on a bark, all you need to do is to click your camera.
To catch the sun in the morn, all you need to do is to sleep with your window open.
To catch cold, all you need to do is to stand stark naked bold.
To catch forty winks, you need to be full of drinks.
To get on peoples’ nerves, you need to step on their toes.
To catch the pox, you need to meet a certain lady who lounges around the docks.
To come to grief, all you need to do is to rob Fort Knox.
© T. Wignesan - Paris, 2016
Grass verge
Unnoticed florals;
Unspoken splendour
~~~~~~~~~
Crowded impasse
Wordless faces;
Feisty fest
~~~~~~~~~
Day hurls light
Sparkling tell;
Sleepy commotion
~~~~~~~~~
Forty winks
Sleepy delights;
Late morning sojourn
~~~~~~~~~
Dawn hurls sober
Dreams malinger;
Heavy eyes
~~~~~~~~~
By this wayside
Miniature flowers preside;
Beauty camouflages
~~~~~~~~~
Floral bouquets
Sunny side up;
Dazzling sparkle
~~~~~~~~~
Joy intervenes
Love delights all;
Intuitive spread
~~~~~~~~~
Morning rain
Icy cold feel;
Deep frozen dreams
~~~~~~~~~
Toy dog barks
Simple excursion;
Morning exercise
~~~~~~~~~
End of story
Finale certain;
Next season's preview
~~~~~~~~~
Mental pictures
Well-rehearsed;
Made to measure
~~~~~~~~~
Fond tact
Fine act;
New pact
~~~~~~~~~
Touching finale
Fireworks display;
Dazzling limelight
~~~~~~~~~
Mahjong insights
Family roundtable;
Fest mellows zest
~~~~~~~~~
Leon Enriquez
09 August 2017
Singapore
( "Write the truest sentence you know." - F. Scott Fitzgerald )
Variant plurals suffering suffixation's whims;
fly-tomatoes and the valley boo-mouse,
when the sheep alumnus in a mother-in-law seed,
animosity-cat tiptoes in the church alchemy,
genetic forty-winks sing noun names; brag and blame.
Go to the spy picnic early, the heavy earth hides,
the shy long-cot swings over the screeching pond.
She wont let me say the words; I love her,
an ice-cream non-communist with a gypsy-grace and a smorgasbord-rub,
( I have tone-deaf toothpaste and my megawatt chow miens)
It’s enough to make you gang your hemihedral in a jolt-wagon.
Someone aught to have better sea-sense. Not me-
I’m palm-crucified. My bulls-eye is a hearse!
She might marry me to a multi-syllabic drainage or I might climb the scrupulous oak.
Here I sit, on an examination table
bored, swinging my feet to and fro
waiting for a doctor who will be able
to diagnose the reason why I feel low
I study the body posters while I wait
in my unfashionable blue paper gown
I must remember to sit up straight
to keep my tushie from being found
Another hour goes by, maybe more
I'm sure I got forty winks in a nap
I can hear him now, outside my door
clicking his tongue then 'rap, rap, rap.'
A cheesy smile then he reads my chart
I could tell him what he needs to know
and doctors are supposed to be so smart
Well, he should have been here long ago.
He shakes my hand then off to the sink
where he washes with ten squirts of soap.
"You think I'm contagious?" I ask with a blink.
"Don't know," he says. "Maybe there's hope."
He inquires, "Now, what seems to be wrong?"
I ramble symptoms; there are many to convey
while squirming from the pinch of my thong.
Shouldn't doctors be old, at least turning gray?
"Lie back," he mumbles, "and I'll check you out.
Blood pressure's high. You have a fever, too."
Into his stethoscope I was tempted to shout
but he hands me a cup and I'm off to the loo.
I clean off the seat from someone's neglect
sit quite impatiently, and desperately I try
to get enough of a specimen for him to inspect
while maneuvering the cup beneath my thigh.
Back to the room and the nurse peeks in.
A frown on her face makes me start to worry.
She seeths the words, "Where have you been?"
"My pee cup runneth over," was my true story.
Dr. OneSoYoung returns and takes a chair.
Eyes of blue, handsome face, but I digress
while I'm sitting here with my bottom bare
Wondering if my thoughts, I should confess.
"Get dressed," he orders, with a look of dread.
Must be bad news, I tremble, cold with a chill
thinking that by tomorrow I surely will be dead.
"You just have a bad cold and here is your bill."
I spent all morning thinking I was near death
and his diagnosis claims that all I have is a cold.
I peeled off my wrap and said in hissing breath
"Your bedside manner sucks, if truth be told!"
To the pharmacy, I strode with a disgruntled look.
I have to pay a fortune for prescribed medication.
Druggist or physician, which is the biggest crook?
Now I suffer from the malady of acute indignation!
Funny talk... "diddly squat"
Means basically nothing to me!
Where do these words come from?
Do they grow these things on trees?
What a joke... "a pig in a poke"
Fooled unsuspecting buyers!
Instead of a piggy inside the bag
Twas a kitty cat for the fryer!
But of course... "hay's for horses"
Here's another reason to spend?
Some stuffing for your Jockeys
To give you a fuller front end!
Just my luck... "I'm a dead duck"
She caught me with this lady!
Not to worry, it all turned out
Twas Mom so nothing shady!
Whadya think... "Take forty winks"
Causes trouble with wifey poo!
Of course if you wink at a filly
And the filly winks back at you!
It's really absurd... these silly words
They upset our daily routine!
They've been known to turn sunny days
To the ugliest days ever seen!
© Jack Ellison 2013
Significance of Forty
Forty, a number that equates to 14,600 days,
Life begins at forty, as some folks say!
Forty winks of sleep, is that really enough,
To keep your head from feeling quite rough!
Forty, has letters sequentially placed in alphabetical order.
Written: 1/22/16 ©
Submitted for contest: "Forty"
Sponsored by: Silent One
S - Sleep - the time for siesta -
L - lots of folks lie down at midday.
E - Extreme heat requires naps after
E - earth's equatorial high noon.
P - People in restful pursuit.
O - Of course, children have time-out
N - needing at least forty winks.
M - Meditating artists doze while
Y - Yoga practitioners slumber.
M - Motion ceases when the banker nods
I - in the lightest of reveries. Meantime
N - nudging my lethargic side, I
D - drop all labor and stop to snore.
~~~~~Check the last words in each line for a poem within the poem.~~~~~
"Siesta - midday after noon pursuit.
Time-out winks while slumber nods.
Meantime, I snore."
May 12, 2014