Best Mavis Poems
Life without her
would never be the same
She was the loudest, proudest
most endearingly brash
sugar-sweet and pickle-sour
five-foot-two, force to be reckoned with
that anyone in Yell county had ever met
I confess
I was somewhat obsessed
with Miss Mavis' hair as a child
perhaps it was the fact
that she was the only white woman
I'd ever seen sporting an
honest-to-Oh-My-Goodness Afro
And her hair hadn't always
looked like that
I'd seen photographic proof
pictures from the 60's that showed
her having a mile-high beehive
lacquered with layers of AquaNet
utterly unmovable
much like Miss Mavis herself
Never married, Miss Mavis' house
was unapologetically pink
in varying shades
Pink carpet, wall-to-wall
pink wallpaper, curtains, bedspread
even the ceiling above your head
pink on the tiles of the bath
pink toilet?! pink sink
pink details down to the
homemade tissue-box cozies
Looking for all the world
like the inside of an old lady 'collector's edition'
Barbie house, with rainbow-colored clashes
of crocheted kitsch thrown about everywhere
piles of clothes draped over chairs
comfy but cluttered, it had a crazy air
of outrageous audaciousness
She was more comfortable
being herself
than anyone I'd ever known
so natural
as if to say
who else would I be?
It never occurred to her
to even try
to become someone else's ideal
She was that real
Mavis was a party girl but a boor
She's not welcome at parties anymore
She causes people to yawn
As she babbles on and on
At twelve miles per with gusts to fifty-four
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
(a couple of war wives out the front of their houses)
(Please note *** is cigarette and aye is yes)
So whilst the golden fire displayed nature in her prime
And oak trees stood proud and good in a regimental line
Dancing silhouettes tinkered,creating a wondering swaying scene
Mavis clad in rollers, upon her mop, she had chose to lean
A smelly *** she held in hand as a lady at a ball
Dreaming of Sherry and taffeta, turning the heads of all
Fingers extending as though she were the aristocracy
When up popped Beryl the girl next door
'Dya wanna a cuppa Tea?'
Mavis took a puff, then a breath, then left her world of mind
Said 'oh aye duck, I'd like that'
'you are so very kind!'
She stubbed it out, laid her mop then trotted up the path
Round to Beryles for a cuppa tea and a
Ruddy good laugh!
Illuminated golden cherry blossoms had slowly descended
As the secret lovers and their wretched curse had ended.
Their souls, through the essence of magic, finally ascended.
- The Villanelle Of David Torment of Mavis’ Chill Autumn Night Plight-
Mavis couldn't stop thinking about the chill
burr, twas just so autumn of a night
But she could never forget the frill
Cold morning, Mavis was shocked by the freeze
She found herself feeling rather light
Mavis couldn't stop thinking about the crisp leaves
Later, Mavis was spooked by a birds bill
She thought the situation had become rather recondite
But she could never be so still
David tried to distract her with his will
Said her mind had become too white
Mavis couldn't stop thinking about the chill
Mavis took action as the bird fulfill
The chill was like a toxic fight
See the bird wind forgot the downhill
Mavis nosedived like a night spill
her mind turned into a plight
Mavis cold and shaken couldn't stop thinking about the chill
But she could never forget the chill
Of a soon to been in days colder cold, cold winter’s months night
12/12/19
written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2019©