Best Wrangle Poems
On this merry-go-round
Of breakups and breakdowns
Singing the blues
In our ding-a-ling shoes
We take our heartache's milkshakes
Spiked with itty-bitty pity
Before we tangle and wrangle
In the rebound playground.
4/16/20
Poem of the Day
April 18, 2020
I wrote a great book, part memoir, part novel
Shopped it around, I ain’t too proud to grovel
Got kicked upstairs to a big publishing head
He invited me in, and here's what was said:
This screed you call Crack House of the 13 Gables
Is one long rant mixed with recycled fables
It wanders aimlessly, but never resolves
Characters pop out of nowhere, then simply dissolve
But the symbolism, sir, allow me to explain
The Victorian parlor represents pathos and pain
In the attic are mothballed broken dreams and betrayals
It's gonna shift your paradigm right off its rails
It’s a thousand-page odyssey into the surreal
The hedge maze is where all 14 sub-plots congeal
Enough! The only reason I called you in, punk
Is to meet the lunatic who scribbled this junk
So I slunk away, not a little dejected
Ain’t much fun being literarily rejected
Trudged back to my grueling, stale coffee grind
Working 15-hour days, going out of my mind
Then one day I met an old pal for some beers
Hadn't seen him in quite a few years
I told him about my rejection slip wrangle
He said buck up, you just need the right angle
I like reading novels, now don’t get me wrong
But writin' 'em, man, that just takes too damn long
And what a huge risk, 16 years you devoted
For no payday at all, just your ego imploded
There's no need to pen the next Moby Dick
Try something short, now that is the trick!
So, I thanked my friend for his most sage advice
And took it to heart without thinkin' thrice
And now I am back as a voice for the ages
Except I'm makin' my mark in far fewer pages
I write sound bites and maxims and pithy remarks
T-shirt slogans and jokes, I just do on a lark
I bang out poems and lyrics at the drop of a hat
Dash off 17 syllables in ten seconds flat
Haikus by the bunch
Cook up a batch before lunch
Put that in your pipe
____________________________
For Humor Contest
Sponsored by: Carol Eastman
We are stronger than we think
Ups and downs of everyday will never go away
What didn’t kill us yesterday
Won’t send us to our grave tomorrow or today
Resiliency develops over time
We are stronger than we think
Even when days seems like a grind
Building strength as pushed to the brink
Resolution a requisite
To wrangle volatility
We are stronger than we think
Formidably overcoming fragility
Standing firm as we find our footing
Throw anything at us including the kitchen sink
But we know we will be able to handle it
Because we are stronger than we think
Walking on eggshells
Tight lipped
Uncertain of every word spoken
Least the tempest
Will be released
Roaring
Waves splashing
Wind storm blowing
Boat rocking
Turquoise water falling
Aimed for shore
Making no headway
Two feet forward
Three feet back
Capsizing imminent
Apocalyptical
Which way will it end
Will there be a future
If I wrangle in emotions
And keep a chain on tongue
Nothing can harm
Wherein there lies
The Holy Spirit
Who my strength
Provides
Always remember
Like in the song of old
Peace, be still
Peace, be still
Peace, peace be still!
finis'
Whistling weeping willows woefully wrangle with wretched werewolf’s wolverine whiskers
AP: Honorable Mention 2021
The highland Santa Lucias
breach the angled bench of sky and earth
with ancient crests dark in
scrub oak outlines
and vast open slopes.
From that world above
atop the grand and cresting vistas
where once dreams were fetched
in moonlit profiles
from deep slumbers
I must have also dreamt the unmoving
mist as it gathered near
an unnamed summit
drawing to itself weightless fragments
of light and motion.
It was a mist concealing
a spirit speaking the language
of unfathomable contours giving way
to more contours overlapping downslope
and over the last oaken ridge.
Was this a language of my
childhood mind as I sought to
wrangle meaning from this alien
landscape ,so as to make it
my own?
If so, where did I sleep?
how did I enter that magical terrain
how did I know its depth
like I know the
flat of my open hand?
These are the mountains of my dreams
rising in sheltered copses
consorting with a thousand faltering voices
in unison to out-sing
even the sea.
Where no ponies free ranged, I dreamt to break and wrangle paints.
Where ponies bent, broke and bridled, I dreamt to hang away my spurs.
Where no ponies free range, I have no spurs and wrangle paints.
Ode to Chores
By Brenda Kahn
When the Good Lord
In his wisdom, Hark!
Said “Separate
the light from dark.”
He surely didn’t
See that time
Would be a scarce
Resource to find
I throw my clothes-wash
In by person
Lest my crazed
Schedule worsen
If I did dark
Then later light
Lord knows I’d be
Doing wash all night
Now let’s take a
Look at dishes
Yes! I want to
Save the fishes
But if the washer
Doesn’t run
Each night the mornings
Won’t be fun
There will be no
Little spoons I trust
And everyone
Will miss the bus
And who is it
Who said that,
If we bought
A tabby cat
They would surely
Clean the litter
A chore which leaves me
Slightly bitter
Now babies
While they make a mess
Their culinary
In-ter-ests
Are simple
Older kids not so
They complicate things
As they grow
Till no meal happens
By the book
Less dinner – more
Short order cook
One says too sweet
One says no crust
One spits it out
With disgust
And if you find
A way to wrangle
Your whole brood
To the table
One eats fast
The other slow
Everyone answers
“I dunno”
Lordy what’s a mom to do
With such a cantankerous crew?
But I digress
Our topic here
Is what to do
With soccer gear
Piles of cleats
Sticks lacrosse
And other sporty
Stuff to toss
But instead
I make a bin
Label it
And throw stuff in
So take a cue
From my girl Eve
If you feel a sudden
Pull to leave
You’re not at all
The only one
Chores are simply
Not that fun.
Nowadays I find myself
In church windows reflected
By the surface of my tea,
Too hot to drink.
I try anyway,
My nose against a brick wall,
(This Jasmine is my sledgehammer)
I burn my tongue,
(This Jasmine is a non-factor)
I set it back down.
I see the fractured, colored glass shimmer in my mug.
Am I like the image of the lamp in the tea?
Glowing for no reason?
Nowadays I rarely find myself.
I take orders.
If I did find myself,
I wouldn’t recognize me, anyway.
It’s just these fractured lights I remember.
Beaming like living lanterns shining towards the way to goodness.
Like I use to.
Like I use to be.
But now I think life is a quantifiable bucket,
The bucket half-empty, half-over and me completely stir-fried,
Gazing over what I see as minefields.
Nowadays I go back-and-forth.
As it suits me,
As it suits the occasion,
I wrangle and ramble, dribbling and babbling
Staggering through empty suburban warfare.
Nowadays I thank God for the emptiness.
The minutiae, the random acts of silence
Can send shock-waves through the spirits made of light,
Secretly keeping them in rhythm for the rest of their lives.
One day I will drop my post as the Barbarian Guardian of Willy-Nilly.
One day I will remember what all the colors mean.
One day I will remember what all the glowing was about.
One day I will skip lousy repetition,
And never repeat a mistake again.
More Potential Limericks
Effective, live, give
Related, created, dated
Contemplated, illustrated, annotated
Realize, chastise, surmise
Talented, Sainted, painted, fainted
Proportion, distortion, contortion
Humongous, among us, fungus
Incantation, contemplation, situation
Intend, extend, suspend, upend
Support, escort, retort
Harmonic, Teutonic, tonic, bubonic
Criticize, realize, surprise
Limerick, pick, edict
Tutor, suitor, refute her, recruiter
Traitor, educator, date her
Weigh a ton, around had spun, start to shun, she's the one
Order was out, without a doubt, starting to shout
Debilitated, rehabilitated, rotated, rated
A mattering, started scattering, broke and shattering
Choke, broke, spoke, yoke
Table, enable, fable
Hostile for a while, quite a gal, would beguile, could compile
Seduce, reduce, produce
Abuse, excuse, obtuse, what's the use
Wangle, angle, dangle, wrangle
Worrisome thought, Lincoln was shot, outside is hot
In between was caught, hit the spot, ended with dot, within earshot
Now go for it. Jim Horn
*Tritina
As midnight comes, moon tiptoes in to wait,
to soothe her gently with a tender smile.
Expectation is haloed on the wall
Moon angles soft light, around every wall,
where mobiles dangle, and butterflies wait,
to charm baby's eyes, and wrangle her smiles
The clocks keep ticking, and the moon must wait.
Someone is kicking inside belly's wall.
She cringes in pain, ...but then bravely smiles.
Dawn waits to smile, ...until she climbs that wall
_____________________________________________
For the Tritina "Baby" Contest: Sponsored by Craig Cornish
7/23/14
This one has been a labor of love, took nearly 3 weeks to write. Just couldn't get the meter right.
But with that said I think it works now.
Demonize the evil, to welcome in the good
A youthful born upheaval, deciding where you stood,
Rebellion touted over, honoring thy mother;
A demon on your shoulder, an angel on the other!
A schism, dormant, lies in every waking soul
Consistently one tries to wrangle back control,
From the feuding older than Abel and his brother;
A demon on your shoulder, an angel on the other!
Civilized of heart, conflicting symmetry
Angelic swoons impart a wooing devilry,
Blood pumping colder, lopsided one shall smother;
A demon on your shoulder, an angel on the other!
Twisting to and fro ‘tween good and evil deeds
All the while you’ll know only one succeeds,
Give in to the bolder as there’ll never be another
Demon on your shoulder or angel on the other!
6/10/2013
© Copyright 2013 Adam Parker
Oh the things I could have said
During the heat of our wrangle
I kept tact and class instead
Of controlling every angle
For every grenade you threw
I had two more on my belt
I chose to let yours accrue
Just to see how you felt
I took the high road
To say the very least
I could have leavened my load
Your humility, my feast
Instead I kept picking up
The insults that you threw down
Refilling the cup
You would spill on the ground
Hours you must have dedicated
Digging for bones in my closet
You must have left so frustrated
From chomping at the bit
I imagine a jarring epiphany
Leaving empty handed
A truly tearful symphony
Not the way you planned it
Quarreling with a nun
Produced no satisfaction
When your rant was done
You lacked my reaction
Surly you know what I left out
The words to fill in the blanks
The severity of stupidity so very stout
You will walk your plank
Down The Edge
Monday, join workforce
Tuesday, feel the prime
Wednesday, get worn
Thursday in wrangle
Friday, take a leave
Saturday fun
Up to midnight
Visit old friends
Go to downtown
For each day
Prisoner
Of worldly
Forget
Someone
God
INTRODUCTION: Hold all applause to the end
Erasing all challengers by moon of night.
Mark of the PANTHER with claws lock jaws
Branding its territory with swift swipes.
He stalks the jungle
Polite stealth steps, rip raw
He crept
He lives for the chase.
His love of the game, a
Powerful animal with a
Charismatic glow.
The mysterious beast angles
It self toward its prey
With a glare and blood fever
In its eyes.
It seemed to wrangle from all directions
At once. No compromise. Quickly it
Engages its prey never saw it coming.
The claw mark on a single tree
Blood on the leaves.
Silent testimonials
The GLORIOUS panther will not
Be deprived of its stature in the jungle
Among other felines
As it roams it hunts.
Keeping his silent cat paws.
By nature the beast is inclined to
Persue with PREDATORY. POISE,
Panther claws swift and deadly.
Black Jaguar by night. It stalks.
Concealed, concise, CONSTRUCTING SHEER
FRIGHT.
and by day he locks the jungle down.
At times relishing relief as he lounges on
Branches of trees, among natures favored felines.
Angling agilely with beauty of GRACE.
Inviting competition from other cats.
He glides through his home.
The black JAGUAR OF FEAR.
Confusing its prey with pantherness
Claws and pantherest LAWS.
the QUINTESSENTIAL CONQUEROR
THE BLACK PANTHER
classically the mark of the panther CLAUSE
LISTEN FOR THE QUIET of the panther
Creeping panther with gradual precision
Conclusion STEALTH LEAN SERENE MACHINE
The audience with Glazed eyes EXPLODES with
Thunderous DEAFENING applause.