She throws herself at the feet
of the unimpressed—
rolling, rubbing and yowling,
an opera of yearning
for the neutered elite.
They blink, stretch, then saunter off
for another nap
on the sun-pooled sill,
leaving her to flirt
with the legs of chairs.
Bewildered by the bopped nose,
the rebuffed overtures—
arching and warbling,
tail high with invitation—
she meets only
indifference or disdain.
Again she circles,
unsure if maybe
she’s doing it wrong.
Mid-kitchen now,
she flops down wailing
betrayal in the key of estrus,
as if to say:
Was it something I purred?
Coco the chocolate bunny,
was so soft, furry and funny.
Loved to fill her little tummy
with green veg ever so yummy!
A little shy with big brown eyes,
loved to read, so she would be wise.
But other bunnies were afraid,
with Coco they never played.
They were white with eyes of blue,
didn't like how loud she would chew.
Told her that she needs to change.
Thought her colour was a bit strange.
One day a new bunny came to stay;
said: 'Hey Coco let's eat and play.'
'My name is Empress, I love to hop,
lets see who can bop to the top.'
Her fur was brown with a blonde brow,
with white patches just like a cow.
The other bunnies looked on in awe,
at how high they jumped from the floor.
'Hey you guys come bop and hop.
It's so fun we don't want to stop.'
As they bopped and hopped in the game,
they realised they were all the same.
Not everyone's enamoured by my humour
At risk of my head being bopped
Say things in jest that are taken as serious
Chancing of a punch in the chops
Like when I once said to a very large lady
Pressing number two in the elevator
“That's just one floor, you coulda walked!”
Thought I'd end up on the floor
Another time down in old Cape Cod
In a store getting out of the sun
A lady knocked over a very large display
Yelled “Now look what you've done!”
Dear Cathie turned ten shades of purple
She was just about to blow a gasket
However luckily cooler heads prevailed
Considered myself quite fortunate
“Look before you leap” as the old saying goes
Often insert my foot in my mouth
Runs the risk of hard blows to the head
And injury to my parts down south
He hopped and bopped across the charts to the top
Until a tragic crop landing put him to a stop
Performed Chantilly lace for pretty faces
Chase young aces through melodical paces
Love notes in rock’n’roll quotes for youth emotes
Giddy nervous gulping throats in pink petticoats
Crooned bee bop tunes of teenage moon
As new love bloomed in first kiss swoon
It went so wrong, the piece that didn’t belong
Songs we sing along to keep a legacy strong
Feelin’ fine in fame prime until end of the line
The great music that defined, declined in 1959
Keep rockin’ with Ritchie and boppin’ with Buddy
To nifty fifty’s charisma, a music history to study
A walk around the block in my parents’ neighborhood at dawn
wearing mom’s sweater and pop's sneakers with a clown hole cut out for
toe infection
I was stopped by a cop in a cruiser
this was during the Vietnam War long hair ago
he was angry at everyone I was offended by everything
he said which way are you going I said which way are you going
so he socked me in the mouth and handcuffed me
I was arraigned on disorderly conduct and resisting arrest
my good parents came down and stood beside me before the judge
I wrote to the police department internal affairs
not for retribution but to start a paper trail
in case this cop someday bopped one of my brothers
a few months later I’m back at work in NYC
two detectives come into the city to question me
one good cop one bad cop we park in the park me in the back seat
they wanna know was I mouthy to the cop who punched me in the mouth
long story short
they leave me on a bench to eat my lunch and the charges are dropped
The day my broom bopped me on the head
Was the day I left it in a ditch in my homestead.
Some idiot came by and scooped it up as treasure.
I ran out there and threw in a mop for good measure.
The mop got dug out too, for the witch was in her cups.
She thought she had some buried treasure; her name was Mrs. Hups.
I had seen her before; she is a hoarder on the block.
The rats run out of her house when she leaves her door unlocked.
Where do you think she’ll put it? A neighbor asked me.
You know where it could go? I suggested with a bit of glee.
The next thing I knew she’d used the broom as a wand.
I was ribbet-ing now, sitting in a filthy pond.
Betty Boop’s Beaver
The brazen Billy Bailey,
could be such a bad bad boy.
One day he bopped a beaver
who was busy working by the bay.
The beaver then bit Billy
near the bottom of his butt.
The beaver’s big bright teeth,
left a big bright bleeding cut
Then poor bawling Billy Bailey,
was bouncing by the bay
Just as beautiful Betty Boop
was passing by his way
She said “It’s best not to bop beavers,
be a gentle boy instead.
Drop by my boudoir later
You can caress my beaver in my bed.”
December 12th 2020
For Eve Roper’s Alliteration contest
Mr. Corporate caveman,
where goest thou wayward hands?
Giving boardroom ape-man grunts
to the second bananas in command
You love talking jungle lewd
to the female office underlings
Always feeling on someone else’s
body wrapped packages
Dino dogs love sniffing
in somebody else’s kitchen;
and other people morsels, they love licking
Corporate cavemen love exercising
unauthorized executive privilege touching
Mr. Corporate caveman,
I hear-tell you received some Jurassic justice
That your wife, Wilma,
got the divided marital bonds
of your Slate Rock company
And she threw you some scraps
of divorced crushed rubble
You got Betty bopped,
Mr. Corporate caveman ...
‘cause your fingers couldn’t stop,
Mr. Corporate caveman
And there’s a heavy cost
for being a caught misogynist boss
applaud your own
my words are stones
throwing bones
dusting thrones
leave me's alone
ha ha ha
voices through chalk
gawking like hawks
feathers on ponds
pawns release
two dollars
treat
meet meet
meat
of
the
vegetarian root
straw with soot
hollow toed foot
bopped a popped
puffing a spooned dropped
dripping from meaningful
landing in worded handfuls
just a mirage for clones
applaude your own
?
Went for a walk, couldn't find my way home
Finally walked into the wrong house as I roamed
Naked lady screamed
Threw a hand mixer machine
As I ducked, the mailman got bopped on the dome
At the last day preschool picnic
There were blankets on the grass
Which the tots ran over freely
If that way they had to pass.
There were pastel-frosted cupcakes
(Health food banished for a day)
And the slides and sandbox filled with kids
In joyous outdoor play.
But the draw for my two grandkids
Was the singer with guitar
For when music's in the air, I know
They won't be going far.
So as Henry spun and boogied
And his sister bopped along,
I was grooving like a back-up singer,
Knowing every song.
Three days back I was in Venice
And the vistas were entrancing
But there's nothing that looks better
Than my grandkids when they're dancing.
Rudolf got his big red nose
From Vixen in the snow
They had it out one foggy night
Beneath the mistletoe
She bopped him once good and hard
Which caused his nose to grow
She bopped him twice around the yard
His nose began to glow
Then she buffed it bright and red
So everyone would know
Rudolf got his big red nose
From Vixen in the snow
As I enter the volleyball game
I hear
The hustle and bustle of the crowd
Shuffling towards their seats.
Everyone settled. The audience marvel and chit-chat.
The judge raises his hand.
A hush fall over the crowd.
“Whree-” the game starts.
Pitter patter pitter patter pitter patter- Boof!
The ball sails over the net and is
Bopped gently back.
It’s tossed high and
Bam!
It’s a goal.
The spectators roar, and some sigh.
Pitter patter pitter patter pitter patter- oof!
The ball hits the net.
Some cheer, some huff.
This goes on until the last goal is scored-Thump!
The crowd squeals and laughter rings with claps.
The winning team’s shoes skeet as they run
And thump each other’s backs, bursting with laughs.
The losing team pads back with sniffs and sobs
But swears to take revenge.
Not everyone's enamoured by my humour
At risk of my head being bopped
Say things in jest that are taken as serious
Chancing a punch in the chops
Like when I once said to a very large lady
Pressing two in the up elevator
“That's just one floor, you coulda walked!”
Almost ended up on the floor
Another time down in Old Cape Cod
In a store getting out of the sun
A lady knocked over a large display stand
Yelled “Now look what you've done!”
Dear Cathie turned ten shades of purple
She was just about to blow a gasket
However, luckily cooler heads prevailed
Considered myself quite fortunate
“Look before you leap” as the saying goes
Often insert my foot in my mouth
Runs the risk of hard blows to the head
And injury to my parts down south
© Jack Ellison 2013
A seagull on the railing
And a pigeon on the ground
Were surveying their surroundings
And were pleased at what they found.
“I have the better life,” thought gull,
“For here, along the river,
I have a view and all the food
The river can deliver.
Poor pigeon has to scrounge and peck.
He’s on the grubby streets.
He has to dodge the moving feet
Of everyone he meets.”
The pigeon, on the other hand,
Was thinking as he strutted.
If he had heard the seagull’s thoughts,
He’d likely have rebutted.
“I love my urban habitat.
My world is rich with choice.
On sidewalks, statues or in parks
I burble and rejoice.
There’s plenty here for me to eat.
I’ve got a million friends.
With all the teeming humans,
People-watching never ends.
The seagull, sadly, must rely
On waterways for food.
His meals are raw, while I indulge
In morsels barbecued.”
The pigeon cooed and bopped his head;
The gull took to the sky,
Each convinced that his existence
Made him quite a lucky guy.
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