On my garage floor, the ants hold daily dance rehearsals~
tiny jitterbugs in helmets, warriors, fearless and universal.
The flop and flurry of wide, woozy wings
clatters over dawn hedgerows.
Claws scrabble, feathers flounce.
An ounce of twitters rebounds
into raucous sound.
Here a rowdy cackle,
here a coddled coo,
there a deeply fluted hoo-hoo
all together in a ruffled flutter.
Birdsongs pump up,
light airy balloons into chattering tunes.
The sky jitterbugs a cloud or two.
Listen, listen do,
Listen to the hullaballoo
the mad glad galloping away of a musical play
where the singalong nips
at our ears with catcalls and cheers.
Another teaming twitter and fuss
strikes up its band for us.
Another cacophonic day lurches
as sleepy birds and the wide awake
gleefully roll off
their nocturnal perches.
Some poems are lively like Macarena, fast hokey-pokey or watusi.
Others make you laugh like the Texas two-step, or hokey pokey, so cutesy.
Detailed poets can creative a missive that cha-cha-chas or jitterbugs.
Big rule followers maybe cringe when they read some that mugs.
Many seem as familiar to this Iowa girl as a barn, line, or square dance.
Others are hot as mambo, rumba, taking an unexpected heart-leaping chance.
Some are as proper as a minuet or fox trot, maybe even a prissy stuck-up waltz.
Hiding true feelings, honesty, and the writer’s variety of unshared, secret faults.
Yes, poetry is like any other kind of art, when you get it alone, and to yourself.
Some delight our souls, and make us dance, others sit forever high upon a shelf.
Many times I think “I wish I had thought of that!” when I read a wonderful poem.
To me, poetry has a rhythm, a cadence, and always, and forever a unique dance of her own.
bundled in warm clothes
tuque down to my nose
pretty fluffy red mittens
layers at my neck soft as kittens
let the winds howl
and the snow fall
christmas less than a month away
keeping naughty thoughts at bay
counting down the days with glee
putting up the christmas tree
hanging stockings with our names
dreams of fancy toys and games
made a list for santa claus
hoping for a gift decked with four paws
mugs of cocoa with some marshmallows
wrapping presents with big bows
licking spoons with cookie dough
singing christmas carols on the radio
jitterbugs and odds and ends
inviting over family and friends
Published in my 24-page photo/anthology book ~THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS~ 2023
AP: 2nd place 2021, 3rd place 2021
Moonrise and showers
Enshrine flowers
A stroll along the shoreline
Starlight and halos
Eternal cosmos
The awakening angel
Lullabies and shadows
Mystifies meadows
The calypso personifies
Coral and fireflies
Rainbow skies
The radiant circle aglow
Butterflies and ladybugs
Intertwine jitterbugs
The dance along the skyline
Hip, cat, daddy-o
Hey, what's cookin bro'
Man, I dig this groovy melody
It flows free. Baby
With the harmony
Jimmy is "smokin'" tonight
Look at that cat, lickety split
He's a telescopic sight
It's crazy, man. I dig it
This cat's been blastin' all night
Cool tunes, with horn yellin' shot
Blowin' it real hot
The band is "jammin,'' really cooking
I think Jimmy's "flippin''
Way he's zipping that stick ripping
Diggin' his "boogie woogie" jive
Layin' it down, gimme five
All the "jitterbugs" jumpin' to the heat
To the "funky" cat with that "groovy" beat
Blowin' his top, and waving his feet
Joint is jumping. I gotta scat
Man! It was-- Wild, man, wild, down pat!
He's a real bang-tail gone cat!
I’ll plant you now, dig you later with a greet
Man! ''I'm really "beat''
Limericks crochetés: Once a Policewoman put on road duty
Once a policewoman put on road duty
Ate heart out thinking of rival beauty
So she pinned a ticket
On rival’s car bonnet:
“Take this: your engine’s old and filthy!”
Said rival to the policewoman:
“Under the hood I may be common
Yet in shiny carcass
Ride many a jackass
Who pay(s) your fines in diamond!”
“True enough!” said she who was jealous:
“No wonder your sinus pipes leak pus
When key’s in ignition –
Fumes cough up munition.”
“Think! What/Who jitterbugs in my octopus!”
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2014
Baila, Lilah; move your thing.
Ragtime; Turkey Trot!
Magic step into the Swing.
Show us ALL you’ve got.
Boogie Woogie; Lindy Hop;
Shim Sham Shimmy it.
Snazzy-jazzy, quick-quick, stop?
Jitterbugs don’t quit!!
Hanky Panky; do the Stroll;
Hand Jive; Twist and Shout.
Mash Potato; Rock and Roll.
Shake it all about!
Go ahead and be a nerd.
Hustle like you do!
Do the Jerk and do the Bird.
And the Hitchhike too.
70’s were kind of fun.
Lift those Disco feet.
You are a phenomenon
Keeping to that beat.
Walk like an Egyptian now.
Macarena’s cool;
Moon Walk too if you know how.
You’re a dancing fool!
Now add Salsa, and Cha Cha;
Mambo in that way
Like you do for Mardi Gras.
Shimmy as you sway.
You’re a Caribbean queen.
Do Calypso, Girl!
Pretty little dance machine,
Whirl and whirl and whirl.
Make the ending really big.
Time to AMPLIFY.
This is not the Irish Jig.
Break it down; be fly.
Power move; do things untried.
Pop it, Fancy Pants,
Krump it; Lock it; Suicide!
Baila, Lilah. Dance!
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.