We shuffle the days
like cards across the table,
hoping to draw Spring.
But the deck grows ever thinner
with every hand we choose to play.
Entropy walks on,
spilling sugar, cooling tea,
loosening tight knots.
dealing cards from beneath the pack
while Time pretends not to notice.
There's much kerfuffle
when stars bend the road between
one heartbeat and the next.
Cards arrive out of sequence
Distance becomes duration
Time is stretched and distended,
paths are bent and distorted
and you arrive before you left.
Memory itself reshuffles
dealing tomorrow before yesterday.
A mother's laugh, a child's distressed cry—
both hiding in the same hand
waiting for the shuffle
to reveal a trump card between them.
We trace every moment
on clock faces and calendars,
yet we cannot tell
which breath came first
or which came last.
The instant we watch too closely,
the dealer stops dealing,
skips a card,
moves on—
then quietly slips
an extra card into our pile
while we're looking
the other way.
For, the kerfuffle of entropy's shuffling
keeps ruffling the deck
we mistake for
of our Time.
After swimming ashore
exhausted and on their last legs
when searching the beach
for somwhere secure to lay their eggs
two turtles who didn't see eye to eye
had a kerfuffle got in each other's face
and after a scuffle continued contesting
disputing the perfect nesting place
for altho' by the light of the moon
both were soon to be a mother
apparently they appeared to be
at loggerheads with one another
The kerfuffle began
when the K&K's concocted
a plan to be special
beyond breakfast.
To be silent, written,
but never heard
was simply absurd.
Penned in by N's
K's lovely voice
was kybosched
knifed,
knuckle-dusted
knocked, kneed
when kneeling prone.
Denied any
free expression speech
from the grassy knoll.
Why must this be so?
K's are sick and tired of being
bullied by N's!
To forever have to remain silent whenever followed
by an 'N' at the start of the word.
It's not right for knight, knot, knowledge and knob
to know they must have a hidden silent
bed-fellow at the bedhead,
The boss neutered to mere
nothingness and meaningless no-less.
It's not right to be demanded in Scrabble and rambling
scribbles, dabble and scrawls,
but muted silent in the babble of spoken recalls
of verse spoken aloud or recited in the reader's head.
Let there be a voice for Special K's.
That's what we say!
A well-attended party ends;
Halfway through, it went bust.
A wind of change blew in
A consuming cloud of dust.
The music was on full blast.
Attendees danced with great gusto.
Suddenly, gunshots rang out!
It was all fun just moments ago!
A tempest of sheer terror
Swept through the large crowd;
A roaring kerfuffle ensued
And grew increasingly loud;
Some fleeing partygoers
Knocked each other down like dominoes
Toward the exit doors. Why someone
Comes to a party armed, nobody knows!
Writing Challenge - K words - Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Constance La France
Date written: 03/12/2023
Addicted to modern technology you say?
Nah, I could live without my Mac
Well, at least for maybe an hour or so
Before a withdrawal attack
First thing in the morning you'll find me here
Surfing and learning new things
Opening up and exploring new horizons
An amazing experience it brings
Text books and encyclopedias used to do it
The source for all my new learning
Today they've become much less important
The tide is definitely turning
Farewell to novels you held in your hand
Sadly they're becoming obsolete
No more sitting and reading by the seaside
With waves lapping at your feet
So say goodbye to how life used to be
Must adapt or get lost in the shuffle
Open your computer and start surfing away
Or wind up in a new age kerfuffle!
In spite of the kerfuffle that's going on in the world
It's up to each one of us to keep our flag unfurled
Don't let fear interfere
Keep loved ones near
Live your life free and enjoy all the curves
My parrot loves to squawk and talk
but even more than that
it barks just like our doggies
and meows just like a cat.
It loves to whistle many tunes
so loud it’s quite absurd
especially when you’re on the phone
so you can’t hear a word.
I'd like to gag the pesky thing
so it could never speak.
but cannot find a gag so small
it fits around its beak.
We have to sit and bear the noise
of shrieking in our ear,
unless of course we let him out
and watched him disappear?
But alas our parrot cannot fly
he's much too blinking fat,
for every time we have some food
he screams as well for that.
Maybe one day he'll whisper,
when he's really, really old.
But the buggers live for 70 years,
or more…… or so I'm told!
Ivor G Davies
Addicted to modern technology you say?
Nah, I could live without my Mac
Well, at least for maybe an hour or so
Before a withdrawal attack
First thing in the morning you'll find me here
Surfing and learning new things
Opening up and exploring new horizons
An amazing experience it brings
Text books and encyclopedias used to do it
The source for all my new learning
Today they've become much less important
The tide is definitely turning
Farewell to novels you held in your hand
Sadly they're becoming obsolete
No more sitting and reading by the seaside
With waves lapping at your feet
So say goodbye to how life used to be
Must adapt or get lost in the shuffle
Open your computer and start surfing away
Or wind up in a new age kerfuffle!
© Jack Ellison 2012
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