We always ate salad when I was a kid,
With lettuce and carrots and cukes
And also tomatoes and olives at times
But today, that would bring some rebukes.
For the lettuce was iceberg, which I never buy,
Though we didn’t have choices back then
Or perhaps that’s the kind that my mother preferred,
So she bought it again and again.
I now buy arugula, sometimes romaine
Or a mixture of various kinds
Of colorful lettuces, common today,
Just like spinach, as grocery finds.
I still add tomatoes and carrots and, too,
Things like peppers and sugar snap peas,
But the lettuce will never be iceberg because
My mother’s not here to appease.
An orange takes an early lead,
followed by a melon.
Garden peas are catching fast,
so too is the lemon.
Granny Smith’s are overtaking.
Lettuces are gaining.
Kiwi’s move from out the pack.
This is entertaining.
The orange takes the lead again,
now grapes are rolling clear.
Broccoli, asparagus
are getting very near.
We’re nearly at the finish,
and this is getting close.
Trees and soil are cheering
around the winning post.
Pears are in the mix as well.
This is a humdinger.
Yes, a photo finish,
and everyone’s a winner!
5AM the haywire of light
you've framed the vista
from your frosty window
Stacked sachets of cos lettuces
ponder for an outcome growth
Whence the day of blossom
Salvation is always a cost
Once you rode the world
but now you're part of the pack
eager for their morsels
Talk is easy
like hanging fire
Blackened clichés parade
You straddle the foundations
for the fear of listening
to your own sage
unfold in your mind!
The leaves weren’t wilted I see
A head of lettuce light green crispy
And I had checked finances to boot
I was confident I could cover the loot
The green grocer was standing tall
He had tracked down the lettuces all
But there had been a price
Not raised once twice but thrice
Who would have thought last year
That lettuce would be bought with tears
And I wonder what the bank manager thinks
Having to mortgage for vegetables stinks!
© Paul Warren Poetry
Sometimes there's just nothing
the perspective of life, I mean
if you think about the emptiness of this moment
in the possibility of it extending infinitely
or the inevitability of evils
that are about to arrive...
today at the market someone went crazy
threw vegetables in the air, shouted
cried
all that noise
all meaningless
maybe it's something inherent to tuesdays
I need to get home early, I thought
lobotomize my brain with tv
I think that's what we do
we warm the sofa with our bodies
we dream of the amazing days to come
and when they never arrive
we throw lettuces against the sky
we scream
we cry
Big rats in Copenhagen
The biggest supermarket in the world tons of wasted food
rats grew so big they couldn’t live in sewers but nestled
in the tall grass or built tunnels.
Something had to be done, rats didn’t hesitate to attack
toddlers in a pram; cats stayed at home sleeping
on the sofa, knowing they were no match against this enemy.
In this world of spoilt consumers, a banana had to be bright yellow
not a speck of marks on the fruit, lettuces had to look harvested
an hour ago, and the onion had to look new.
What to do with this new plague?
A bright person suggested giving excess food to the poor
and to the old on low pension.
After some economic indecision, the poor also to buy food
the supermarket relented and gave the wasted food away.
It was successful rats shrunk in size went back to the sewers cats came out.
People didn’t realize poverty were the poor as usual
was not seen.
The Bunny
Soft, caramel-coloured paws,
Creamy, velvet underbelly,
Hoppity hop, hoppity hop.
Two ears appear,
Then the top of the head.
Eyes peeping over
The plant pot,
Hoppity hop, hoppity hop.
Bob-tail flashes white
Between the bushes,
Hoppity hop, hoppity hop.
A hole in the greenhouse.
A giant bounce- THUD!
Munch, crunch for lunch.
All the baby lettuces…
Hoppity hop, hoppity hop.
Later, a cheeky little bunny
Lies upon the lawn,
Lengthening in the sunshine,
Stretching out her paws.
A snooze, a warming rest,
All peaceful and contented,
Until the sun leaves the garden
And wakefulness recommences.
Up she pops, whiskers first,
Then nose and ears appear.
Back on her paws, into the house,
Through the open door…
Hoppity hop, hoppity hop.
Copyright Emily Joshua
My gardening proclivity was widely recognised,
A gift to which my friends would all attest ;
A nuance of distinction in the flavour and the size
Produced a crop a cut above the rest.
A sorry saga started though when carrots disappeared
Then lettuces were strewn across the ground.
And in the barren garden which was once my pride and joy,
No sign of vegetation could be found.
So when my monster marrow met the same disastrous fate,
I hid from sight to catch the brazen thief
And peeping through the aperture within my garden shed
I viewed the scene with utter disbelief!
My neighbour's rabbit sat there somewhat swollen now in size,
Such brash temerity left me aghast!
And then I heard its owner speak these words in gleeful voice:
'The village trophy shall be mine at last!'
23/11/18
Eight Word Challenge-9 Poetry Contest : sponsored by John Hamilton
The contents of a sandwich often plot to escape. Particularly lettuces. Their leaves when chopped can climb well out of bread. So it is always wise therefore to use an adhesives such as mayonnaise to practically glue the contents to the bread. Thus ensuring no escapees. The ham slices always go to sleep though but chicken pieces can fly so shut the bread together very quickly. It is not to say if a jam will run with the butter. It depends upon the flavour. Strawberry jam is far more hesitant than a blue berry preserve so please be careful when making such a jam as more than three blueberries per square inch of pan could cause interruptions for the bread and the butter. Ingredients interrupting intentionally ignoring ignitions. And a circular piece of bread is easier for the contents to escape than a little square slice. So be careful when preparing sandwiches. Now it is time to commute. Goodbye. And good luck too. Have a lovely day. And carry the carton not the umbrella in case of the odd shower. Ha x z colonialism at thirty seven loaves to seven pieces of diced cucumber with tomatoes. Z
Yawn said Saudi Arabian prawn in a bin liner watching a cake. Chopping cutting cuticles cubicles clubbing clang clanging clam. Drama is not an item in a scene. It is merely to disguise battling molluscs and lettuces in flowery beds. Aroma of lemons should never play on a boat in a bath that is less than five metres wise. Traitor training tapping tuning turboprop. And fish wave peas around in the air. Quite quickly and dramatically but the Ukraine is a base for a nine mineralised lake of great ice. But ice cream is a bad idea for it can run away thus leaping down cliff paths dexterously. How rather incredible. Wow. Questions should be delivered in an atmosphere of greatness as flotation is great in bins don't change dams and beavers enjoy 'other' beavers company in turbulent carpet writhes or under prettily patterned summer dresses. Bomb then. Themselves. Turn thrice a pitch. Good. Poignancy of a branch. *** geraniums grabbing gators. Gatorades. Hahahaha now go kiss a fragrance. *** cordiality coughing chews chant chant chant. Xxxx confrontationally. Peanut dome equals z.
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