some people are afraid of skulls, clowns or other stuff
But Maddie is terrified of ballerinas with their tutu puff
They scare me to my veins, they make my bones shake
She saw a ballerina wall, and her teeth began to quake
What happened? She was asked? When did this fright begin?
She could not explain it, not to her friends, therapist or kin.
All of her life those pink ballerinas with laced shoes and wings
Frightened her almost to death, to her they were horrifying things
Miss Maddie Muskrat mastered Missouri mud
Reveling and rolling in it in a joyful way
Catfish groused that she was mucking up the river
Bass, bluegill and crappie told catfish off
Muskrat makes us happy with her positive attitude
Catfish had never thought about that side of it
He adjusted his attitude and began enjoying her mud antics
They became happy friends after that, thanks to this lecture
Meddlesome Maddie liked to invade and intrude
A busybody with plenty of well-earned solitude
She tried to stick her spoon in her new neighbor’s biz.
He stopped her right away, and he was no kind of wiz.
Maddie a little girl of eight, l dreamed of helicopters
She drew three of them in pictures for her grandmother
Her grandma wondered about it, but kept them on her refrigerator
Maddie and her parents were in a car wreck on the freeway.
Maddie was airlifted out by a medivac helicopter.
Grandma heard the helicopter as it flew over her house.
She had a sad feeling and began to pray.
Maddie did not survive the wreck.
Uncle Wilbur said Maddie was old-fashioned.
I was thinking 50’s or 60’s
He meant a throwback to the seventies.
I had not met anyone this calm since life before Woodstock.
Maddie had glazed eyes, there was a smell of patchouli.
She was blowing slow easy smoke rings.
Her blonde hair was fashioned into messy dreadlocks
Her casual cotton sundress reminded me of flour feed sacks.
I looked at Uncle Wilbur in a new light.
I had never before thought of him as a risk taker.
This one would run away with his heart.
Maddie, Maddie, mud pie maker,
born to be a beaming baker.
When making mud pies she feels free,
here is her secret recipe:
In the searing summer sun, go grab a garden hose,
then scoop a hole and have some fun, perhaps behind a rose.
There you’ll make a perfect puddle, ankle deep will do,
then add ten scoops of garden dirt, measure with your shoe.
Add some bugs for extra protein, house flies are nutritious,
my pet Bill the Bullfrog says: “they taste so delicious.”
Now jump right in and stomp around, watch for little fish,
use both your hands to scoop some mud, squeeze it squish, squish, squish.
Then place the mud on Daddy’s car, or Mommy’s, on the hood,
where its hot enough to bake a mud pie oh so good!
You can eat it all yourself or share it your friends.
Best to bake on laundry day so as to make amends.
March 16, 2021
Nursery Rhyme 2 Poetry Contest Sponsored by Eve Roper
She captures your heart with loyalty.
Holds power of living life joyfully.
She’ll be herself with vulnerability.
While fools choose imposters they can not see.
Her bionic ear will bring on smiles
Hearing ice cream trucks from a hundred miles.
Befriends outcasts lacking social style.
Her X-ray vision sees what’s really worthwhile.
She stirs emotion from a heart of stone.
Her presence will loosen your funny bone.
She is a treasure in life to have known.
Call her friend and you’ll never be alone.
Skills and marvel talents are a plenty.
Flys above the cookie cutter many.
A living hero for Maeve and Maddie.
She’s wonder woman of twenty twenty.
Inspired by “Dinosaurs in The Hood” by Danez Smith.
Let’s make a movie. About a fat girl. But in this one, she isn’t bullied all her life and rises above it to become thin and successful later in life. Or an awareness movie where she commits suicide because the kids at school call her a whale. No, in this one she is brought up in a good home with a loving and supportive family. She has lots of friends who are amazing. She is always in a positive environment. Let’s make a movie about a fat girl who knows that she is fat but does not know the word fat in a negative form. She sees herself as fat but also as beautiful because that is all she has ever been told. Because that’s what she is: beautiful.
The word fat should not be used as an insult. It should not be used in a derogatory way. It should not be used to make girls’ self-worth vanish. It’s a description. You’re given one body: love it. No matter what it looks like: it is yours. For 18 years, it is the only thing that is yours. Love it.
-Maddie MacLeish
My Perfect Me
5”3. 134 lbs. Slim. Blue eyes. Long healthy blonde hai-
This doesn’t feel right. While I am unhappy with myself and I do wish that I had all of those qualities, this poem would completely contradict my last. My last poem was about body positivity and empowerment while this one started off being about all the things I wish I could change about my body. My last poem stated that you have one body and you should love it and “fat” is only a descriptive word. So, let me try this again:
My Perfect Me: Revised
5”5. 210 lbs. Fat. Brown eyes. Short, unhealthy, untamed blonde hair.
And most importantly: beautiful.
-Maddie MacLeish
Inspired by “Dinosaurs in The Hood” by Danez Smith.
Let’s make a movie. About a fat girl. But in this one, she isn’t bullied all her life and rises above it to become thin and successful later in life. Or an awareness movie where she commits suicide because the kids at school call her a whale. No, in this one she is brought up in a good home with a loving and supportive family. She has lots of friends who are amazing. She is always in a positive environment. Let’s make a movie about a fat girl who knows that she is fat but does not know the word fat in a negative form. She sees herself as fat but also as beautiful because that is all she has ever been told. Because that’s what she is: beautiful.
The word fat should not be used as an insult. It should not be used in a derogatory way. It should not be used to make girls’ self-worth vanish. It’s a description. You’re given one body: love it. No matter what it looks like: it is yours. For 18 years, it is the only thing that is yours. Love it.
-Maddie MacLeish
An endless love to me , you are
Although my love is from afar
I keep it safe and no one knows,
How long I've yearned, how deep it grows
For years I've kept you in my heart
Although our lives are far apart.
When we first met; I think we were four
We became friends although so much more
A place in my soul was made just for you,
You staked your claim; I always knew
I'd love you forever and it was true.
As years passed by I moved on with my life
I became somebody's Mother and wife
You shone so bright like a glittering star,
A sparkling career , you'd always go far
My heart remained pure, resolute and unbending
My love for you, eternal. Unending.
Maddie Wicks.
A sweet young thing named Maddie
Found her a rich sugar daddy.
"He's lousy in bed,
But after he's dead
I get his solid gold Caddie."
Racism is over
They say
Women have equal rights
They say
The gays can get married now, Isn’t that enough?
They say
What they think isn’t always is truth
We still have a long way to go
Free Verse, No line requirement, just write what you’re thinking and give it a rhythm pleasing to the ear.
I like this form simply because I can write my thoughts and not have to worry about forced rhymes or counting syllables.
November, 2015
Maddie Dunn
Poetry Writing #1
There was mister O and sister O
DeeDee O and Baby O
Doggy O and Granny O
All listening to the radio
So Maddie O and Daddy O
Mommy O and Landon O
Betty O and Idun O
All heard about the rodeo
Here comes a rowdy bunch of O’s
They even brought their cheerios
They’re stepping on each others toes
Demar to one anothers clothes
Where's the free kin rodeo
We heard it on the radio
You’re far too loud, you’ll have to go
It’s lovely to have met eo
Copyright © Mike Martin 2015
Even though it hurts to smile,
I can pretend for a little while
That everything is alright
That when I look up at the
Cinerescent sky and think
about my life at least
I could say with certainty
that I've never been forsaken
by the ONE MOST HIGH.....
That I could always count
on the sun's luminescent rays to
Break through the darkest of clouds
and soak up my tears as if with
warm hands could heal
that which is silent, private and still
Inside of me..
A trinket to a fellow poet for
Inspiring in me the courage
to find the good in my life
A special dance for the sweet Anne Lise
P.S. Thank you for always having something encouraging and uplifting to say. God Bless. ~Maddie
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