I missed the boat. The cat senryu contest was sitting in the bay. Now I watch from the shore. As I was late for my date. The sun shines on the 35 campers who set sail early, and rightfully so. I'll never be a swan. And Skittles, who tries so hard, will never know if she won.
my cat can shashay
she takes the catwalk, star-struck
dinner time prelude
connie pachecho
5/12/26
Note-We live and learn. My first entry in Andrea's contest missed the boat for failing to use a fictitious character and a rhyming word. You see, at times, my boat is a speedboat---that is filled with inattention, clumsiness, and lack of knowledge of the rules. But after reading the winners' list, I got the hang of how to do a clerihew. Yeah! I'm happy. I found a lifeboat.
A mischievous kid, this Huckleberry Finn
His moral compass pointed to a major sin
For helping his friend Joe escape slavery
Society at the time looked at him as unsavory
1/13/26
connie pachecho
When you find yourself stuck in a corner
You will turn and see rules spread all over
Soon be lost in the shuffle
Up the creek with no paddle
Missed the boat like a fish out of water
I believe, I may have missed the boat
The water’s deep, I couldn’t float
Perhaps the marks I set weren’t high
The tide’s in now – I’ll wave bye-bye
I read Thoreau and Frost, I know
Of wilderness and falling snow
Of Roads Not Taken tongue in cheek
Of singing trees and babbling creek
With pomp and ceremony flyin’
I stopped to sniff a dandelion
To watch a honey bee rejoice
At making such a tasty choice
I sit beside the croaking pond
A heron blending with the frond
A muskrat watches warily
A dragonfly upon my knee
My pants are frayed, my kayak weathered
I share my time with furred and feathered
Visiting these woods, their home
Leave them, as I came, alone
“Win Some, Lose Some,
And Some Get Rained Out”
Miracle Man
4/24/2024
Sometimes my investments cause me to gloat,
but not those times when I’ve missed the boat.
Some days I cruise,
On other days I lose.
It’s then I feel as helpless as a tied up goat.
The marvellous Grace of our Loving Lord
It is something we cannot afford not to be grateful for
Nights are not forever
The sun is aware that darkness ends!
Make your vision so clear that your fears become irrelevant
Because the marvellous Grace of the Loving Lord is working!
Fear is but the sign that courage also exists inside of us
We have the Grace of the Lord that works in our midst
So you are beyond the tears breaking all the fears!
You have not failed
You have not missed the boat
You belong to your purpose even
If a river of darkness comes your way!
Stay glued to your purpose
Life carries storms and a blaze of sunshine so
Never decline your future
Because the Grace of the Loving Lord is working!
You are a creature of time
There is a future so
Deliver your fears in the face of adversity and
Remember that you are beyond the tears breaking all the fears
Because the marvellous Grace of our Loving Lord is with us!
Mark Frank
Copyright 2023
Nights are not forever
The sun is aware that darkness ends
Make your vision so clear that your fears become irrelevant
Fear is but the indication that courage also exists inside of you
So you are beyond the tears breaking all the fears
You have not failed
You have not missed the boat
You belong to your purpose even
If a river of darkness comes your way
Stay glued to your purpose
Life carries storms and a blaze of sunshine so
Never decline your future!
You are a creature of time
There is a future so
Deliver your fears in the face of adversity and
Remember that you are beyond the tears breaking all the fears
Mark Frank
Copyright 2023
Is it possible I missed the boat
Which is why I am a dollar short,
I’ve surely struggled to stay afloat
Not living my life for frivolous sport,
But trying my best my load to tote.
Coming to the end with limited means
I have happiness beyond measure
Which is quite enough, it seems,
Since happiness brings me pleasure
I have not coveted life’s extremes.
When all’s said and done, I survived
With all the necessaries of life,
Truth is I have, actually, thrived
While avoiding most of the strife,
At times, I was gleefully high-fived.
Written October 8, 2022
I have really missed the boat, bypassing my responsibility
And now I feel like a goat as I look back and certainly see
So many of you have written and I did not even respond
But for all of you I am truly smitten and also I am very fond
I have no reason for there is no justification for this being the case
Like going out of season it’s a problem that I sincerely want to face
Thank you for every single kind word and all of your time and thought
And how your passions have stirred the happiness that I have always sought
Sorry if I offended any of you this was certainly never my intention
It wasn’t that I withdrew it was just Yahoo Mail failed to mention
But I still take all the blame for I should’ve checked my own site more
And now I feel some shame for never answering these knocks on the door
So I will try my best and become a better poetry soup citizen
Measuring up to all the rest, The way things were way back when
With my apologies to all for I fondly appreciate everyone on this site
I just wanted to give everyone a call and let you know that I wasn’t right
Timing is the key to whether
Many things pan out.
We wait too long, we’ve missed the boat;
We know what that’s about.
Procrastination may cause
Opportunities to fade
And then regret kicks in
For the decisions we’ve not made.
The timing of a venture
May determine its success.
Too soon or late may wreck it,
Thereby adding lots of stress.
Comedians are criticized
If they can’t nail their timing,
Like rhythmless musicians
(Or a poet bad at rhyming).
The longest time of our lives is waiting for the dawn.
When I see your eyes and feel your smile a new day has begun.
Wishing for yesterday but dreading tomorrow.
Only this once could time go backward to fix what was.
Living in love dying alone, where did the time go.
I'm still here but I'm alone.
Ill give up my life and a million tomorrows.
To relive that moment like there was no tomorrow.
I missed the boat ?? missed the plane .
Theres no way back but I can't complain
Creator gave me a choice To live or to die.
But I'll still tell the stories and why God oh why.
We live in a world that forgot the old ways so I hold in my heart the the song of a new age. You still hold my heart. Ours souls stay connected
We are miles apart do as you must but forever boo you still own my heart ??
Nothing disappoints like a misleading title
For your reader will look for its theme throughout
And if no plausible link can be made, the reader
Will wonder why you chose that random word or phrase
With no credible link to your chosen lines or your theme
Perhaps, you should rewrite it from the beginning
For if your work does not reflect the title you chose
The reader is certainly apt to think you missed the boat.
The title of your poem is like a door swinging wide open
Welcoming the curious reader to look at what is inside
When your readers step inside the scene you have created
They will search for meaningful words and appropriate phrases
Lines that explain the title you have painstakingly chosen
It can be clever, or funny, or point to what lies ahead, but
Make no mistake, my friend, when expressing yourself
Your title is the key that unlocks the story you are telling.
HONORABLE MENTION
Written on April 27, 2021
For "What's in a Title in 14-20 Lines" Contest
Sponsored by Line Gauthier
Reason For Raising and Praising a Razon
we should be praising
perfect reason for raising
a dried up raisin
bitten by beagle
raisin was head on needle
have been broken hearts
puzzles always have their parts
horses forgot carts
Prime rib left overs were great
with leftover mashed potatoes
and creamed peas with carrots.
Marry Magnificent Christmas
Mary may have heard
after each word had occurred
Trump we know is nerd
may have missed the boat
more time do have to devote
had stopped in Shallotte
what if I really had known
that it had been caste in stone
my skills I would hone
always enchanting
peas and carrots planting
ended up recanting
barely could hear tone
had hardly heard baritone
at had caste a stone
cast was a big blast
under ware showed at half mast
by him we went past
Gave Vaccine to a Holstein
had been awful mean
he created quite a scene
with his ruptured spleen
Promising production
Nash needs no introduction
full of rambunction
trump drank a litre
on brink started to teeter
to wind a two sheeter
I am sure this is all that
you can stand by now.
Jim Horn
she made a desperate leap but once more missed the boat
had to absolve her failure by swimming in ablution creek
the water was murky and viscous but therefore she floated
the sheen on her skin blessed her strokes in polluted disguise
distant proximity posed a new challenge as she sifted the debris
of her sad heart punctured by thrash of emotions and feelings
as astern backwash propelled her journey back to its start
when she bobbed up and down to the bottom of her resolve
she felt the stagnant drift of many years by the ocean shore
where she had been unable to set neither sail nor cast an anchor
restless and yes apathetic she had watched her rusty engine
to stay close to the harbour of uncertainty and bracken water
like a bubble from sunken Atlantis buried deep in her soul
the missed ferry sank because of too many passengers aboard
who attempted to catch the same wavelength of rapid departure
and she threw them a lifeline for she knew about safe passage
dolphins jumped up and down to the applause of the lighthouse
keeper whose beard was so long as to serve as yarn for the rescue
sometimes missed opportunities deliver grace in selfless struggle
Mitch McConnell just missed the boat
His elephant said - and I quote:
"It seems rather clear
The suckers are here
Giving Amy McGrath the vote!"
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