Sparrows enjoy a certain reputation
For intimacy and hope
Crosby Stills and Nash sang of them
In Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
As compatriots to the morning
Air
With guitar strums and high notes
Truth be told
Sparrows are bulkier than the normal song bird
And not particularly
Pretty
Brown and gray as a mound of dirt
Chirpy jerky punk band
And they have no problem with crowding out
From a bush or bird feeder
Finches and chick-a-dees
They’re kind of a bully
Push around those that are smaller
Who carry pouches of yellow and pink
And tiny symphonies
They clog up my eavestroughs with nests
Right now
I watch one sparrow land on top of another
And the tree branch bends down
Under their heft
Bounces up and down
To their sex
Again
The limb
Seemingly
Waving them off
Or so it tries
As if it’s saying
Get off me you animals.
Frederick Ogden Nash
did a lot more than sling hash
his poetical humor knew no bounds
and his writing never failed to astound
Ogden Nash penned these two lines
‘How odd of God
to choose the Jews’
My reply across the times
‘God would never choose
~ a people who would lose’
when i was a sage
would want to take advantage
of poems i manage
while being a sage
would write my poems page by page
which was latest rage
with capacity
poems had much tenacity
for sagacity
had a head with bone (Bonehead)
either against wall would stone
or leave me alone
when he was a priest
together puzzle had pieced
he would be a beast
had been annoyed
horrible hemorrhoid
was celluloid
when pneumonic
broke barrier and sonic
had been plutonic
with apartment posh
his both hands from case would wash
when into would squash
Trump i would offend
my poem will amend and append
more sins he will send
when poem have been best
here is what I will suggest
eat easy to digest
Englishman Paul Nash
with pastoral art made quite a splash
An artist between two world wars
juxtaposing style by the score
Honorable, legendary civil rights pioneer, Diane Nash
A cherished treasure that can't be purchased with cash
A great American. An enduring heroine to the nation
Her fierce activism helped end racial segregation
Date written 11/17/2022
New York poet Ogden Nash
with rhyme made quite a splash
His topics aesthetically absurd
so popular though when heard
John Northcote Nash
with Bucks cornfields* did make a splash
Like his talented brother Paul
an artist worthy to recall
*https://shop.townereastbourne.org.uk/products/nash-john-the-cornfield
I no longer like Nash,
At him teeth gnash;
A chance and his head bash
For being grossly rash
In his spending of cash
Over a bought sash
All his reasons “Thrash”
To him like a child trash!
I shall no longer see Nash,
For it shall end in a crash,
Now quite sure he’s brash…
Indeed, this way Nash
To another I’ll dash!
I wonder whether the well-known poets of yore
Read poems around a potbelly stove in a local store,
Whether they entered contests sponsored by a peer
Or discussed poetry with a friend over a cold beer?
Do you think Poe might have rewritten and revised,
To make his poems acceptable to an editor’s eyes?
Somehow, I think Nash was not oblivious to style
When he was writing light verse evoking a smile,
Before the days of television and visual entertainment
Writing a lengthy epic was a noteworthy attainment
Today’s editors encourage poetry that is quite concise
And poetry websites will print anything, isn’t that nice?
Written January 29, 2022
This is a story of a girl and her beau,
Where life would lead, they did not know.
They dated for several years,
There was laughter and some tears.
One day the boy asked the girl to be his wife,
He wanted her forever a part of his life.
Then a year later a baby was born,
On some days their nerves were torn.
This couple persevered
Most of their fears disappeared.
Neither parent was delusional
And their life continued as usual.
They had an announcement one winter’s day
That there would be another baby on the way.
Off to the hospital as the time came
The life they once knew would never be the same.
They had children’s laughter and noise
That comes from having 2 boys.
What once was three, is three no more.
Now say “Hello” to the Nash family of four!
©Kristy De La Keur Scoville
It's too bad he left this earth in 1971.
I believe knowing him would have been a lot of fun.
He was born in Rye, New York, but moved frequently.
Baltimore was where he had his longest residency.
He was a panelist on the game show "Masquerade Party"
Ogden proved to write with great ability.
His collections of poems are absolutely fabulous.
So many of them are entertaining and humorous.
They have been saved and preserved for all of us.
This was a poet who really liked to rhyme.
That's what I like to do most of the time.
I thank wikipedia.org for valuable information I obtained to write this poem.
Poem I Prepared Reminded Me of Ogden Nash
Rhinoceros may be related to hippopotamus;
Synonymous and anonymous in a metropolis;
Both together do live;
Each other bath give;
Thought appeared to be purely preposterous.
Have you been laughing yet,
Read my poem with regret;
Live in rafter,
Or hereafter;
A moron like me have met.
What you did do was dubious
Matter becoming mischievous;
Handle with care;
Even when bare,
And to fact are now oblivious.
Jim Horn
Nor a lovely form, nor a relevant content, nor sophisticated writing technique. Goosebumps, a cool wave along the spine, a flash of pleasure and the pleasure's aftertaste - a strange feeling akin to a guilty conscience of the handworker who, after a sweet fight with himself, swears "never again!" - that's a true sign of good literature. Oh, the sweet dawn of my studying English! I remember I felt like that when I first met Ogden Nash:
you shake and shake the
ketchup bottle nothing comes
and then a lot’ll*
* as cited in Americana, English-Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary, Poligramma, 1996
10.11.2019
Goosebumps Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Delilah Ventura
I twice shortchanged Warren one of the two “t”s in Buffett. I found Ogden Nash did a fine job with double letters in "The Lama".
That inspired me to write, in apology for slighting Mr. Buffett:
The Buffet
The one-t buffet,
That's a punch,
Or a place to
Have your lunch.
The two-t Buffett?
He never knew
A fiscal crunch.
And I will bet
A silken tuffet
There isn't any
Three-t buffettt. *
--- Oliver Klosov
* The author regrets that he cannot duplicate
Ogden Nash's final “groaner” re a “three-t buffettt” . Pooh.
If that's not enough it will have to do. (heh heh)
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