In remembrance of Malvina Reynolds
Little Pumpkins in a pumpkin patch
Little Pumpkins growing side-by-side
Little Pumpkins taste of sticky taffy
Little Pumpkins in a row.
There's a black one, a sea-green one
Polkadot and honey-yellow one
But not one's an orange one
And I wanted one that was orange.
All the people in the pumpkins
Pay rent to Peter-Peter and
He's their landlord they're his serfs and
He deflowers their every bride.
All their children dry the pumpkin seeds
And plant them in the pumpkin patch
And the pumpkins become fat and firm
And the children move right in.
There are puce ones there are white ones
One's vermilion, one is indigo
And they all taste just like sticky taffy
Which was left out in the sun.
Categories:
polkadot, children, farm, food, humor,
Form: Lyric
The King’s Fruit
White apple blossom petals fall like castle fairy snow
Their sweet perfume replaced by tiny green clustered globes
Vying for the knighted honor as the one royal King’s Fruit
When ladybugs arrive in polkadot armor as handmaids resolute
To do battle with pests that leave their sticky stain on virgin leaves
Till the chosen reach autumnal monarch maturity.
5-18-21
Contest: Bite Size Poem 3
Sponsor: Line Gauthier
Apple blossoms come in clusters of five or six flowers. Many turn into a tiny globe that could become an apple. As each globe starts to grow they need to be thinned leaving only the largest and healthiest apple. This apple is called “the King’s Fruit.”
Ladybugs are the natural predators of aphids that damaging the foliage and developing apples leaving a sticky residue on leaves. Ladybugs arrive in the spring all on their own. Little miracles.
Categories:
polkadot, autumn, fruit, nature, spring,
Form: Rhyme
Polkadot Polka
Tumbling, whirling, smiling, swirling –
A riot of laughter – orderly rows well crafted.
Swaying, dancing, toe tapping, prancing –
Rainbows of color –freckles in technicolor.
Jumping, leaping, playing not creeping –
Like leap frog, per chance – a spinning top dance?
Glistening, glimmering, sparkling, shimmering -
Not hidden from sight – bright points of light.
Grinning, giggling, bouncing, wiggling –
Perfect circles smiling – can’t help styling.
Tiny, small, big but not tall –
Sometimes gigantic – known for their antics.
Categories:
polkadot, dance, fun,
Form: Rhyme
Morning hasn't even settled
Midnight sediment scattered through
The grey beasts that
Sail the sky
But Mother rocks the landing floorboards
And I follow
Downstairs
Families of dollymix, gingham, polkadot
Huddle in cool swirls
Cotton roses climbing the kitchen table
I sit and silently snip shapes
Press my early-hour imagination
Shallow into fabric
Triangular like chemistry
But tired at the edges
My mother lifts a needle
And creates
As mothers do
And I watch her
Lovingly piece Christmas together
Beaded purses, lace angels and silk tress
They are her children now
I can see it in her smile
Full like cinnamon
And red like blood
We pack our morning into hidden bags and boxes
And slip back to bed
Sleeping for an hour or two
Proud owls tucked in nests.
Categories:
polkadot, daughter, mother, uplifting, mother,
Form: Free verse