Short Tamp Poems

I am a spastic dancer
exuberant with giant moves, arms and legs flailing
mirth and joy spin through my pores as I tamp and stamp
I am the utmost party animal 
My grandchildren love it
Their mothers hide behind prissy cloth napkins
Pretending I did not birth them...

Read More

An athlete used a condom
When she needed to repair
Her kayak, for in Tokyo
It suffered damage there.

She made a TikTok video,
Now viral, of her work,
Then won some medals thanks to
An Olympic Village perk.

Seems condoms are ubiquitous 
For athletes at the Games, 
With 60,000 given out.
(Can’t tamp Olympic flames!)

Most likely, no one ever thought
Their use could be so bold,
In unexpected fashion,
To help someone earn the gold!...

Read More

I am supposed to always be kind, nice, sweet.
But sometimes my werewolf gorilla she-wolf comes out.
I have to tamp her down, and pretend she is not ready to
Bite off a child’s leg or better yet devour his head.
Today in the lunchroom was one of those times
When a particularly irritating child threw something
past six tables into the trash and smirked.
I turned and saw the smirk and knew.
It was the smirk I recognized instantly.
The smirk from my youth....

Read More

The cool tamp of rain drops extract their toll
with sweet scents pervading summer's warm voice.
Life bids refreshment to its aired soul
as Heaven's passion gives cause to rejoice.
No words can be heard o'er the mist or squall
the earth falls silent in tribute by choice.
Such softness that coats earth's thirst with its hope
brings promise of wealth beyond the eye's scope.  


Summer Rain Contest
Sponsored by Dale Cozart
10 syllables per line
08/30/2017...

Read More

Flight songs have forsaken the lark,
where flood and fire forage the dark.
From coast to coast our prayer on wings.
O Lord have mercy the choir sings.

Firefighters on lawn, brave and tired.
Nurses pull long duty, admired.
Neighborhood ash forever stings.
O Lord have mercy the choir sings.

Gift the Golden West deft snowflakes.
Tamp down the spires of flaming snakes.
Extinguish breath the dragon brings.
O Lord have mercy the choir sings.

11/15/2018...

Read More

inspiring them one at a time
I phone my students
checking their feelings

the parents barely want to hand over the phone
needing a friendly voice themselves
so I try to uplift them too

school is not cancelled,
it is being reconstructed
I assure them it will work out

even when I have my own doubts
I tamp them down and bring
enthusiasm and encouragement to the fray

lifting them up one at a time
listening to their fears
soothing them the way others have soothed me...

Read More