We shuffle the days
like cards across the table,
hoping to draw Spring.
But the deck grows ever thinner
with every hand we choose to play.
Entropy walks on,
spilling sugar, cooling tea,
loosening tight knots.
dealing cards from beneath the pack
while Time pretends not to notice.
There's much kerfuffle
when stars bend the road between
one heartbeat and the next.
Cards arrive out of sequence
Distance becomes duration
Time is stretched and distended,
paths are bent and distorted
and you arrive before you left.
Memory itself reshuffles
dealing tomorrow before yesterday.
A mother's laugh, a child's distressed cry—
both hiding in the same hand
waiting for the shuffle
to reveal a trump card between them.
We trace every moment
on clock faces and calendars,
yet we cannot tell
which breath came first
or which came last.
The instant we watch too closely,
the dealer stops dealing,
skips a card,
moves on—
then quietly slips
an extra card into our pile
while we're looking
the other way.
For, the kerfuffle of entropy's shuffling
keeps ruffling the deck
we mistake for
of our Time.
Shifting standards in drifting sands,
where forgiveness is a sundae treat,
spins the wheel of fortune
to shuffle-card mode.
Where truth is discounted,
by dealing cards face-up,
and uncounted.
Falling asleep is such sweet sorrow!
Alas, lullabies are so 'Yesterday''!
It started with counting sheep:
Knit one, Purl One,
Knit two Together,
Promenading One by One,
Fluffy Cute Wee little Lambs,
Jumping over a fence.
One, two, three, four........
zzzzzzzzzzz
But, the shepherds
shooed the flock back inside the shed.
Said it was midnight mayhem -
'duffing sheep to rustle sleep'!
So the Hypnos Somnus Gurus
required other ideas!
Up popped a new one from the Deck Chairs.
'Cognitive Shuffling of Random Letters'!
Wow that would switch
everyone off to sleep as is!
You start with a random word -
say "Pluto, or Pillow".
Then shuffle onto other "P" words -
say "Plane, Poodle, Play, Peaches"
If not asleep by then,
Move onto the "L"s or "Q"s
You get the idea!
Sleep Well, My Friend!
Inspired by the Onomatopoeia Contest (2024), sponsored by Emile Pinet.
Mid-day invaded my spirits with blah.
I sauntered the path to the coffee shop
and heard my friends blabbing on endlessly,
astir with the recent barista flop.
I swallowed a mouthful of latte,
gagged and gargled with an unwanted flush
of caramel nut crème tickling my throat.
It made my gustatory senses gush.
After much gurgling, I gulped and groaned,
spilling the foamy froth with a loud plop.
My spirits sizzled and snapped
with the luscious last loud drop.
Having quenched my fraudulent thirst
I selfishly, yet successfully, bashed
the doleful doldrums that attended me.
I hiccupped along home and crashed.
The snow turned into freezing rain
So walking wasn’t easy.
We shuffled slowly; fear of falling
Made me slightly queasy.
As younger folk went traipsing by
I realized, on reflection,
That once-upon-a-time my body
Needed no protection.
Yet, though in shape, I worry now
For aging bones may shatter
So caution reigns supreme as mind’s
Triumphant over matter.
shuffling snow...coal
boots forfeit the steel pavement
...scuff marks left behind
12/2/2018
Joys increase where hearts lie open
To the sun and reign,
Where Jack and Jill are King and Queen,
Diamonds or no.
Pharaoh and Caesar
Must bow down
To the spade and to the plough.
Augurs of harvest utter
Words of life and words of death.
Black the gallows, red the wine.
Nimble or club-footed we glide, or shuffle,
To the dance.
Does Death sleeve every ace?
Not every race is to the strong.
Under the cold moon and stars
They sleep
Awaiting the coming sun,
Dreamers wrapped in many-coloured strands
Great pains did dye and card.
(Shuffling with Shel)
Ode to Shel Silverstein
The master taps across the stage
Wiggling rhymes upon his page
Tapping, leaping, letting go
Silly poems that steal the show.
Heel, shuffle,
Heel, step
Like A Runny Babbit
Falling up
Flap, heel, turn
A Light is in the Attic.
Spying, listening to his moves
Tapping out his beat
The rhymes that skip across my ears
Are silly, yet so sweet.
Dig, brush
Flap, heel
Rhyming rapt release
Shuffle, heel
Dig, toe, hop
Never a Missing Piece
Learning all the tap dance steps
Shuffle, ball change, hop.
Typing, tapping, out the words
Into my own laptop.
Jump, click
Maxie Ford
A Giraffe and a Half
Stomp, scuff
Hop, riff heel
Always gets a laugh.
The master danced before us
His steps a melody
that shared those silly skillful sounds
just like the Giving Tree.
One day I hope to dance with words
And share with all my friends
These special sublime tap dance steps
To Where The Sidewalk Ends.
Jan. 30, 2017
rambling down the street
click clack
clack click
follow the feet
walking tall
towards the place
where all pretenders
seek
click
clack
as the mirror reflects the
mountain so steep
clack
click
the peak so high
valley so low
rambling down the street,
to the
end
it's me I meet
A set of cards create a complicated case of games
The cards speed up-- is this how the game goes?
They are scattered with honesty and blames
People are crowned with sweet wins, separating kins from foes
These maniac cards seem to test my knowledge
I suppose practice makes perfect, but in this case, I'm a lower average
I learned that shuffling could also be a type of profession
You'll have to be in my shoes to work extra hard to reach towards perfection
I'm positively sure our life isn't shuffling with discards
Everyone's available to play, even the lower averages
Feel free to play another game of cards
Because I'm looking forward to a grand party, crowned with winner's beverages
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