Smidge Poems

Dinner's A Chore

DINNER’S A CHORE

Dinner, my turn, nothing in the fridge
Off to market, be gone a smidge
Car won’t start, battery’s dead
Jump it, full steam ahead
Old gossips in the aisle, won’t move aside
‘Scuse me’ I croon, but they get snide
Right back I get crass
Suggest they kiss my ass

Small and Simple Wins the Race

Grace once took me by the throat 
And squeezed until I gave up Pride,
But Pride remained still unprovoked 
As will began to slowly die

So faith stepped up and begged for hope 
But hope preferred unstable waters,
Which brought despair on noose and rope
And silenced all I had that mattered

Yet faith prevailed, though by a smidge
As small and simple took the win,
For little triumphs made me rich
And progress I did find therein

From my window seat

“This is a familiar route and one of the most common ones (at least to my seasoned eyes; you may find it beautiful)” — overheard.

______

A day like any other,
but also
a day like no other—

                       She’s losing the threads again.

                       No—she’s finally starting to see.

—A day like any other.

The bus hustled over 
cracked cement in damp air—
a sight scorched 
to the back of my skull.
I sat in my window seat
like it’s a 
reflex—

a voice nudges me in the ribs
break something— it said
—anything, 
just stopping sitting here.

I switched sides
before my brain can question 
if it makes sense.

I let my eyes drink out 
the other window—

A smidge of red—a balloon.
Something navy—a child’s backpack.
A birdless branch wobbles—
My gaze drifts up,
the sun reply with dazzles—

For a second,
everything rhymed.

HAIR

A tumble of flowers and soon you look amazing dear hair 
with just a smidge of lovely perfume you can scent the air 

A little beret on the side and suddenly you look magnificent
when I gather you in a ponytail, you make me look innocent
 
If I braid you into two elegant tresses, I feel quite content 
yes you get coiffed at fancy salon for I am worth every cent

If I flip you, " secret strategy of course" then he will be mine 
each time I fix you up like Sunday best, you turn out Divine ! 

I love you hair, because you make me feel sexy and feminine 
when I curl you it means I'm going out and you look just fine

You are the best part of my head and the most cared for too,   
the day I was born I didn't have much of you,  but today I do.

Haunted House

I don't see anything on cable, 
so I sit down at the table - 
another night alone I think.
I guess I'll have another drink.

What? The doorbell rings, and there
some ghostly figures then declare, 
"we're your regrets to haunt, alright?",
as more and more, they came all night.

"Make yourselves some highballs
and drink them to your eyeballs
(even ol' Ebenezer Scrooge
lacked an entourage this huge.)

It's crowded here.  Move just a smidge.
You'll find the drinks are in the fridge.
I'd love to sit and talk, but instead. 
you settle in.  I'm going to bed."

Barefoot on Boulders-Number 5

(Number 5)

Smiles rise over the ridge.
Courts creek, a childhood dream.
Commonsense, not even a smidge.
Barefoot on boulders, eyes agleam.
Staggering sight of matchstick bridge.

Quacks Like A Duck

I've written about chickens with big fat legs
Told of eating my way through the fridge
My psychiatrist says I'm really quite normal
Though I feel unbalanced, a smidge

I've heard of a place, can't remember where
They can treat an affliction like mine
Problem is though, it means a lobotomy
Sends a quake up and down my spine

Don't wanna be mumbling naughty verses
As I wander the streets in my socks
Or talking about inappropriate subjects
Like armpits, halitosis or snots

One reviewer said I was absolute bonkers
But still sings along with my songs
Seems like she might have the same affliction
Methinks both of our mind's long gone

The bottom line to all this nonsense is
Not much can be done so I'm stuck
Wearing this crown of a silly old jester
And quacking all day like a duck

A Wink From Afar

soon to bid 
another farewell, yet,
you've already unearthed
a smidge of sad longing 
buried too deep within 
to excavate.
as our sizeable distance 
kept stretching apart like a rubberband,
first came 
your reassuring smile 
when you 
turned your head 
to look at me one last time,
and with that smile -
before slipping out of sight -
a careful aim
directly at the center 
of my heart; 
just one wink. 
ah, so you knew it was 
precisely what I needed? 
it's torturous 
watching you depart; 
with a piece of heaven 
to cling to...
gently,
gently, 
ever so gently, 
you pull me back from 
the precipice of melancholy.

By Just a Smidge

I may be 5 foot 9 but by the time
I have to reach over my middle tire
A skinny person of let’s say 5 feet
might reach things a couple inches higher

Those tricky top shelves are strictly for things
I know that I’m never going to need
Like huckleberry jam, rice vinegar,
brown paper lunch bags and caraway seed

When searching through the kitchen cabinets
I find that I’m too short by just a smidge
So I have no idea what’s hiding in
that little cabinet over the fridge

Pine Needles

I thought of you alot today
While sitting near the bridge
I wonder, did your ears ring?
Even just a smidge?

Well all I know is if they did
They must have rang alot
You were on my mind so much
More often than were not

I pretended you were with me
Even spoke to you out loud
But then I changed from heart to heart
When sat down a small crowd

I played and people listened
But that meant not too much
Since you're the only one I saw
My mind's eye on you touched

No matter where I am
No matter what I do
When I start to miss you
I just look at my tattoo

It's a poor man's substitution
For a lady rich and fine
But I have to take what I can get
I do so for you pine

Mother Goose's Party

Here at Mother Goose’s party
Jack and Jill have just arrived.
Small Bo Peep and Jack be Nimble
Came to greet them and high-fived

While Miss Muffet, busy eating,
Found a spider in her whey.
Even though ‘twas itsy-bitsy,
Humpty Dumpty saved the day.

Georgie Porgie went in search of 
Little Jack among the sheep.
He was eating Christmas pie right near
Boy Blue, who was asleep.

As the cat was entertaining
With his fiddle ‘neath the moon,
Some big cow jumped over, looking
For a missing dish and spoon.

There were hot cross buns a’plenty
Selling down by London Bridge.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
Hoped to taste one – just a smidge.

Old King Cole made an appearance,
Peter Piper by his side.
Three blind mice played pat-a-cake
While Tommy Tucker ran to hide.

It was quite a festive evening
'Til the striking of the clock,
All to honor Mother Goose
And all the members of her flock.

*Today is officially Mother Goose Day

Clean Your Fridge

I wonder where this rhyme will go,
a random walk among the words.
I’d contemplate, but here’s the thing:
spontaneous is better, though.
To plan it out is for the birds;
unhitch the mind and let it sing.

I do suppose if I thought more,
it would be worth the time incurred,
and masterpieces would unfold,
but sometimes that feels like a chore,
so I just keep the yogurt stirred,
and skim off any spots of mold.

Now that’s a bit unusual;
it’s likely now you are confused,
and think I missed the mark a smidge.
No, I am not delusional;
I just lean on a deranged muse.
To write a poem, clean your fridge.

----------

A Sestet, with stanzas of 8a:8b:8c:8a:8b:8c

Photographing Turtle Cave At Sunset

worthwhile painters of sunsets tackled this romantic sky
turtles do not look up often, and their eyes are fuzzy
they might miss the colors, but they feel the richness of the day
turtle cave, a sanctuary for turtles in many sizes.

I stay my distance, photographing them with telescopic lenses.
my artist eyes take another peek at the fascinating pastel sky.
I return home with a plethora of photos, of the sunset.
each one a smidge different than the last; no one else sees it.

City of Hearts and Home By the Bay

*VIDEO of San Francisco by Scott McKenzie, Cheers to Tony Bennett.

City of Hearts and Home by the Bay

Day star's mist yields to its grip of a bridge,
Span steel strands, harp-like, golden tags a smidge,
Light drapes the streetcars, up and down the hills,
Chimes, mass speeches, music, and painted stills,
Juggling pantomimes, street fair atmosphere,
Haight and Ashbury crossing yesteryear,
Fisherman's Wharf nearby Pier 39,
Seafood platters and fine dining with wine,
Downtown Union Square, lunching alfresco,
Market Street, Tiffany's, a Broadway show,
San Franciscans, whenever we're in Rome,
Ideal for some, but we call this home.

2022 December 31
*2nd Place*
Take Me There
~~Margarita Lillico: Judged 2023 January 21

*RZ & HMS.

I Was Going To- But

'Twas a week before Christmas 
And I've not done my shopping 
I was going this morning 
But first, my floors needed a mopping 

I was going to mop them 
But I first had to broom 
Then, I waited to sweep them 
Till I first cleaned the room 

With pots and pans messy 
From the cookies I baked 
And icing on the counter 
Where the cookies were caked
 
I wanted to run the dishwasher 
Before I swept the floor 
And I wanted to wipe fingerprints 
That were smudged on the door 

But I waited to do that 
Till I cleaned out my fridge 
But I figure I'd wait 
Till I ate me a smidge... 

Of waffles with butter 
All smothered in sugar 
But I lost my darn appetite 
When I noticed a booger 

With all that I've not done 
It had messed with my head 
Said- "The hell with my shopping... 
I'll just go back to bed"

• Short Smidge Poems
• Famous Smidge Poems
• Best Smidge Poems
• Read Smidge Poems
• Long Smidge Poems
• Smidge Quotes