My Dad was the best
He was there when I needed him most
He was my best friend
He helped me through hard times
He loved me no matter what
We would go for rides together
We would catch at least one
Florida Gator baseball game
in the spring time for awhile
He was my movie buddy
The movies mom didn’t want
to see we went and saw
I remember all the trips to
the mountains to stay in a
cabin in Northern Georgia
All the trips to the Blue Ridge
Skyline Drive and Great Smokies
We went as far north as Niagara Falls, Canada
When I was in school my Dad
was my math tutor
He was good in math
But I definitely wasn’t
I remember when I liked to
watch a lot of ice skating
My Dad got tickets to
an ice skating event with
Scott Hamilton
I enjoyed even though
we were in the nose bleed section
My Dad wasn’t perfect
But he was still awesome to me
He was my best friend
And I will forever remember him
Love you Dad
I’ll see you again in paradise
Robert Paul Rodeheaver
11/22/47 - 07/14/24
Have pity on the Scott’s ruled
By the Brexit voting sassenach
Who don’t seem to understand
We too want out country back.
Arbroath Smokies for breakfast
Porridge seasoned with salt
Kedgeree, Haggis, neaps and tastes
With wee drams of single Malt.
Pints of Heavy Friday nights
The working weeks end
Words of wisdom swapped
With true and blethered friend.
Fish and taties frae the chippie,
Deep fried Mars Bar to follow
Just to round off the night
A sweet delight to swallow.
Then the planning to drive
The Sassenachs from our soil,
Take back all our fish and
What’s left of North Sea oil.
Home Rule For Scotland
Restore our law and Order
Keep those thieving Brits
To their side of the border.
We'll gladly offer asylum
To those few of sound mind
Who want to up sticks and leave
Those heathen Tories far behind.
Let them keep their wee King
They’re always asking God to save
We’ll have the massed pipe bands
Loudly playing Scotland the Brave
Goodbye United Kingdom
Land of thieving Tory
Living on faded memories
Of Passed hope and glory.
Scotland the Brave
Scotland the free
Goodbye puny England
We’re all so well shot of thee
blue misty hazes
rolling over pine-clad hills
Great Smoky Mountains,
Be sure to visit Cade’s Cove
Where bears wander in the wild.
written July 6, 2021
Regina
Tender, true, trusting, thankful
Daughter of two hearts from the Smokies
Lover of Jesus, family, poetry and truth
Who feels most alive when I’m giving, feeling, forgiving
Who fears the darkness of a heart without God
Who would like to see love overcome pride
Who would enjoy the sound of nature’s yawning
Who would like to give others a taste of hope
Who would bring serenity into the spirit
Who would live cautiously, within my limits
Who would light up the hearts who are hurting
With assurance that pure love abounds with joy
From the whisper of a Savior who gives courage
To face every struggle or sorrow with praise
For the One who gives grace to the stranger
The One who died and rose again so we could be
Alive in eternity – forever with Him!
McIntosh
This is Who I Am poetry contest
Sponsored by: L MILTON HANKINS
July 3, 2021
So Willy Wonka’s gone and now I’ve got
his factory. Though chocolate is great,
there’s something else to which I’ve given thought!
Because of Covid, livestock’s gone to waste.
Please, Farmers, do not throw your pigs away!
Although it’s getting hard now to sustain
those animals, pigs’ lives can’t be in vain!
My company is here to save the day.
Inside my factory, we specialize
in makin’ bacon, for who does not love
that sizzlin’ stuff? I’ve brought back bacon fries.
My restaurant nearby has plenty of
the bacon lover’s best! For example:
bacon sliders, bacon mac, and for a tease -
elvis egg rolls, which are more than ample!
We serve bacon onion rings and grilled cheese,
maple bacon smokies, bacon cheese logs,
even bacon apple pie and ice cream!
I want to give a HUG to all the HOGS
who give their lives to make food such a dream.
Old Willy Wonka – he was much too sweet.
At Macon Bacon, life is one gigantic salty treat.
May 20, 2020
Factory located in Macon County, MO (in my imagination)
For Caren Krutsinger's Willy Wonka Is Not Here So What Is My Factory Going To Make Poetry Contest
In our tent we hear
whippoorwills happy to see
dawn dismiss the night.
Donal Mahoney
After escaping the amish clan
and returning back home,
looked like someone followed me
a peculiar looking man,
seemed like everywhere
I'd go he'd be right there,
like something out of a
stalking amish mafia nightmare,
he was kind of short
and of course wore the standard beard,
but his face resembled the face
of actor Al Pacino,
one day I decided I'd better
change my look or go incognito,
so donned a long blonde wig
and started wearing "falsies,"
changed my clothes style
to more country western,
and still not feeling secure
moved up to Tennessee
where I'd feel more at ease
and settled in the Smokies,
one day was walking around
and shopping at a local store,
when people started staring
and flocking around me,
started feeling once again
like another bad dream,
almost started running and
started sweating profusely,
when all of a sudden they asked me
can I have your autograph Dolly
and could you sing "Islands in the Stream?"
Stumblin’ as one alone,
Seldom signs, only trees and stones,
Night fatigue beckons.
There was a mighty chicken truck
Whose name was Can’t Catch Me
He traveled to the coast and back
From sea to shining sea
All the smokies tried to catch him
They just wouldn’t let him be
But somehow ol’ Can’t Catch Me
Just kept on slipping free
Well then one day ol’ smokey bear
Was hiding in the grass
When Can’t Catch Me came strolling by
He jumped out on his ass
He waited til ol’ Can’t Catch Me
Moved to the left to pass
Then he hit his lights and sirens
And said “I’ve got you now, at last!”
But, Can’t Catch Me had seen this all
Just once or twice before
And he handed that bear his paperwork
As he stepped up to his door
He said “What’s up?
What’d ya stop me for?
‘Cause I know it ain’t for speedin’
This truck only does 64!”
Well that bear was mad as a hornet
He just knew it wasn’t true
But his radar gun was busted
And there weren’t nothin’ he could do
He cussed, and stomped, and shouted
And swore “I will get you!”
But Can’t Catch Me was off again
With just a “Too-da-loo!”
He’s probably still out there somewhere
Between those shining seas
And if you ever see him
You just smile and salute
That ol’ truck called
Can’t Catch Me!
©Annette Keller
01/1998
From the Ferris wheel in Memphis to the sunset in Bombay --
From the sunrise in the Smokies to the rain on Frisco Bay --
These memories inside my heart are at my beck and call.
But, when you leave I wonder -- were we there at all?
Did you smile at me in Kingston? Did we laugh in London town?
Did we spend a night in Paris exchanging lovers' sounds?
Does a wishful heart fill my mind with memories of it all?
Or was it just a dream I had? Were we there at all?
The love that lives inside my heart sometimes plays tricks on me.
I see places where we've been -- yet, it's such a mystery.
When you're near, it is so clear but without you, memories stall.
So I'm left to sit and wonder -- were we there at all?
Life is an adventure! I've cruised
In boats. Rowed canoe, sixty miles.
Walked the Smokies: fifty miles with
Thirty pounds on my back in knapsack.
Once slept two in one sleeping bag
Because the rains came down so hard.
And rode horseback for thirty miles.
I've walked miles around my neighborhoods.
Walked across Tryon, N.C., San Francisco.
I've driven across our fine country;
Snow, rain, I won't refrain from my
Need for adventures! I'm always GO!
Long legs do not know the word NO.
AMERICAN SPLENDOR
Arizona has the Painted Desert
The Grand Canyon is there as well
Montana and Wyoming house Yellowstone
With beauty that weaves a spell
Wyoming hosts the Grand Tetons
Montana the Big Blue Sky
The splendor of God's Creation
Is nothing to deny
There's Pike's Peak in Colorado
We have the Appalachians and Great Smokies too
And the Black Hills of South Dakota
These all offer a breathtaking view
There are rivers like the Mississippi
And sights like Niagara Falls
Giant trees in California
That tower 300 feet tall
There's a Great Salt Lake in Utah
There's Washington's Puget Sound
There are five Great Lakes of fresh water
Where the wonders of nature abound
As we travel the great State of Georgia
We see mountains with cold, clear streams
And wildlife of every description
Often found only in dreams
So when you wake up every morning
And each night before taking your rest
Thank God for His marvelous Creation
America's Splendor is blessed
27 August 2008
For the contest Your Country 'Tis Of Thee
Sponsored by Brahn Bailey
Originally written in 2002
Scottish Arbroath smokies
Slow cooked Irish stew
Cornish pastie in gravy
A Welsh rarebit
Cerphilly cheese scones
Drambuie
Aye!
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