Got to fix the car’s flat tire
the grass needs to be cut
All the gutters need to be cleaned
and fix the gate that won’t stay shut
Winterize the doors and windows
wash the grime from the car
Clean off the garage shelves
just to find where all the tools are
Pull the weeds out of the garden
test the water in the pool
Change out the furnace filters
make sure the condenser is running cool
Repair that leaky faucet
find out where the dog is getting out
Go across the road to the neighbors
to see what his digging is all about
Run down to the hardware store
buy tools for a project I’ll never start
Cut down that vine out back
before it tears the siding apart
The roof needs some new shingles
I have to watch some football with the friends
Nascar, basketball, fishing, and hunting
it seems that a husband’s work never ends
Count all them chores a husband does
adds up to be about one thousand and two
It’s no wonder I’m so blamed tuckered out
by the time the weekend is through
Never test the water with BOTH feet
To feel the temperature or if it's too deep
One foot at a time
For testing the brine
If it's over your head, bad words you'll bleep
A Rainy Walk
Me and Bertie's off for a walk,, he isn't very keen,
He's worried he may fall in a puddle where depths are quite unseen
But Mum will be very careful and test the water first.
Oh he loves his Mum so very much his heart is fit to burst.
But as she's only 5' naught, so she's got to take great care
Cos if a puddle swallows her up too, neither of them will be there.
Into the love abyss she went
But this time with great trepidation on her part
As she had stood on the side-lines
For far too long
Too scared to test the water
As the fear of being burnt again was in the back of her mind
She would tread cautiously now
and not let her guard down quite so easily
She was so much more resilient now
Her heart and her soul were her biggest gifts... And she would bestow them to the right man when the time came..
As however long it took
She would wait for him...
Everyone told him to come out
His LTBGQ friends anyway
All six of them
For that is how many lived in his small town
in the Midwest
in the heart of Nebraska
The pressure was great,
and part of him yearned
To say something to his parents
To test the water,
To see if they would still love him
It was a quandary
But his heart kept saying no
His friends did not let up.
They hounded him for years.
Everything in his heart said no.
He did not feel ready
Until he was seventeen.
When he finally did
Thinking it would be a relief.
They loved him after all.
He spent the rest of the year
Sleeping on friends couches
Waiting for high school to end
So he could leave town
Never returning
Watching people walk on the street.
Tells so much about who they are.
The hurried with their great strides.
Those shifty eyed and guilty shuffles.
The high noses with stuffy little steps.
Waitresses with their swinging hips.
The care full who first test the water.
But crowds will part like the dead sea.
For one with the Italian shoe swagger!
date:9/1/2019
contest: swagger
sponsor: Line Gautier
What Parents Should Say
Written by: D. Collins 5/6/16
And We Quote…………
“Go out and test the water, but swim the right way.”
“We relinquished rights on your eighteenth birthday.”
“We’re on vacation enjoying some of life.”
“We can’t get a signal or enough height.”
“Your dad is busy. He can’t come to the phone.”
“When you blow all your money don’t call home.”
“Join the Army and go see the world.”
“Wear a condom when you get with the girls.”
“We’re only weening you ‘cause all animals ween.”
“We’ll have to call you back, we’re on the putting green.”
“We gave you the tools, now its time to use them.”
"It’s called growing up to become young women and men.”
Never test the water with BOTH your feet
To determine the temperature or if it's deep
One pinky at a time
For testing the brine
It's over my head, words I screamed I had to bleep
© Jack Ellison 2016
Moldy feet of clay
Wearing smelly moldy feet of clay,
as purity walks slow away,
the attraction of the pity curse,
a lady solves the verse,
but is she here to play?
Unsent bewitched beguiled I say,
a bird transfixed by serpent gaze,
struggles weakly in the haze,
something in her mind has clicked.
Heart beats fast restricts,
does logic have its say?
A bird in fight she comes about,
in thought the treasures of the doubt,
to test the water hey,
flushed of face she closer comes,
lost in the eyes, is he the one?
Muttering its ok,
surrender rights are done...
Don Johnson
Life
I ask to dive deep
for what purpose would it serve
to go the breadth in the swallow end
I ask to be submerged
not to test the water with my toes
not to splash when it’s at my ankles
not to be content with it at my waist
or stay safe with it at my shoulders
but to be engulfed, caught up, and sweep away with joy
I ask to drown in life
amen- i pray(ed to you for too) long
faces balanced - broken law
broken jaw
[teeny token] spoken out of
turn around - what is
should not be (lost)
found ------------------ crowned crest
the soul is : failed (test the water)
too deep. too much. don't -
[plunge] ------------ touch -
mind : sponge dripping / slipping . ; : . ,
. . , gripping . . .
. hard, the shard .
the scarred shared [can't
(scared)-----(beware) help] but stare
. somewhere .
/ you . are . there /
You were such a good dream.
But then you became a reality.
The reality became comfortless.
So I did the best I could.
Because I never wanted to break your heart.
But now you have broken mine.
I miss the smiles that I could attract from you.
And what about those conversations we had.
Your holding my feelings against me,
It's an unexpected act of you.
I did what I could to satisfy our cravings,
Apologies for not being able to test the water
Without breaking your heart.
Feb, 2008
It's now time for us
to test the water;
see what else is out
there that has something
better to offer.
It is now time
for us to be
separated
but still best friends.
For us to
find how deep
each other's
love runs
in the
heart.
Oh, it can be hard
to rise from my bed
Numbness in my heart
Pain in my head
The door is locked
I'm too scared to look
Cause someone knocked
My knees, they shook
Pulled the covers
Over my head
Oh just what I fear
And so baddly dread
I know not why
Or how, i say
Once was strong
In a younger day
I've failed to open
Any mail this year
No good news inside
Just bad, I fear
I wish I could crawl
back in the womb
Oblivious of
My ultimate tomb
Only in sleep
Does my fear go away
So I treasure the night
And detest the day
So life is like the blues
Played in B flat
And like the nineth life
Of an unlucky cat
So change the key
And hope it works
And if it does
Like so many jerks
Start anew, and test the water
And leave behind
What you ought'a.
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