Wanna taste your sweet hot toddy
While you baste my manicotti
Your accolades are well deserved
Now ring that bell cuz dinner's served
After a tired
labor of love day
got on the Trane
and after a few Miles
I reached Monk
later laying
back travelling
towards Sarah
and Nina
and after
getting Dizzy
headed West
boarded Bird
flying onto Art
leaving me
to ink
this poetic flow
I’m sharing with you
before my melatonin
MJQ disembark
to peacefully Cannonball
deeply into
poetic gigging…
Don is my dear daddy, Daddy loves tasty toddy, Toddy drinking is his hobby, His hobby is high greedy , Greedy overcomes his body , And his body becomes shady.
No burial
When I died, my family didn’t dare bury me in a grave.
They knew, without a doubt, I'd only misbehave ~
that I'd party with the germs,
and have sleepovers with the worms,
and give the bacteria all that they crave.
So, just a lousy cremation
When I watched them cremate my body,
I thought their work was just a little bit shoddy.
I woulda preferred
if the fire had been hotter by a third,
and if my friends had been invited over
to toast me with a hot toddy.
Plus ou moins
I have a nasty cold
That doesn't want to go away
I am also all congested
There is a lot of flam
Coming out
From my mouth
I am trying to clear my through
Yes I already had my breakfast
Early in the morning
Raising bran, boiled eggs
And a banana
Now I am going to sleep
All day
At noon I got up
I made myself a hot toddy
Tea, lemon, and honey
And I went back to sleep
I was also sweating like crazy
Yes I am also very tired
Blustering snowballs, Batman,
it's cold enough to blubber
blast the titanic iceberg
from its frozen handshake.
But snowballs that ain’t
formed; fine powdery dust
billowing ‘neath the core, of not hell,
but the moat of the ice queen’s castle.
Frozen icicles, Batman,
drip from nostrils and lips,
welcoming a brew of nog to noggin,
or toddy for the torrential reality
of fastball bugs for tethered sleeves -
the season’s green sleeves.
A yuck of a holiday for some.
A hiccup and cheers to a New Year.
The last of the lights turned out,
drinks and hors d’oeuvres put away,
restaurant returned to its every-day self,
only a few candles in glass lanterns
now left on the bare pine tables.
She sits at one of the tables, and,
wincing, kicks off her shoes, removes
her cocktail apron and name tag,
leans on her elbows, inhaling the
cinnamon steam from her hot toddy.
Exhausted, with her piled-up hair
slightly disheveled, she relaxes.
The bride and groom are off
on their honeymoon to Santorini,
guests and most staff home to sleep.
The neon glow from outside
bathes her in a pink and blue haze
making her look less like a waitress
and more like a girl expecting a date
or actress waiting for her audition.
The hot drink gone, she redons shoes
and fetches her coat and purse
from the kitchen, leaving the cup.
Georgio, the boss, calls “Get some sleep.
You’ll need it tomorrow.” She sighs.
Frosty was tired of his old carrot nose
And that it drooped down daily when it froze
He replaced it with a pen
But too soon it leaked and then,
He was covered in blue to his elbows
Jack Frost wanted to have a hot pink drink
Not worried it may make the snowflakes stink
He downed a hot toddy,
Left him feeling shoddy
Snowflakes are now falling tiny and pink
The Christmas elf wanted to try to sing
But his voice could only jingle and ping
He threw himself down,
His voice made no sound
He could only make his jingle bells ring
As a young four- to five-year-old child,
My wish to meet ghosts grew eerie and wild.
We lived a mile from a riverbed’s shore,
Where tales of witches and spirits galore,
Roamed through the night in the darkness, compiled.
By day, vultures circled in the sky,
Snatching at food, as they swooped low and high.
I heard they sometimes took children away,
But the fear of ghosts at night held more sway,
The thought of their presence made me ask why.
On full moon nights, tales would come alive,
Ghosts on palm trees when the clock struck five.
I stayed awake, my eyes wide with dread,
Saw moonlit figures with drinks overhead,
A toddy beer fest where spirits would thrive.
Still curious, I watched the mirror late,
Hoping to glimpse a ghostly figure's fate.
For months I waited till sleep took its toll,
Then shrieked one night as fear grabbed my soul,
I fainted, convinced by what I did state.
When I awoke, I told them my fright,
I’d seen the ghost appear in the night.
By morning the mirror was taken away,
With neem and salt for ghosts in dismay—
Yet, deep in my heart, the fear still took flight.
Never a Marxist
I didn’t like Groucho
And though I read Spanish
forget Sancho Panza
I was a big Lenin fan
John, not Vlady --
who loved a hot-toddy
when courting a ‘la-dy’
Today my likes and dislikes
blow hot and cold
which is likely to happen
when your blood runs old
Seems like he is Bholu from my village,
He used to come every morning to fetch Neera(Palm Toddy) from the Taad(palm) tree,
He would tie ends of his anklets with a little rope.
and we would watch him go up the peak, wield his hatchet to get the extract from the inflorescence of the tree.
Down below, all the adults were ready with their pots,
Its the nature's bounty and morning's first kick with a few pennies to Bholu as tip,
Everyone bragged about the health benefits of Neera,
We little boys had no luck, we just watched Bholu's tree climbing skill.
Looks like Bholu has aged little bit and has grown wise and smart,
Now he carries his laptop along with his hatchet when he goes up the tree,
For years he was exploited, and he remained penny less,
Now he can make some money by looking up the Neera index on Bombay commodity stock exchange.
Now he goes half way up the tree,
scans the price of Neera on the world wide web,
If the price is high, Neera is served outright,
If the price is low, he would rather wait and look at the exciting Bollywood babes.
Early morning, the coconut tree climber came to our garden,
He would tether his ankles with rope, and climb up the tall tree,
He will make some dents on tree at top, and extract the sap,
The sap, “Neera”, would be saintly healthy drink first,
After a few hours it would become toddy beer for adults.
For religious minds, coconut is offered in every Hindu ritual,
Birthdays, prayers, weddings, christening of cars to aircrafts,
A coconut must be broken as a good omen,
The coconut water and nuts can be very appetizing,
Coconut oil is a good sunscreen, you can even use it as cooking oil.
Daisy Daisy give me your answer do, said he
"I can't cuz I got de flu" she sniffled then blew
Daisy Daisy you know I love you
she plucked at the petals, then counted, recounted with rue
Daisy daisy won't you finally, say I do ?
" I'd like to, I want to but, Achew!
Daisy Daisy whats up with you ?
I got a cold and I don't know what to do !
Hot Toddy Hot lovin'.... he gave her, that night
then he loved her and kissed her, with all of his might !
The next day she knelt on one knee and did ask,
"oh Pippin oh Pippin won't you marry me"
I can't love I'm sickie, not now love, Tee Hee.
In the meantime, the ring was attached to a daisy,
of course he'd marry her, she drove him half crazy !!!
"All a man really wants, is a girl who looks good in a bikini." - Jack Freestone
All a girl wants is a man who looks amazing in a tiny suit
one that will make her heart race when he flexes his glutes
one who comes charging down the beach on a white horse
and swoops her in his big strong arms, without any force
All a girl wants is a good looking man with a sexy strut
one with crazy thunder thighs and trunks that plunge n' cut
one that will place tanning lotion all over her warm body
and make her purr like a kitten after drinking hot toddy
All a girl wants is a swimsuit God who is named Bolt Upright
it has to fit him almost right,... but just a wee bit tight
one who can save her if she's about to drown at sea
and give her mouth to mouth on bended knee.
"All a girl really wants, is a man who looks good in a bikini" - Yummy !
I shall enjoy the quiet of this Christmas Eve
Reminiscing about Christmases past,
Thinking about a lost love that will cleave
The heart, but memories do last and last.
Remembering those most treasured moments
I shall relish the solitude of this Christmas Eve
For tomorrow the danger of a war foments
And some young soldiers must take their leave.
Listening to soft carol sounds, I shall grieve
While sipping a hot toddy of brandy and cider
There shall be blessed quietness this Christmas Eve
But I’ll be wishing I were sitting here beside her.
It’s not likely I’ll be interrupted in my solace
Friends and family will have taken their leave
Preparations for Christmas were quite aweless
I shall treasure the peace of this Christmas Eve.
Written November 12, 2022
submitted to "November or December Quatrain" Poetry Contest
sponsored by Caren Krutsinger
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