Snickers candy bar wrappers
three gel pens
respirator
daily pills
notebooks
thesaurus
supplements
magnifying glass
pink erasers
snow boot
one mitten
eye mask
birthday card from May
things on my end table on September twenty-fourth
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
behind each numbered door,
a secret~
chocolate coins
wrapped in foil,
a cinnamon bear
stiff with sugar,
a marzipan pig
snout-deep in glitter.
the rituals are precise~
peel back the perforation,
let your finger
claim the prize.
(But never peek ahead.)
by the twenty-fourth,
the grid is gutted~
a hollow cathedral
of empty windows,
where only the memory
of sweetness lingers
like tinsel.
Mark Carney:
A smart, gifted man and that's no blarney!
Politically speaking, he was on the perimeter,
but now he's Canada's twenty-fourth Prime Minister.
It was December twenty-fourth
when Rudolf went on a bender.
This red-nosed hero from the north,
a lousy driver, drink did render.
He went out on a tear
and rammed into Blitzen's fender.
Santa was in despair
Rudy broke his leg, needed a public defender.
Rudolf's gal said she'd guide the sleigh,
though she was another gender.
Now, Saint Nick was on his way,
when Rudolf, he did lend her.
It should have said St John’s - with that apostrophe!
So many omit the little mark.
How could they, when its presence or absence
gives us one meaning or the other?
A tenant within these apartments
who is a mysterious lady,
placed the absent apostrophe on that poster,
kept this nighttime act a secret, and crept away.
St John was a saint we remember,
on the twenty-fourth of June:
it’s St John’s Day.
And this little mark marks that.
Without this modest mark, this little apostrophe,
we have a plural, not a possessive.
So how many Johns were there?
Or are these apartments named
after just the one John, as we’re told -
the one that has that little apostrophe?
Often do I wonder who
the mysterious tenant is, the one
who posts missing apostrophes.
(3 Sep 2024)
Teresa of Ávila
Dreamt the passion of God.
A physical fire
Burned an image of his power.
An image I envisioned was one so dull
Full of pain
A nightmare stabbing my mind's eye.
A frail image of my mother
Some quivering voice I remember
In my dimension of inception
That my mother was at her end.
A disruptive anxiety burdens a peace
But that day, it was at bay.
Paralysed by a hidden sight that I couldn't bear
Petrified by a dream, one that was so rare.
This despicable numbness I endure
Sympathises the fools of fiction.
As reality shapes its needle
To fill with its anaesthesia of truth
And inject into those who walk in wonder.
Today, I trudged through that trail
Of some twenty-fourth year
My Lucky Strike ablaze
And my hands on the balcony window.
Experiencing no sore throat
That I remembered from youth,
Only a deep sensation of numbed limbs
Suffering this cold spring night.
Even the cigarette wasn't fazed
Of the wind’s devouring passion
Blowing its burning ashes.
It was the twenty fourth of December nineteen fourteen.
Troops were English, French & Belgians, a bloody war was the scene.
A sound was coming from the German enemy line.
German soldiers were approaching on that day and singing in voices fine.
A cry of “Merry Christmas” from the German solders who were advancing quick.
They all looked so jovial, it didn’t seem to be a trick.
For a short time, all were comrades not one bit afraid for their lives at all.
There was laughing and joking, and they all joined in singing by night fall.
Seemed all men were the same, didn’t matter which uniform they wore.
How extraordinary, enemies singing together a carol in the middle of a war.
By morning gifts of cake, smokes and clothes were exchanged by each side.
A truce that should be an example of what we humans really have inside.
A true show, that men aren’t killing machines, everyone, a husband or a son.
A true Christmas Miracle from the bloody chapters of World War One.
This is just an ordinary midnight
Before i knew that today is your day
A day to thank God for you were born right
Because by that i got to cross your way.
In this twenty fourth day of november
I wish you all the best my only one
And for the next years to come remember
I will always love you much as i can.
As days will pass to count another year
With new things to do, new people to meet
I may not be there but in my heart dear
You are with me making my heart's fast beats.
Im thankful for a year again He gave
I love you so much. Happy birthday babe.
Wednesday, August twenty-fourth, 2022
One day, while I was sitting,
biting my nails,
I had a silly thought,
So I got out my phone
and I asked if you wanted to make a paper airplane
You said “sure,
why not?”
So we got our papers together
and laughed for an hour before we actually got to work.
I told you about my home
upon green mountains
deep in the south
and how we fold airplanes where I come from
and in turn, you brought cookies,
but you called them biscuits.
And when we finished
our airplane didn’t look like everyone else’s
it won't win any prizes
or change any lives.
But we made it together,
we laughed and smiled the whole time.
It’s beautiful
and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.
Even if that means it won't really fly.
You shouldn’t have been sacked
So I’m glad that we could meet
I think I’ve got it cracked
Won’t you please take a seat
You cannot be dismissed
Just because your boss is vexed
For if you work one Christmas
Then you shouldn’t work the next
December twenty-fourth and fifth
Just two days off this year
That’s called unfair dismissal
And we can help you here
I’d say we have a case
For it’s against employment laws
So let’s take down some details
What’s your first name Mr Claus?
The snow is gently drifting down,
Not like two days ago,
When it was blowing sideways,
In a heavy dump of snow.
All the snow had melted.
The birds are coming back.
The flowers just now breaking ground,
And this dumps in our lap.
My lilies were up almost a foot.
Now they're laying flat.
I put some paper over them,
Hoping they'll come back.
The paper bags I used were large.
I made for them a tent.
I propped them up and prayed for them.
Poor things were limp and bent.
It's now April twenty-fourth,
And snow is drifting down,
Covering trees and flower beds,\
And blanketing the ground.
The weather man said we'd have rain.
We got cold wet snow.
Guess when Alberta is your home,
You just go with the flow.
LIFE IS GREAT,
FANTASTIC,
INCREDIBLE,
AND,
AT TIMES,
UNBELIEVABLE.
PLEASE,
ALLOW ME,
TO REMIND YOU,
IMAGINATION,
IS ESSENTIAL,
TO UNLEASH,
YOUR FULL POTENTIAL.
AS WE PREPARE,
OURSELVES,
TO CLOSE THE BOOK,
ON THE YEAR,
TWENTY TWENTY,
ON THIS,
THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY
IN THE MERRY MONTH
OF DECEMBER.
LET US,
CELEBRATE LIFE,
AS WE,
MOVE FORWARD,
AND PLEASE,
ALLOW ME,
TO RESERVE THIS MOMENT,
IN TIME,
TO WISH YOU,
AND YOUR LOVED ONES,
AND THE ONES,
WHO CARE ABOUT YOU,
THE MOST,
A YEAR
FILLED WITH
AND SURROUNDED BY
LOVING
CARING
UNDERSTANDING
PEOPLE
PETS
AND PLANTS.
HAPPY NEW YEAR !
Michael E. Harris
12242020
This poem
Inspired by Visila
who reminds us ALL
how important we are to life.
MERRY CHRISTMAS my little Darling.
S-urpass in excellence,
H-ear the words of wisdom;
E-agerly learn the lesson
I-n reaching God's kingdom.
E-arnestly surpass in excellence,
S-how your ability;
C-apable of bettering your own,
A-im to taste the victory.
C-ome surpass in excellence,
A-s you gain the knowledge;
S-eek the voice of truth,
T-urn not a deaf ear to message.
R-each the best finish, using your intelligence;
O-n the twenty-fourth of September, surpass in excellence.
S-unshine in the sky
H-as begun to slowly rise:
E-vening shadows disappear,
R-ainfall passes from eyes.
Y-our life and your heart are both bathed with sunshine;
L-et your mind think of mirth, let your soul feel so fine.
A-fter the twilight is gone,
G-ray clouds do not gather;
U-nkind clime hasn't happened
I-n twenty-fourth October.
L-anes in the blue heaven
A-re wide and clear up high;
N-ever ignore the warmth of the sunshine in the sky.
M-arch twenty-fourth Friday
A-ims to spread the news;
L-et the burning beacon
O-pen your birthday's
U-se.
B-eautiful morning light
E-ndorses a fine weather;
R-ugged wind with chill
I-s beginning to get better.
S-hadows pass you by, dusk comes to an end;
O-ne night has expired, sun starts to ascend.
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