Sometimes an obituary
Adds some background fact
That brings laughter, not the way
You’d think a reader would react.
Tom Shipley’s obit clarified
That he was feeling fine,
Perhaps a bit too much, when we went
One toke past the line.
A friend gave him some weed to smoke
Backstage between two sets
And warned him more than just two hits
Might cause him some regrets.
He didn’t listen, spurring him
To state the way he felt,
Yet a song was born resulting from
The hand that he was dealt.
What cracked me up, though, was to learn
Some clean-cut duo sang
That song on Lawrence Welk’s show;
Unfamiliar with the slang
Of the drug world, Welk declared
“A modern spiritual” was heard
Because within the toke line, to
“Sweet Jesus” was referred.
I wonder now if Lawrence Welk,
So strait-laced way back then,
Ever learned what he endorsed
And why folks shouted out, “Amen!”
The mellow sounds
of Lawrence Welk
are gone,
Guy Lombardo, too.
I remember when
Johnny Mercer
wrote the hits
and Dinah Shore
sang them true.
Do these names
mean nothing
to you…perhaps
The Beatles are
your cup of tea?
Then think, my friend,
and be not dismayed
for you are nearly
as old as me!
Written July 15, 2021
Serutan was a laxative sold many years ago.
Ask me where it went, I will say "I don't know".
This fiber-type product reached great popularity.
Read the name backwards, and "natures" is what you see.
Commercials for Serutan appeared on television and radio.
They sponsored Major Bowes and the Lawrence Welk Show.
This product is now considered a thing of the past.
It proves the most popular things don't always last.
I thank wikipedia.org for information I obtained to write this poem
1964, Saturday night, 7 p.m.
Mom has prepared meatloaf, scalloped corn and baked potatoes.
We are okay with this, sitting behind our TV trays
In the living room, waiting for Lawrence Welk to come on
Surrounded by wallpaper of giant green philodendron vines.
We are impatiently waiting for our favorite TV show.
So we can see the fabulous Lennon Sisters.
We have their paper dolls, don’t we?
“And now a word from our sponsor”.
But it is more than one word.
It is “see the USA in a Chevrolet”
and then it is “Plop Plop Fizz Fizz Oh What a Relief it is!”
Suddenly a Spaghettio commercial comes on.
“Mom! Can we have Spaghettios next Saturday?”
We say this in unison, not understanding
We just insulted the dinner she had spent an hour preparing.
2. Aria
Twain kindred souls start slow and reunite,
Same as lovers who split and then made up,
Though, twas a mere slow dance, a Pavane,
Taming a dance floor with their passive feet,
As Faure's piece fades, delayed music mix,
Next, a minuet by Beethoven in G Major, No 2,
Couples one hand clasped together both leads,
Men's other handheld scepters extend outward,
While the ladies other handholds to their dresses,
As the tipsy tune plays like a Lawrence Welk Show.
Now a livelier pace quickens hearts and dancers alike,
For it is a waltz by Johann Strauss' Acceleration Waltz,
Stimulates even barstool occupant whose head swoon,
An ever do-nothing lethargic will enable them to move,
One-step two-step then turn and bow to your partners.
Lovers exchange worshipping lips more than small kisses,
As the orchestra prepares for their tune, rather off-tuned,
Nonetheless, a number by Puccini's Nessum Dorma sung,
Magically, breaths held, as his name was just announced,
The virtuoso, Luciano Pavarotti will sing that famous aria.
2020 January 11
Walk with me, hand in hand.
Welk up the tears, O my friend!
Wack! Don’t shy away, one day your foes too will commend.
Don’t Balk to share your pain, give yourself a chance to amend.
Bilk the defeat! Rest assured, the surges will wend.
Get back! I want you to be the legend.
Pack your defeat and take on the world with confidence.
Get up! Your sorrows I will pluck, vows your lady luck.
words: walk-welk-wack-balk-bilk-back-pack-luck
1/3/2019
Word Morph Poem Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Jesse Rowe
Some days I drift back to smoother times
when we used to scurry
through the streets with a clearer mind
we had no worries
See our elders showed us a better way
it was no killing, we used to box
so we could laugh and talk about the yesterday
while pitching rocks
On the tracks on the way to the Plunge
and my uncle used to school us on game
I soaked it up like a sponge
And for fun I watched the tube
with my moms old bird
she gave me that grandma love
and used to bless me with them old words
My granny was so dear to me
and specials how I felt
when she broke out the cornstarch sticks
and we ate them watchin' Lawrence Welk
I grew up feelin' like an only child
and through my tears and smiles
my moms and granny were my true pals
They held me down when life done me bad
some days sad some glad
it wasn't a combination tighter than the one we had
I look back on those fun days
I see my granny and moms in my daughters eyes
and I know that one day
We will all be together
we have a connection that nothin' can sever
It's one love forever
GRANDPA’S REVENGE
I see him sitting by the radio
Ears cupped to hear the score
Won’t wear his hearing aid,
Says he doesn’t need it any more
Grandma’s watching television
(Lawrence Welk is on tonight)
They argued every Sunday
But he never won this fight!
The Yankees were in the playoffs
Grandpa pleaded to no avail
He even tried to bribe her
But Grandma would always prevail
She loved the Champagne Lady
And all the bubbles shimmering down
And the lovely voice she had
And, of course, the beautiful gown
Then, Grandpa would turn the volume up
So the Umpire could be heard
And Grandma would start to shout
That she couldn’t hear a word!
They argued over everything
Food…politics…wine
Yet in retrospect I can see
Their marriage was really fine
Grandma was inconsolable
For months after Grandpa died
She never left the house again
She just sat inside and cried
But I knew Grandpa had the last word
And things would never be the same
The day that I found Grandma
Watching the Yankee Game!
Copyright(c) Beatrice Boyle
(All rights reserved)
It was unusually cold about this time of year
30 degrees in the late summer beaches
Snow was falling
Angels of white were doing the tango on the sea waves
Whilst I danced on a fluffy little snow flake
Being of Age but not feeling bitter or utter rage
I wanted to compete with the temperature's below normal feet
Margot and I did the waltz until 5
The music in our minds was playing THE BEE GEES' STAYIN ALIVE
Cold hands
warm melody
Lawrence Welk is watching us from the amphitheater on high
Boogie down with this jive flake that I have found
We should be swimming
But I will take the winter dancing on until..
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