Not too very far from here,
a balloon rose to the stratosphere.
She could see all around -
her disappearing little town.
Beside her, a small dog yapped,
wondering if her mind had snapped.
She'd recreate the voyage Dorothy took.
Why, she'd be famous and write a book!
I wonder if you would agree,
that's an unusual way to get a PhD.
Categories:
yapped, film, humor,
Form: Rhyme
Oscar was a little white canine
Cocker spaniel was in his bloodline
He was such a good dog
Even played with a frog
He was like a heartfelt valentine
Oscar wasn’t like his little brother
Who yapped constantly to their mother
He wasn’t such a good boy
He stole sweet Oscar’s toy
Eager to be one all would smother
Oscar was amusing, such a hoot
Bacon or burger he wouldn’t dispute
He became so chunky
Just like a food junkie
Tried to put him on a fare of fruit
Oscar wasn’t always the silent sort
In large crowds, he became my escort
It’s old news – his bark
Was the life of the park
Where he’d always find time to consort
Oscar was more than just a cute dog
He stuck with me through snow, rain and smog
More loved than I can say
Twas’ with me all the way
He was smarter than the best sheepdog
Children's Limericks Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Eve Roper
November 23, 2022
Categories:
yapped, children, dog, nursery rhyme,
Form: Limerick
Summer deals its first hand
no bluffing behind her eyes
depression heated to irritating comfortless
catching tunes upon the air
that haunt from summered pasts
the clink of ice on crystal
Mowers scream from close by
a yapped chorus bites the air
the haze lifting from cement
for a moment ripples reality
then a falling wind chills
with the burning shadows
of anything stopping the sun's stretch
Categories:
yapped, poetry,
Form: Free verse
When the world was youthful
spiderwebs sang as they were spun.
Language was woven in the air
as accents of winds and trees
conveyed by an eloquent sky.
Untrammeled meadows annunciated
upon the lips of dens and burrows
scooped by shrew, mole, and vole.
Fresh bathed daisies signed a speech
as they swayed,
buttercups birthed calligraphy’s of sunlight.
Giddy rills gave voice to fritillaries
that flew to the sun or moon.
Words were idioms painted upon
the melodious leafage
of the up-risen and rising.
Then that shaggy brat
the primordial ape it grunted forth,
translating its gripey gut
through the clack of a creaky tongue.
Guttural and gregarious
it learned to babble and
belch an oral discordance.
It yapped and yawped,
yawped and yapped
until a spoken language
verbosely pivoted to prolix
polluting the very airy air.
Then it was
that a nascent poet boldly stood
rhyming would with could
until even the dumbest of his tribe
understood
and cheered him fit to bust
while the green grown world
with all its idiomatic kin
lost the will to express
as before
for the fluent earth again.
Categories:
yapped, poetry,
Form: Free verse
When we were young, we'd freely roam
While supervision stayed at home.
We played the seasons' major sports
On vacant lots and playground courts.
No tryouts or permission slips.
No uniforms or coaching tips.
No judges, umpires, referees,
Or grownups whom we had to please.
Whoever came could join right in.
We'd choose the teams and then begin.
No clock was used to time the game.
We played until the darkness came.
We mended balls and broken bats
And yapped and scrapped like dogs and cats.
In worn-out shoes, we'd all day run
And tanned by sun with friends have fun.
Together we would strategize
And future glory fantasize.
With candy bars as fuel we'd play
And straggle home at end of day.
We taught ourselves what's right and wrong
And how to play and get along.
We sought no trophies nor acclaim,
But played because we loved the game.
The regimented kids today
Obey whatever coaches say.
They sadly do not know how free
A game among themselves can be.
Categories:
yapped, freedom, friendship, games, history,
Form: Quatrain
A Hybrid Dog
At first, my dog seemed normal to me
Doing the things that dogs do
Then he started signaling for turns
And stopping for red lights, too
There came a time when he wouldn’t poop
Like anyone else, he missed ‘em
A trip to the local mechanic revealed
A clogged emission system
Then whenever it started to rain
He started acting real hyper
So I took him to the auto parts store
And fit him out with a wiper
Whenever a stranger came to the door
He yapped as you’d assume
But soon he stopped his barking
And started to go ‘VROOOM”
Things went smoothly for a while
He did nothing for which I was sorry
Until I caught him at the curb
Trying to hump a Ferrari
Yesterday, he lapped up some gasoline
At the station yesterday
He ran in circles real crazy,
Then sprinted like mad away
He ran for no more than a block
Then keeled over, I feared he was dead
But no reason at all to be alarmed
He just ran out of gas instead
I love my dog without condition
No matter what it requires
He’ll always have a home with me
Until his warranty expires
Categories:
yapped, animal, children, funny,
Form: Rhyme
A Haibun
I tell you no one wanted that car. We kept it parked in the driveway for years while we made payments on Saturns and bought Subarus and Hondas and tried to ignore it. Meanwhile, I would drive it once a week to Trader Joe's or the Beaverton Library.
driver's door opens
chains pulled across pipes
runs great, good mileage
I tried to donate it (only had about 102,000 miles). I called all the charities that take old cars (United Way, Cancer Research, even Kars4Kids) but upon hearing it was a 1989 Ford Festiva with a key jammed in the ignition refused to consider it.
I finally had to call a junk dealer who offered us a $100, and who came with a big smile and a ruddy, little Pomeranian
that waited obediently to one side while he hoisted the car up on his wrecker.
The dog yapped all the while but seemed happy. She made me smile, and my heart bubbled a little.
just as Samantha
began licking my fingers
five 20's changed hands
Published Contemporary Haibun Online
Categories:
yapped, car, dog, humor,
Form: Haibun
My Saddest Day(A Dog Gone Tableau)
I Had to leave him
(though he yapped and whined)
at the adoption drop off,
(I still loved him so)
with folks that I'd entrusted
(he was my dear friend)
with his safe keeping.
(He'd turned old and blind)
His mournful howl followed me
(when we let him go.)
as i exited the door
(How can my heart mend?)
My two poems for the Intermingle Contest of Craig Cornish:
My Saddest Day, written a while earlier than actually posted on 9/21/2014
& A Dog Gone Tableau, posted 10/17/2014 a few days after I wrote it.
By Andrea Dietrich
(The idea for what to use was inspired by my wonderful friend, Harry Horsman)
Categories:
yapped, dog, lost love,
Form: Verse
“You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed.”
from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince
Though he yapped and whined,
I still loved him so.
He was my dear friend.
He'd turned old and blind
when we let him go.
How can my heart mend?
Written 10/15/14 by Andrea Dietrich
For the Design Your Tableau Contest of nette onclaud
Categories:
yapped, age, dog, friend,
Form: Verse
The train was packed; I had a seat.
I read my magazine.
The car was fairly quiet,
Though you’d never say serene.
Still, I was in the middle of
A story quite engrossing,
When someone with the biggest mouth
Began with his verbosing.
He made up songs with lyrics lame
And he was so annoying
That every sentence that I read
Turned bothersome and cloying.
I couldn’t tune him out and then
Of course, he asked for money,
Apologizing to the folks
Who didn’t find him funny.
I wish someone had shut him up
But on and on he yapped.
He had the perfect audience –
For all of us were trapped.
Categories:
yapped, people, urban,
Form: Rhyme
Recollections of a Pekingese
Remembering she loved me so.
Alone and frightened in that shop,
Hidden like a gerbil, laying low.
While wishing someone kind would stop.
I barked and yapped when she came near.
Because I knew she'd loved me so.
With sparkle eyes, she held me dear.
And took me home where I did grow.
Protecting her when we would go.
While in her lap, I’d bark and yap.
We lived because she loved me so.
And thus it was ‘til death did tap.
I watch from heaven up above.
And shield her from life’s dreadful woe,
Two spirits fitting like one glove.
Remembering she loved me so.
© Dane Smith-Johnsen
April 18, 2010
Categories:
yapped, animalsme, me,
Form: Quatrain