Category Archives: light verse
Retreat
The stone hogan, at Hubbell Trading Post, Ganado, Arizona often serves as a retreat for artists.
This little retreat’s made of stone,
A great place for being alone
And working on art.
You’re ready to start?
Good! Make sure you turn off your phone!
Photo and limerick © by Magical Mystical Teacher
When I Forgot My Morning Smile
When I forgot my morning smile, the fish reminded me
That every river wants to rush headlong into the sea.
When blackbirds carried messages beyond the barnyard fence,
Five famous people came to see—they paid but seven pence.
If shuffling gets me to my goal, I’ll shuffle day and night,
But barefoot I will have to go—my boots are much too tight!
Remember on the day I die: No wailing is allowed!
Now promise me that buttonholes will decorate my shroud.
Poem © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
Nonsense to Celebrate Daylight Saving Time
Water spilling from a cup—
Will you help me wipe it up?
Grass is crying in the rain—
Watch out now, here comes a train!
Throw the broken plate away,
And then ask your friend to play.
Sing and sway, don’t rock the boat!
Just remember: Stones can’t float!
Poem © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
Looking for My Mind
I keep looking for my mind, but looking is hard work.
Some folks watching me, I’m sure, consider me a jerk.
If I could find my rightful mind, maybe I could play,
Be lighthearted once again, and laugh the livelong day.
But finding minds ain’t easy; and mine’s been lost so long,
It would take a miracle to right this bitter wrong.
Poem © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Weekly Scribblings #59 at Poets and Storytellers United: “I’m looking for a mind at work”
Jump-rope Rhymes: Pulling Punches
Pulling punches,
fixing lunches—
something has to give!
Having hunches
and long brunches—
what a way to live!
See, she scrunches
as she munches
carrots from a sieve!
Plant some runches,
harvest bunches—
don’t forget your shiv!
Poem © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Weekly Scribblings #56 at Poets and Storytellers United
Convoluted Kinships
I don’t want to be my mother,
I don’t want to be my dad;
Maybe I will be the brother
To the sis I never had.
Convoluted kinships? Got ’em!
You can tell my life’s a mess,
Just about to hit rock bottom—
’Cause I’m not my mom, I guess!
Poem © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Weekly Scribblings #55 at Poets and Storytellers United
The Kill
The stump of a tooth was tethered to stars.
At five till midnight three men puffed cigars.
One of them lathered his whiskery chin,
Using a brush soaked in whisky and gin.
One plowed through the soil, one raised a harpoon,
Hurling it carefully right at the moon.
The moon with a sigh crashed into the sea;
Monstrous waves followed and splintered the quay.
Once he’d accomplished this feat of great skill,
The harpooner bragged of making a kill,
A kill so complete the moon shines no more,
Except when wild women dance on the shore.
Poem © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More The Whirligig #301
More Writers’ Pantry #48 at Poets and Storytellers United
More The Whirligig #301
More Writers’ Pantry #48 at Poets and Storytellers United
It’s All in the Bones
First there was this:
fingers framed by light
clutching an old rosary
carved of human bone
And now there is this:
My rosary isn’t mere stones.
It’s carved out of various bones:
Bones of a lizard!
Bones of a wizard!
In some darkling way it atones.
Poems © 2020 by Magical Mystical Teacher
A Is for Aardvark
A is for aardvark, and also for ass—
The donkey disporting itself in the grass.
You’ll also need A for apple and apt,
For azure, anointing—alas, not for sapped.
Keep those A’s handy, you’ll use them, I’m sure:
Aroma, armada, anoint, and allure.
Whatever you do, don’t stop your A’s now:
Spell African, aching, along, and allow;
Amber, anathema, alley, antique—
You’ve enough A’s now to last for a week!
A few more won’t hurt, so try out afar,
Anacoluthon and asp—not cigar.
And while you are at it, use more A’s, my child:
Aspersion, assembly, afflicted, and aisled.
Had enough yet? Oh, I think you have not!
Try ample, ambiguous, Alice and aught,
Along with androgyny, ample and Anne;
Acrid and acid, but not Candy Man.
Antique and Antigua are not the same,
So both of them are allowed in this game,
There’s nothing about you untoward or unstable,
So keep writing A-words as long as you’re able!
Poem © 2020 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Weekly Scribblings #49 at Poets and Storytellers United
More Writers’ Pantry #50 at Poets and Storytellers United
More Weekly Scribblings #49 at Poets and Storytellers United
More Writers’ Pantry #50 at Poets and Storytellers United
