Category Archives: light verse
Blue Monday: Rocket Ship
Mural in Artists Alley, Ajo, Arizona
My rocket ship is blasting off—
Won’t you come with me?
We’ll sail a million miles or more
Through a starry sea,
Where deep within the Milky Way
Weird fish blink and gleam,
And fishers tell the strangest tales
As they wait and dream.
Photo and poem © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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The Fifty-Year Reunion
The fifty-year reunion
Was a time of deepest grief—
Some classmates couldn’t make it,
For they’d fallen like a leaf.
But others showed up eager
To shake hands and flash a smile
At classmates they had not seen
For more than quite a while.
Their talk was small and aimless,
And some people would not say
What was really on their minds—
Didn’t matter anyway,
For at the stroke of midnight
All the oldsters shuffled out,
Relieved the farce was over:
Nothing to write home about.
Blue Monday: Doormat
Doormat at the entrance to my classroom, Yuma County, Arizona
The doormat’s getting gritty,
It’s time to take a broom,
And sweep away the sand grains
Before they trash the room.
I like to have a classroom
That’s free of grit and sand,
A place that welcomes students—
At least, that’s what I’ve planned!
Photo and poem © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
Blue Monday: Bag
Discarded plastic bag, Yuma County, Arizona
A bag that was snagged in the sand
Polluted this beautiful land.
’Twas not the bag’s fault,
But that of the dolt
Who tossed it aside with his hand.
Photo and limerick © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
No Respect for Borders
Warning sign at a rest area on Interstate 8, Yuma County, Arizona
They’ve no respect for borders,
The birds and snakes and bees;
They slither and they flutter
Whichever way they please.
If humans dare to challenge
The courses creatures take,
They heed their inner compass,
Thus making no mistake.
Photo and poem © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Respect”
Respect
Robert J. Moody Demonstration Garden, Yuma, Arizona
I have respect (the gardener says)
For beans and flowers and trees.
In wonder I kneel before living things—
I’ve nearly worn out my knees.
Even for weeds I have great respect.
(A weed’s a plant out of place).
You have to admire their tenacity—
They’re older than all our race.
But most of all, it’s stones I esteem;
They’re stalwart and brave and true,
Imparting their wisdom to those who care—
I’m one of those people, are you?
Photo and poem © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Macro Monday 2
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Respect”
Blue Monday: Gears
Detail from a mural, Prescott Public Library, Prescott, Arizona
Round and round and round they go,
Sometimes fast and sometimes slow.
Gears are turning here and there,
Gears are turning everywhere!
They can turn a Ferris wheel,
They can turn a shaft of steel;
They can make Big Ben run true,
Raise and lower great locks too.
Gears are turning here and there,
Gears are turning everywhere;
Made to grind, but not to blast,
Gears can move both slow and fast.
Photo and poem © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
Blue Monday: Flower
Blue flower: detail of a decorative wreath for sale in a New Mexico gift shop
Flower of cloth with petals of blue,
It never pains me to look at you.
The more I look, the better I feel.
My life must be on an even keel.
Photo and poem © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
Flood
Detail of a carpet in a church in Wellton, Arizona
If a mighty flood should come,
Sweeping through the church’s doors,
Carpets would be overwhelmed
As would all the parquet floors.
When the mighty flood subsides,
Just as in the Bible lore,
There will come an olive branch
From the One who makes waves roar.
Photo and poem © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Macro Monday 2
More Ruby Tuesday Too
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Flood”
Blue Monday: Beware
Warning sign at a rest area on Interstate 8, Southern Arizona
Watch out for the critters that like to take bites
From parts of your body on dark desert nights!
Watch out for the rattlers and scorpions too,
Because if you’re bitten, we’ll surely miss you!
Photo and poem © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
