[Allen Tice]

So much goodness! My young person’s guide to everything would have to include this one from Duncan that I like so much it deserves another gallop. This is a thread to keep.

“And here's a lovely haiku by Michael Dylan Welch:

children's
book
sh
elves”

[Jayne Osborn]

"Why I" is the standard greeting in County Durham, in the North of England, for reasons I've never been able to fathom. It's nice though.

(Post #23)

Oopsy!!! I have to correct you again, John, sorry. "Geordies" and other UK north-easteners don't say "Why I"; it's actually Wey-Aye: An emphatic exclamation of reply meaning “Well Yes, of course!” occasionally coupled with the word ‘man’ as in the perceived archetypal Geordie phrase “Wey-Aye Man” that is most often overused by novice Geordie imitators.

(... and I won't even begin to explain the difference between Geordies, Northumbrians, Mackems ... and Smoggies! )

Jayne

[Matt Q]

Here's another haiku by Michael Dylan Welch:

baby
car
i
age

[Mark McDonnell]

I've always really loved this, which Alexander Pope had engraved on the collar of a puppy that he gave to the Prince of Wales.

"I am his highness’s dog at Kew;
Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?”

[Jack Land]

deleted Oct 2022

[Jim Moonan]

.
It goes unnoticed most of the time; a poem — maybe a sonnet, sometimes a longer one —where a nugget of a short poem is nested. And sometimes the best song lyrics can be broken into short poems that effectively bridge the gap between lyrics and poetry. Like this one:


Well, you should see Polythene Pam
She's so good-looking, but she looks like a man
Well, you should see her in drag dressed in her polythene bag
Yes, you should see Polythene Pam
Yeah, yeah, yeah


Polythene Pam, John Lennon


.

[Bruce McBirney]

Damian, here is another old Eratosphere thread on "Very Short Poems" from 2003:

https://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showthread.php?t=488

(Different thread from the one Julie posted a link to.)

Here's one that's pretty short.


ELEGY

Who would I show it to

--W.S. Merwin

[Orwn Acra]

Small Song

The reeds give
way to the

wind and give
the wind away

[Damian Balassone]

Thanks to everyone for all the excellent suggestions. I have some work to do. A couple of quick points:

Owrn, I already have some Ammons in there (Their Sex Life) but I really like "Small Song".

Bruce and Julie, thanks for the links to those other threads. This will be fun.

Good point re lyrics Jim. I actually contemplated adding some lyrics, but didn't know where to draw the line. And speaking of that Beatles medley, Paul's couplet at the end of 'The End'

And in the end the love you take
Is equal to the love you make

was just about the perfect way to end the Beatles era. I know John Lennon was actually very fond of those Paul lyrics too.

[Max Goodman]

John Ciardi:

There was a young man with a rod
Who thought he'd been chosen by G-d
To excercise Hell
From the girls. He meant well,
But the thunder said: "Exorcise--clod!"


I feel sorry for young Dr. Dow.
Our ladies won't go to him now.
When examining the parts
Of Mrs. Ray Hartz
He should have said "Hmmm" and not "Wow!"


On the talk show last night, Dr. Ellis
The sex shrink, took two hours to tell us
It's alright to enjoy
A rosy-cheeked boy
So long as your sheep don't get jealous.


Said Sophocles, putting his X
To the contract for Oedipus Rex,
"I predict it will run
Until the Year One,
If the shooting script plays up the sex."


There was a young lady from Putney
Who was given to sexual gluttony.
Warned a pious old duffer,
"Your morals will suffer."
"That's what you think," she said, "I ain't gutney."


There was a young lady named Laura
Whom the mere thought of sex filled with haura.
You may think it de trop,
But I want you to know
That the pope and his crowd were all faura.

***

Frank Richards:

FIRST FLIGHT
Said Wilbur Wright, "Oh, this is grand,
But Orville, you must understand.
We've discovered all right
The secret of flight;
The question is, how do we land?"


In Pinter's new play that's now running,
Our Harold's lost none of his cunning.
Throughout the three acts,
We hear just four facts,
But the pauses between are quite stunning.


Poor Ophelia sighed: "I deplore
The fact that young Hamlet's a bore.
He just talks to himself;
I'll be left on the shelf,
Or go mad by the end of Act IV."

***

Ogden Nash:

There once was an umpire whose vision
Was cause for abuse and derision.
He remarked with surprise,
Why pick on my eyes?
It's my heart that dictates my decision.

***

Cyril Bibby:

There once was a maiden of Arden
Who thought, as she lay in the garden,
"If caught in this nudeness,
I think there's no rudeness
So long as I mutter, "Beg pardon!"

***

Anthony Euwer:

As a beauty I'm not a great star,
There are others more handsome by far,
But my face, I don't mind it,
Because I'm behind it;
'Tis the folks in the front that I jar.

***

Anonymous:

There was a young girl, a sweet lamb,
Who smiled as she entered a tram,
After she had embarked,
The conductor remarked,
"Your fare." And she said, "Yes, I am."

The limerick pack laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical:
But the good ones I've seen
So seldom are clean,
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.

***

And one from memory, whose authorship I don’t know:

A southern hillbilly named Hollis
Used possums and snakes for his solace.
His children had scales
And prehensile tails
And voted for Governor Wallace.