Followers

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Karin's word list gets put to use

Rotary Corn Roast
Photo from Saskatoon Public Library

The Imaginary Garden with Real Toads has invited Karin (aka ManicDDaily) to provide a list of her favorite words to inspire the poets. I used the same set of words for both of the following nonsense poems, occasionally but not often using a word out of order from the original list.
This was a lot of fun. Thanks, Karin!

*

we braised the corn
as soon as it was shucked
and dappled it with butter
after we’d thrown all that
hairy yellow stuff into a basin.
tomorrow we have to take inventory
malingerers will have to eat a platter
of cold corn for lunch
twist your wrist and taste the tang
of the vegetable juice
whose flavor sets the pace
with a soupcon of orange juice
in the skillet with the vegetables,
it is delicious but not habit forming
and you can wipe your mouth on your sleeve.

*

Oh, shucks, I love you

with my vegetables, braised,
you will be amazed—
especially by the dappled apple scrapple.
and, my dear, oh your hair
is the best anywhere,
as you sit with a basin
and quietly hasten
to braid it — tomorrow
we surely must borrow
from inventory a camperized lorry,
Public domain image
and, leaving malingerers behind
we’ll make veg cacciatore
just like in the story
and served on a platter
whose beauty will flatter,
then we’ll chitterchatter
the crux of the matter,
and old songs will be sang
(please don’t mind the slang)
until your sweet wrist
just demands to be kissed.
then we’ll pick up the pace
and drive off, not in haste.
the vegetable rind,
for our peace of mind,
must be cooked in a skillet
with a touch of millet,
as has been my habit
learned from an old abbot,
and I’ll have, up my sleeve,
a sabbatical leave,
so we won’t have to hurry at all.

18 comments:

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Great wordplay in these, Kay. You were especially clever in the first. I could see the corn, the sunlight, taste the butter. Wonderfully done.

Anonymous said...

Both are so much fun and vivid and lively, Kay. Much much enjoyed. k.

Kerry O'Connor said...

Both of your poems are delightful, Kay. You made very good use of the words - and rhymes too.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
two very different yet equally evocative pieces. I loved them. In the first I was drooling and in the second I wanted to go wandering! Cheers, YAM xx

Grace said...

As I am reading this, I can smell the food my son (the chef) is cooking up in the kitchen ha ~ Love the rhyming words and taste of home cooking from your home ~

Friko said...

That was great fun.
You are a most inventive versifier, even if you have produced nonsense.
Delightful nonsense.

Peggy said...

Wow you used them all -- and twice over. These were fun to read.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed both of these, but the word play in the second is just a lot of fun!

Unknown said...

Love the sabbatical leave up your sleeve! Both fun to read!

Anonymous said...

Kay, both poems are great - I'm more of a free-verse gal, so the first had more for me, but your couplets were awfully clever.

God, I can't WAIT for corn season in Wisconsin. It's bound to be better than last year, since nature has been generously spacing our rainfall. Here's a prayer for all the small and organic farmers and NOT Monsanto, hee hee. Amy

Margaret said...

I am more free verse myself as well, but I just loved the second one! It has a wonderful happy/silly feel to it.

Marian said...

camperized lorry? the VW bus is a touring machine! love that.

Jenn Jilks said...

I love your rhymes! None of that hay/say, cat/chat stuff! You dig up great words!

Fireblossom said...

Hurry is a bad thing. Anything that makes hurrying unnecessary is good!

hedgewitch said...

Loved them both Kay--the first with such a fun sense of childhood, and then the ingenious rhyming of the second, as well as the free spirit! And I could never not get excited over a microbus--my first car. Her name was Ruby, even though she was turquoise and white...there's no explaining these things. ;_) Love the dapple/apple/ scrapple especially.

Maude Lynn said...

These are delightful!

Ella said...

Wow Kay-you are amazing!
I love them both ;D
I agree you pick great words to rhyme with!

dianasfaria.com said...

what a talent you have with words kay. I pictured wonderful scenes in my head, as I read (please excuse my vain attempt at rhyme) plus I learned something since I felt compelled to look up the word malingerers - a word I don't think I've ever heard before. Thank you.
; )