Reanimated Lavender Granola Switchblade Nun rides again.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

I Gave You What You Asked For

 

I gave you what you asked for--
a funny book which I know now
you surely never read.

I gave you what you asked for--
someone you could maneuver into
saying, "I thee wed."

I gave you what you asked for--
someone to tie the tourniquet
every time you bled.

I gave you what you asked for--
a foil to be the fodder for
the monsters in your head.

I gave you what you asked for--
seven years of love alive and
six more stood up dead.

I gave you what you asked for--
my heart's writing you called "nice."
That's when I gave you all my scorn
and back your rotten rice.
________

for What's Going On?--"Home Made"

Music: Sara Bareilles Wicked Love



Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Margin Notes from Charles Dickens' Teacher


 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
A nice beginning, Charles, but perhaps a little bit undecided? You want a good strong direction to your opening. Try to choose one or the other and build on it!
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness
Please refer to my first remark!
It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
Very nice, Charles, but when you read this to the class today, you pronounced "epoch" as "e-poach." The correct pronunciation rhymes with "luck." It was wonderful, though, to see you come out of your shell! :-)
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness
Unless you are referring to titles or proper names, capitals are not needed here. 
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair
Don't forget that setting is crucial, Charles. What season is it? Do not confuse your reader!
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us
Charles... I can see that you're trying very hard on this assignment. Good for you! However, and once again, you want to be more definite here!
We were all going direct to Heaven,
Oh Charles. Religion is such a touchy subject and in class we want always to be as inclusive as possible. How about "direct to Des Moines" instead?
we were all going direct the other way--
Good, Charles, good! Everyone loves a travel story!
in short, the period was so far like the present period
We'll cover punctuation next week-- periods, commas and so forth. Just stay with your narrative--you can always go back and edit these things later, after we've covered that material. 
that some of its noisiest authorities insist on being received, for good or for evil,
Never let your writing lapse into moral ambiguity, Charles. While it's true that the AP English class will be studying "Les Miserables", here we want to stick to basics. Remember, you can't be The Polar Express until you've mastered being The Little Engine That Could! 
in the superlative degree of comparison only. 
This last sentence seems muddled to me, Charles. Did you mean "degree" as an indicator of the season, as brought up in your earlier line?  Moreover, all comparisons should best be accomplished by means of simile and metaphor, not by flat statement. 

Charles, don't be discouraged. We all err! You've made a fine beginning here, and with work and patience (and listening in class instead of drawing stick figure soldiers doing battle on the side of the page!) I believe that you can achieve a mastery of basic writing skills! Keep at it. I very much look forward to helping you to learn and improve as the school year continues! 

C+
_____________

for Diving Into Margins over at Dverse, with Queen Cool Dora.

Music: 10,000 Maniacs You Happy Puppet


 

Monday, January 13, 2025

Equi Feri

 

We came out of the sun like flares
burning out our own memory,
landing like witless baby birds
and handed a brick in the heart before we even knew.

There is the sun, our personal searchlight
calling us not to sell ourselves for nothing. 
We played in traffic, drunk as monkeys,
carrying our Queen Boudica dolls for luck, dodging disaster.

Forever sneaks up, whistling our favorite song,
together with a creepy-crawly to keep us honest.
We have tried to express all of this, bright horses nickering
in the Earthbound Barn but meant for the roses, headlong, guided by the stars.
___________

for Word Garden Word List--Klara and the Sun 

Music: Junior Brown Surf Medley



Sunday, January 12, 2025

Word Garden Word List--Klara and the Sun

 

Hello my little automatons, and welcome to this week's Word List!  I've recently finished reading a marvelous novel by Kazuo Ishiguro entitled Klara and the Sun. It's set slightly in the future and is told from the perspective of Klara, an AF, or "artificial friend." She starts out on display in a store but is then purchased and set to her job of watching over and helping an ill girl. 


Klara may be a robot, but she's a very observant one, and--dare I say--she possesses considerable soul; more than many of the humans around her. As things unfold, Klara finds herself on a desperate mission to save Josie, her young charge. I adored this book and recommend it highly.

What we do here is to use at least 3 of the 20 words provided in a new, original poem of our own. Then simply link up, visit others, and then recharge. This prompt remains active until next Sunday when a new one goes up. 

And now, your List:

asleep
barn
birds
boxes
companion
creep
doll
forever
imagine
leaked
memory
oblong
plan
pretend
smile
special
sun
traffic
trolley
window


Wednesday, January 8, 2025

I Confabulations 5:13-27

 My heart remembers, dear friends, the glad evening
when the davenport did receive my person even as a
mother cradles her firstborn. O happy hour! O time of bliss!
As I watched astonished, I was provided with a magical light

Which emanated--as if from the mansions of Heaven!--
as a glowing loveliness from a device with which I was blessed.
O wide screen! O splendor of high definition! My heart
remembers these wonders and even now, gladness fills me,

Despite the trials which befell me in the fullness of time.
I was given to behold wonders, and amazing scenes,
called "a game show" by the sages whose words were
handed down to me. My heart remembers all these things!

Lifting the golden cheesy triangle of glorious pizza to my lips,
my heart soared as I gave myself unto such debauchery
as cannot be imagined! The devil mozzarella! The imp pep-
peroni! My heart remembers, and quakes with shame!

Hear me, lest wickedness overtake you! Partaketh not of
spicy foods in the hours after the sun's arc has been completed!
My desires ruined me! My merriment furthered my misery!
My heart remembers my unwise and froward acts. O torment!

My heart remembers how I was robbed of any rest, my belly
filled with a burning fire, until I cried out, "Can there be no mercy?
Is there no Pepto in all this miserable and curs-ed land?"
The hours passed as slowly as wisdom to the mind of a fool!

Heed me well, my friends. In sooth, I made my prison with
mine own willfullness! My heart remembers the pleasures,
 the new wine (okay, Coca-Cola), and the mad revelry which 
laid me low, but my stomach remembers sevenfold!  O ruin!
__________

for What's Going On? What the heart Remembers

Music:  Rubber Chicken My Heart Will Go On


Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Don't Clown on the Waitress

 

Don't clown on the waitress, fool.
She writes in hieroglyphs on a pad made of stardust.
One click of her pen can make you shudder and drool
sucking like a baby on a bread crust.

She takes breakfast orders; the cook creates worlds.
Order an egg and it evolves right on your plate.
Don't clown on the waitress; she's a woman not a girl--
in your orbit, never still, never simple, never late.

Don't pick at the sugar packets or leave your napkin in a wad.
You're going to have to finesse it--no menu, no calorie chart.
Museums will bid on your bacon, at auctions with a nod--
Don't clown on her, just appreciate that you cannot hurry art!
______________

for Word Garden Word List--The Rosie Project

Sunday, January 5, 2025

Word Garden Word List--The Rosie Project

 

Hello, my Sunday savants, it's time once again for a new Word List! This time our source is Graeme Simsion's delightful 2013 novel, The Rosie Project. Yes, as is often the case, I am late to the party; in fact, the Rosie franchise has spawned several sequels since this original. In fact, I would likely never have picked this book to read at all if not for that personable Canadian booktuber booksaresick, who recommended it. (He also recommended--and I read--John Green's Looking For Alaska, another one I would likely never have read, and would have been better off for it, except for knowing that I won't be reading any further John Green novels, their popularity be damned.) But, back to The Rosie Project. 

Graeme Simsion

It's a rom-com of a different color, featuring a hidebound genetics professor who doesn't realize that he's an "aspie" and whose Asperger's Syndrome makes it seem to make sense to him to find a wife by using a lengthy and extremely specific questionnaire to weed out the smokers, vegans, slobs, etcetera. Naturally, this fails spectacularly, but when he meets the completely unsuitable (as per his questionnaire) Rosie, a delightful and very funny romance begins. 

What we do here is to use at least 3 of the 20 words provided in a new, original poem of our own. Then simply link up, visit others, and then find yourselves bewitched by someone out of left field, or by a book like The Rosie Project. 

And now, your List!

arms
art
breakfast
clown
correct
dance
emotional
fever
finesse
freeze
glass
mania
museum
normal
overload
popped
project
reminding
swings
wad