day 13. plum/Our Lost Jungle

Purple hair, lilac mouth and eyes like damson plums,
she's a lavender delight with a purple thumb.
She‘s the purple pixie that flits upon the scene
planting purple cabbages and purple string beans.
She cultivates the eggplant and grapes and purple fig
with lots of magic and her tiny trowel she’ll dig
and plant and water till the earth is what she loves best
a purple, lavender, burgundy , lilac, plum color fest.

day 12. more/Our Lost Jungle

Grandson

 

Pushing the swing till my arms ache
and still he begs for more.
Reading till my throat is dry
and yet he wants just one more.
Twirling round and round-I’m dizzy-
please, again, just once more.
And  his bubbly laughter
makes my heart soar.
His great delight is not a bore,
for I adore the fun we have
knowing one day we’ll not, anymore,
have that kind of fun.

day 11. Jones/Our Lost Jungle

Clerihew

 


Forsythe Pendleton Jones the third
is a strange name but no more absurd
than Jug, Juggy or Jughead Jones -
that beanie wearin’ fellow in the comic zone.

day 10. green/Our Lost Jungle

White noise:     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KaOrSuWZeM



                                                                     Green

I close my eyes and listen to the gently falling rain. A small constant background music of white noise that soothes my harried mind and I relax and feel… green. Green as the thirsty blades of grass, sated like the dripping green leaves, refreshed like the moss now deeply darkened and soft.  Mellow, fuzzy, sagey green, I feel. The rain washes away the dust motes and pollen drifting in the air and it smells… green. The palest, barest hint of green that is just the beginning of scent with subtle flowery, earthy notes not yet formed but conceived  in the mind of God. 

day 9. wicked/Our Lost Jungle








To be read in the voice of Julia Sugarbaker:


Mama taught me, nice girls always win,
boys like a pretty smile (so I always grin)
Be a good girl if you want to be liked,
she said, check the punch in case its spiked
cause good girls never drink, 'cept tea
in a porcelain cup. You must be proper you see.

I always did what Mama said, a good girl was I
I dressed right and walked right and gave a genteel sigh.
But to my great surprise I never had much fun
Billie Jo Radcliffe did, you know she's one
of those kinds of girls Mother warned about
who sneered at tradition and would flout

all the rules. But, I noticed Billie Jo had lots of beaus
and I had practically none - Percy doesn't count- that nose!
so I had to deliberate on the matter just a tad
and the conclusion that I came to made me a little mad.
Billie Jo and I joined forces and I tell you the truth, Hun
now we're just two very nice girls having wicked fun!

day 8. courage/Our Lost Jungle

                        

I watched him stand on the precipice

then simply step forward and plunge.
It takes courage, I said, to parachute, but he had
a choice, he did it for the thrill of it, I guess
and to me it was tinged with foolhardiness.

On TV I see a woman get into a tank

of sharks.  She probably weighed
the possibilities and thought she was 99% safe.
She was scientific, had pretty good odds unless…
Still I see that as foolishness.

Others simply love speed, in the sky, on land

the Lindbergs, Yeagers, Greens and Campbells
need to get there faster and faster.
I know it takes bravery to dare to be rad
but still to me it’s just...  mad.

Then I see a young mother of three

standing by a mound of earth
or parents holding the hand
of a dying child in a hospital bed.
Their courage won’t be a statistic to be read.

There are different kinds of bravery

and distinctive reasons to be
but for those who have no choice,
and decide to try even when to quit
or walk away would be easier – that takes grit!

 

day 7. tremble/Our Lost Jungle

                      Irony

 

Wait. Could that be a tremble I felt?

I braced myself, was ready to bolt
but, no one else seemed concerned. I say
nothing or they will think I’m a dolt.
This mountain girl is white as a sheet.
She likes solid earth beneath her feet.

I hear they’ll be testing underground

in Amchitka tomorrow early.
They tease of ocean front property
in Arizona - makes me surly.
Those California folks are blasé
I’m beginning to think they’re crasé.

I don’t relax until I’m back home

in West Virginia, safe and secure
Wait. Could that be a tremble I felt?
Maybe, maybe not, I am not sure.
Then the couch started to dance – earthquake!
In Princeton? What? Oh, for goodness sakes.