Poetry and Potpourri .... October 1 - 2, 2003

10-1-2003 | JustAmy, St.Louie1 and Mama_Bear

[JustAmy]

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The Poetry Branch has been in limbo since the prior hostess left FreeRepublic April 15th 2003. We've since learned that said hostess has lost her posting privilege. That being the case, and Jim Robinson having given his ok, I wanted to renew the thread.

FreeRepublic is blessed with many fine poets, and we look forward to seeing their poems posted on FR once again. There were many non-poet FReepers who visited the Poetry Branch for the camaraderie; we hope they will return.

I would like to invite everyone to visit and relax at Poetry and Potpourri. Hopefully you will renew old acquaintances for chatting, sharing jokes, telling stories, posting cartoons, etc. Everyone needs a place to escape from the everyday news, make Poetry and Potpourri that place.

...................

The Belvedere's Guardian Wolf ~
the always charming, lovable, huggable,
LouieWolf.

[JustAmy]

And the Lord spoke to Noah and said: "In six months I'm going to make it rain until the whole earth is covered with water and all the evil people are destroyed. But I want to save a few good people, and two of every kind of living thing on the planet. I am ordering you to build Me an ark."

And in a flash of lightning He delivered the specifications for an ark. "Okay," said Noah, trembling in fear and fumbling with the blueprints. "Six months and it starts to rain," thundered the Lord. "You'd better have My ark completed, or learn how to swim for a very long time."

And six months passed. The skies began to cloud up and rain began to fall. The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in his front yard, weeping. And there was no ark.

"Noah," shouted the Lord, "where is My ark?" A lightning bolt crashed into the ground next to Noah.

"Lord, please forgive me!" begged Noah. "I did my best, but there were big problems. First I had to get a building permit for the ark construction project, and Your plans didn't meet code. So I had to hire an engineer to redraw the plans. Then I got into a big fight over whether or not the ark needed a fire sprinkler system. My neighbors objected, claiming I was violating zoning by building the ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission.

"Then I had a big problem getting enough wood for the ark because there was a ban on cutting trees to save the Spotted Owl. I had to convince U.S. Fish and Wildlife that I needed the wood to save the owls. But they wouldn't let me catch any owls. So, no owls.

"Then the carpenters formed a union and went out on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board before anyone would pick up a saw or a hammer. Now we have 16 carpenters going in the boat, and still no owls."

"Then I started gathering up animals, and got sued by an animal rights group. They objected to me taking only two of each kind. Just when I got the suit dismissed, EPA notified me that I couldn't complete the ark without filing an environmental impact statment on Your proposed flood. They didn't take kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of a Supreme Being. Then the Army Corps of Engineers wanted a map of the proposed new flood plan. I sent them a globe.

"Right now I'm still trying to resolve a complaint from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over how many Croatians I'm supposed to hire; the IRS has seized all my assets,claiming I'm trying to avoid paying taxes by leaving the country; and I just got a notice from the state about owing some kind of "use tax."

"I really don't think I can finish Your ark for at least another five years," Noah wailed.

The sky began to clear. The sun began to shine. A rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up and smiled. "you mean You're not going to destroy the earth?" Noah asked, hopefully.

"No," said the Lord sadly, "Government already has."

[JustAmy]

[chadsworth]

A sure fire get you in the doghouse joke

A husband and wife are getting ready for bed. The wife is standing in front of a full length mirror taking a hard look at herself. "You know love" she says, "I look in the mirror and I see an old woman. My face is all wrinkled, my boobs are barely above my waist and my bum is hanging out a mile. I've got fat legs and my arms are all flabby."

She turns to her husband and says, "Tell me something positive to make me feel better about myself."

He thinks about it for a bit and then says in a soft voice, "Well...there's nothing wrong with your eyesight."

BONE WITH NO MEAT FOR DINNER!!!

[Victoria Delsoul]

Howdy friends. Hope everyone is enjoying the evening.

Silent Embrace

When most I want to put in words,
All that is in my heart,
I sit before my keyboard,
But the words just will not start.

So many feelings twist inside,
And harden into a knot.
Leaving heavy burdens there,
In my spirit they are caught.

I feel I have no choice in this,
But how I wish I could...
Put into words these thoughts,
Normally, with ease I would.

But sometimes words don't do it,
No words on earth convey.
Some feelings that we hold inside,
No matter what we say.

It comes with pure understanding,
This knowledge of what we bare,
By one who knows our inner thoughts,
With whom our hearts we share.

Silence and a sweet embrace,
Sometimes speak a million thoughts,
Without speaking out at all,
Sweet peace and love is brought.

~ Lavern Marie Cole ~

[MistyCA]

I like that! What a beautiful picture too! How you doing, Victoria! One weird thing about being in the midwest now days is that I have to worry about storm windows and air conditioner covers! Being from California, these things sure do creap up on me! It was actually down to 29 today!

[Billie]

Ohhhhhh, that is *so* beautiful - both the poem and the picture.

[HiJinx]

LINES TO A SEASON

How quietly the year has passed away
Into that nothingness from whence it came,
And now the slowly drifting days are gray
Like powdered ashes near a dying flame;
The maple trees bewail their fallen crown
And autumn trails away like smoke at dawn--
The grass has faded to a dusty brown,
And I am lonely for a summer gone.

Each sunset tinted leaf is like a day
Blown from the tree of unrelenting years,
Leaves fall, and flowers die, lives float away,
And we are bitter now, with unshed tears.
A dying sun is setting through the gray--
How quietly the year has passed away!

~ Louis L'Amour

[Victoria Delsoul]

Thank you, Misty. Glad you liked it.

Being from California, these things sure do creap up on me!

I imagine so. Did you finish writing what you were writing?

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hi Billie!! Thanks so much.

Good to see you, Billie.

[Victoria Delsoul]

LOL!!!

[Darksheare]

D'oh!

Had to run errands.
Now I gotta get to bed.
Ugh...

[JustAmy]

If you are not in the doghouse, here's another ..... you can tell LIR this one.


A man is in bed with his wife when there is a rat-a-tat-tat on the door. He rolls over and looks at his clock, and it's half past three in the morning. "I'm not getting out of bed at this time," he thinks, and rolls over. Then, a louder knock follows.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" says his wife.

So he drags himself out of bed and goes downstairs. He opens the door and there is man standing at the door. It didn't take the homeowner long to realize the man was drunk.

"Hi there," slurs the stranger. "Can you give me a push?"

"No, get lost. It's half past three. I was in bed," says the man and slams the door. He goes back up to bed and tells his wife what happened and she says,

"Dave, that wasn't very nice of you. Remember that night we broke down in the pouring rain on the way to pick the kids up from the baby sitter and you had to knock on that man's house to get us started again? What would have happened if he'd told us to get lost?"

"But the guy was drunk," says the husband.

"It doesn't matter," says the wife. "He needs our help and it would be the Christian thing to help him."

So the husband gets out of bed again, gets dressed, and goes downstairs. He opens the door, and not being able to see the stranger anywhere he shouts, "Hey, do you still want a push?"

And he hears a voice cry out, "Yeah, please."

So, still being unable to see the stranger he shouts, "Where are you?"

And the stranger replies, "I'm over here, on your swing."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ta Da ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[JustAmy]

I love that picture and the poem is excellent. Thanks for sharing them with us.

[JustAmy]

"It was actually down to 29 today! "

Yikes! ...... The high was 86 today and I thought the cool weather was finally getting here. Lows may have been 64.

Hi, Misty!!

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hi Amy!!! Glad you liked it.

[JustAmy]

I am pleased you came by to share that poem with us. Thank You!!

Hope you have more jokes, stories or poems to share.

[JustAmy]

See ya tomorrow, Darks! Pleasant dreams.

[MistyCA]

Oh, no. The writing is going to take a long time. I had to stop to do some more research. I have to work on it every day and suspect I will have to do that for quite a long time if I really want it to get finished! :) It is reality based and requires a lot of research to get it fleshed out properly. But it's very rewarding as well. I am learning a ton. ;)

[MistyCA]

Nighty night! Don't let those vampires get you! :)

[MistyCA]

Hi! 29 feels great! At 29 here I am actually more comfortable then I was at 70 in California. No one from there believes me, but my bones don't get cold here! They just freeze first! LOL.