Valentine's Day Poem

Source: collectibles.about.com via Marja Schwedler on Pinterest

Goblins on the Doorstep

Goblins on the Doorstep
by Dorothy Brown Thompson

Goblins on the doorstep,
Phantoms in the air,
Owls on witches’ gateposts
Giving stare for stare,
Cats on flying broomsticks,
Bats against the moon
Stirrings round of fate-cakes with a solemn spoon.
Whirling apple parings
Figures draped in sheets
Dodging, disappearing,
Up and down the streets,
Jack-o-Lanterns grinning
Shadows on a screen,
Shrieks and starts with laughter -

This is Halloween!

Give Me Your Flowers

I would rather have one little rose
From the garden of a friend,
Than to have the choicest flowers
When my stay on earth must end.
I would rather have a pleasant word
In kindness said to me,
Than flattery when my heart is still
And this life has ceased to be.
I would rather have a loving smile
From friends I know are true,
Than tears shed around my casket
When this world I bid adieu.
Bring me all the flowers today,
Whether pink, or white, or red;
I'd rather have one blossom now
Than a truckload when I'm dead.
-- Author Unknown

Daffodil Quotes

A house with daffodils in it is a house lit up,
whether or no the sun be shining outside.
A.A. Milne


The daffodil is our doorside queen;
She pushes upward the sword already,
To spot with sunshine the early green.
William Cullen Bryant


Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty.
William Shakespeare

Daffodowndilly by A.A. Milne
I Wandered as a Lonely Cloud (The Daffodils) by William Wordsworth

Rules by Karla Kuskin

My son's assignment -- read the poem "Rules", then write four lines of your own with lines two and four rhyming.
His poem follows the real one.


Rules
by Karla Kuskin

Do not jump on ancient uncles.

Do not yell at average mice.

Do not wear a broom to breakfast.

Do not ask a snake's advice.

Do not bathe in chocolate pudding.

Do not talk to bearded bears.

Do not smoke cigars on sofas.

Do not dance on velvet chairs.

Do not take a whale to visit
Russell's mother's cousin's yacht.

And whatever else you do do
It is better you
Do not.

My son's take (unedited):

Do not hier a mocky as your sister.

Do not hit a mocky on the head.

Do not kiss a mocky when your 8.

And do not hit a mocky in his bed.

Great "monkey business". I would not hire a monky as a sister myself. Guess he has been playing his GameBoy too much.

Sneezles by A.A.Milne

Here is one of my favorite poems. I have a touch of sneezles, wheezles, and phtheezles as I type this!


Sneezles

Christopher Robin
Had wheezles
And sneezles,
They bundled him
Into
His bed.
They gave him what goes
With a cold in the nose,
And some more for a cold
In the head.
They wondered
If wheezles
Could turn
Into measles
If sneezles
Would turn
Into mumps;
They examind his chest
For a rash,
And the rest
Of his body for swellings and lumps.

They sent for some doctors
In sneezles
And wheezles
To tell them what ought
To be done.

All sorts and conditions
Of famous physicians
Came hurrying round
At a run.
They all made a note
Of the state of his throat,
They asked if he suffered from thirst;
They asked if the sneezles
Came after the wheezles,
Or if the first sneezle
Came first.
They said, "If you teazle
A sneezle
Or wheezle,
A measle
May easily grow.
But humour or pleazle
The wheezle
Or sneezle,
The measle
Will certainly go."

They expounded the teazle
For sneezles
And wheezles,
The manner of measles
When new.
They said, "If he freezles
In draughts and in breezles,
Then PHTHEEZLES
May even ensue."

Christopher Robin
Got up in the morning,
The sneezles had vanished away.
And the look in his eye
Seemed to say to the sky,
"Now, how to amuse them today?"

From "The Christopher Robin Book of Verse" - A.A. Milne

Humanity by Elma Stuckey

Humanity
by Elma Stuckey

If I am blind and need someone
To keep me safe from harm,
It matters not the race to me
Of the one who takes my arm.
If I am saved from drowning
As I grasp and grope,
I will not stop to see the face
Of the one who throws the rope.
Or if out on some battlefield
I’m falling faint and weak,
The one who gently lifts me up
May any language speak.
We sip the water clear and cool,
No matter the hand that gives it.
A life that’s lived worthwhile and fine,
What matters the one who lives it?

Summer Poems

Clouds
by Christina G. Rossetti

White sheep, white sheep
On a blue hill,
When the wind stops
You all stand still.
When the wind blows,
You walk away slow.
White sheep, white sheep,
Where do you go?

Afternoon on a Hill
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
And the grass rise.
And when lights begin to show,
Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
And then start down.


Things
by Eloise Greenfield

Went to the corner
Walked in the store
Bought me some candy
Ain’t got it no more
Ain’t got it no more
Went to the beach
Played on the shore
Built me a sandhouse
Ain’t got it no more
Ain’t got it no more
Went to the kitchen
Lay down on the floor
Made me a poem
Still got it
Still got it

Bleezer's Ice Cream by Jack Prelutsky

Bleezer's Ice Cream
by Jack Prelutsky

I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
I run BLEEZER'S ICE CREAM STORE,
there are flavors in my freezer
you have never seen before,
twenty-eight divine creations
too delicious to resist,
why not do yourself a favor,
try the flavors on my list:

COCOA MOCHA MACARONI
TAPIOCA SMOKED BALONEY
CHECKERBERRY CHEDDAR CHEW
CHICKEN CHERRY HONEYDEW
TUTTI-FRUTTI STEWED TOMATO
TUNA TACO BAKED POTATO
LOBSTER LITCHI LIMA BEAN
MOZZARELLA MANGOSTEEN
ALMOND HAM MERINGUE SALAMI
YAM ANCHOVY PRUNE PASTRAMI
SASSAFRAS SOUVLAKI HASH
SUKIYAKI SUCCOTASH
BUTTER BRICKLE PEPPER PICKLE
POMEGRANATE PUMPERNICKEL
PEACH PIMENTO PIZZA PLUM
PEANUT PUMPKIN BUBBLEGUM
BROCCOLI BANANA BLUSTER
CHOCOLATE CHOP SUEY CLUSTER
AVOCADO BRUSSELS SPROUT
PERIWINKLE SAUERKRAUT
COTTON CANDY CARROT CUSTARD
CAULIFLOWER COLA MUSTARD
ONION DUMPLING DOUBLE DIP
TURNIP TRUFFLE TRIPLE FLIP
GARLIC GUMBO GRAVY GUAVA
LENTIL LEMON LIVER LAVA
ORANGE OLIVE BAGEL BEET
WATERMELON WAFFLE WHEAT

I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
I run BLEEZER'S ICE CREAM STORE,
taste a flavor from my freezer,
you will surely ask for more.

July is National Ice Cream Month!
What is your Favorite flavor?

Memorial Day Sentiments

Suitable for scrap-booking military pages or a sentiment in a card for a
soldier, friend, or family.



A hero is built within the heart-
Born with courage from the start.
Willing to serve so selflessly,
Standing strong for our liberty!

by Linda La Tourell

***

Mothers Fight For Us

So many mothers fight for us
So many woman bravely server each day.
Though they have families at home,
They know they must be on their way
To a foreign shore and to places yet unseen
You are a soldier or not-
There's nothing in between.

***

We will remember those we loved
who died to keep us free
On foreign shores they fought for us
from sea to shining sea.


All sentiments are from the book Military Moments by Thena Smith

Broken Dreams

Broken Dreams
by Lisa Leming

Nothing in the world it seems
Shatters like a broken dream
It is the ache behind the mean
Of shadows silent and unseen

And in this fortress dream of sorrow
Exist no dawn and no tomorrow
Just hours that cut you as they pass
Like little shards of broken glass

And yet another and another
Sometimes the night is meant to suffer
But look up now and see how far
They light your way like little stars

Oh if I had a star to shine
For every broken dream of mine
The whole night sky would turn to day
And all my troubles melt away

The Swing

April is National Poetry Month. This was my Mom's favorite poem. She said she loved to swing and would recite this poem over and over again as she did. I remember singing songs.
In my last post, SebastianJoshua made a comment and this classic poem came to mind.
Swinging is such a happy activity for children.



The Swing
by Robert Louis Stevenson

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

Trees by Joyce Kilmer

Trees
by Joyce Kilmer


I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree



Arbor Day is Friday, April 27th. Plant a tree and watch it grow.

The House with Nobody in it

By Joyce Kilmer

Whenever I walk to Suffern along the Erie track
I go by a poor old farmhouse with its shingles broken and black.
I suppose I've passed it a hundred times, but I always stop for a minute
And look at the house, the tragic house, the house with nobody in it.

I never have seen a haunted house, but I hear there are such things;
That they hold the talk of spirits, their mirth and sorrowings.
I know this house isn't haunted, and I wish it were, I do;
For it wouldn't be so lonely if it had a ghost or two.

This house on the road to Suffern needs a dozen panes of glass,
And somebody ought to weed the walk and take a scythe to the grass.
It needs new paint and shingles, and the vines should be trimmed and tied;
But what it needs the most of all is some people living inside.

If I had a lot of money and all my debts were paid
I'd put a gang of men to work with brush and saw and spade.
I'd buy that place and fix it up the way it used to be
And I'd find some people who wanted a home and give it to them free.

Now, a new house standing empty, with staring window and door,
Looks idle, perhaps, and foolish, like a hat on its block in the store.
But there's nothing mournful about it; it cannot be sad and lone
For the lack of something within it that it has never known.

But a house that has done what a house should do,
a house that has sheltered life,
That has put its loving wooden arms around a man and his wife,
A house that has echoed a baby's laugh and held up his stumbling feet,
Is the saddest sight, when it's left alone, that ever your eyes could meet.

So whenever I go to Suffern along the Erie track
I never go by the empty house without stopping and looking back,
Yet it hurts me to look at the crumbling roof and the shutters fallen apart,
For I can't help thinking the poor old house is a house with a broken heart.

I always liked this poem and when I told my Mom, she said it was my Dad's favorite also.

April is National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month.

If you are not creative enough to write your own poem, try this site that creates one for you with a click.

Create a Poem and call it your own.

Mr. Nobody

April is National Poetry Month.
Here is another one I like, "Mr. Nobody" lives at my house for sure, how about yours?

Mr. Nobody
(or AKA Mr. No-bod-ee, Mr. No-body)
author unknown

I know a funny little man,
As quiet as a mouse,
Who does the mischief that is done
In everybody's house!

There's no one ever sees his face,
And yet we all agree
That every plate we break was cracked
By Mr. Nobody.

'Tis he that always tears our books,
Who leaves the door ajar,
He pulls the buttons from our shirts,
And scatters pins afar;

That squeaking door will always squeak,
For prithee, don't you see,
We leave the oiling to be done
By Mr. Nobody.

The finger marks upon the door
By none of us were made;
We never leave the blinds unclosed,
or let the curtains fade.

The ink we never spill; the boots
That lying round you see
are not our boots; ­ they all belong
To Mr. Nobody.

Animal Crackers and Cocoa to Drink by Christopher Morley

Animal crackers, and cocoa to drink,
That is the finest of suppers, I think;
When I'm grown up and can have what I please
I think I will always insist upon these.

What do you choose when you're offered a treat?
When Mother says, 'What would you like best to eat?'
Is it waffles and syrup, or cinnamon toast?
It's cocoa and animal crackers that I love most!

The kitchen's the cosiest place I know:
The kettle is singing, the stove is aglow,
And there in the twilight, how jolly to see
The cocoa and animals waiting for me.

Daddy and Mother dine later with Kate,
With Mary to cook for them, Susan in wait;
But they don't have nearly as much fun as I
Who eat in the kitchen with Nurse standing by;
And Daddy once said, he would like to be me
Having cocoa and animals once more for tea!

Home (a poem)

A poem on a plaque my Mom gave me. Enjoy.

It is only a roof, four walls and a door.
With luck, it has windows, a chimney and floor.
If you fill it with faith, goodness and cheer,
It spills over forever with Love most dear.
Wendy Lin

An Angel Poem

After yesterday's poetry post of "Where Laughter Dwells", I stumbled upon this and loved not only the poem, but the last two lines.

An Angel Poem
(blessing or prayer?)

May angels rest beside your door,
May you hear their voices sing.
May you feel their loving care for you,
May you hear their peace bells ring.
May angels always care for you,
And not let you trip and fall,
May they bear you up on angel's wings,
May they keep you standing tall.
May they whisper wisdom in your ear,
May they touch you when you need,
May they remove from you each trace of fear,
May they keep you from feeling greed.
May they fill you with their presence,
May they show you love untold,
May they always stand beside you
And make you ever bold.
May they teach you what you need to know
About life here and here-after.
May they fill you always with their love
And give you the gift of laughter

(credit: unknown)

Where Laughter Dwells by Garnett Anne Schultz

I was cleaning and found this book my Mom got me on one of her consignment shop adventures. I thought I would share this poem with you from this book. I thought it was nice and of simplier family and neighbbor times.

I have seen books at yardsales and used book sales from this company, Ideals Publishing of Milwaukee WI. It looks like these sorts of issues were all made up of reader's poetry submissions. I will post a few more over time.

Ms. Schultz certainly must have had keen observation to write this from her loving heart.


Where Laughter Dwells
by Garnett Ann Schultz

It always is a happy home, where little children play
With toys about the kitchen floor, we never put away.
There's something nice about the noise, the story that it tells,
And there's a smile to greet you in the house where laughter dwells.

No task is so important there, it can't be laid aside,
Each heart is big enough to hold some extra love inside.
A welcome in a kindly way assures that all is well;
You'll find the world is brightest in the house where laughter dwells.

There's something sweet about the smell of cookies baking there,
And Mother rocking to-and-fro within her favorite chair.
The little ones so near about, just happy all day long,
It seems the house where laughter dwells, just nothing can go wrong.

There's untold love and friendliness, there's joy and peace of mind,
There's understanding little ways, and happy hearts you'll find.
No wonder there's a welcome there that life and living tells,
And smiles abundant light the eyes, and live where laughter dwells.

Hometown Ideals Vol 28 No. 3 1968 (no page number)
Ideals Publishing Company