Workin' Hard, or Hardly Workin'?

  Flamingoes know how to party,
Labor Day and otherwise~
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa

* * *

—Poetry by Nolcha Fox, Stephen Kingsnorth,
Caschwa, Greg Norman, Sayani Mukherjee,
and Joe Nolan
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy
of Joe Nolan and Medusa

 

 

 

WORKING IT
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY

She works the room,
first flirting, then demanding.

If that doesn’t work, she ramps it up.
She sits on laps and slaps us.

She doesn’t work for food,
but she’s a worker for rewards.

Now she naps, she’s tuckered out.
It’s hard work to be a dog.

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa

WORKAHOLIC
—Stephen Kingsnorth, Coedpoeth, Wrexham, Wales

Is it the workhouse, reputed dread,  
where poorest slaved to earn their bread?  
Is it a workhorse, plough-shire rode,  
or one in group not shy of load;  
a team perchance where workload shared,  
or frame indeed where tools prepared—   
the framework set for teamwork tasks,  
but who cooperates with asks?         

The artwork world has widest oeuvre
from lap to gallery, the Louvre;
all brushwork, craft, lace, needlework,
for Philistines, the best bulwark.
Does paintwork decorate a house—
just outside—should partner espouse;
though paperwork for hanging walls
with holly boughs to deck the halls?
     
A mason’s brick and plasterwork
squared off, Band-Aid if care berserk,
as pipework serves our waterworks—
though told, age quirk, pills may be perks.
Then gasworks when the talking’s stopped;  
for windows, glasswork less it’s dropped.
If project rolls as clockwork planned
your property is looking grand.

Outworking on the garden style
means earthworks, ground, spadework meanwhile.
For fireworks, but if not to grate,
ensure insurance not paid late,
and any waxworks first well stored
as bodywork should not be poured.
A workout—with legwork involved—
could mean that unemployment’s solved?

Is classwork politicians’ call,
both upper and the lower sprawl;
or is it more the homework zeal,
outworkings of the housework deal?
So ergonomics, motion, time,
efficiency in studied clime?
That donkeywork makes me an ass—
this casework now just guesswork, crass.

I do admire those fisherfolk,
their network angling haddock, smoke;
and blacksmiths’ anvils, horse shoers,
on their mettle, ironworkers.
But take a rest, words overworked,
this patchwork draft revision shirked;
for even reading leaves me irked—
I cannot see this verse reworked.

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Visual Courtesy of Joe Nolan

IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA

God, Inc., a for-profit corporation,
subsidiary of the MAGA Cult Machine,
which oversees all parts and service needs
for the female anatomy, has issued an
Important Safety Recall to all women of
child-bearing age.

What is the issue?          Some pregnancies
appear to proceed normally up to a point,
and then abruptly end in miscarriage or
some other form of failed outcome.

What is the risk?           There are parts that
could break or otherwise malfunction, and
this condition will typically prevent the fetus
from completing its path along the birth canal.

What needs to be done?         Women of
child bearing age need to visit their MAGA
approved doctor to have their child bearings
inspected and/or replaced. For your convenience
and to encourage the continued social distancing
requirements by many state and local governments
related to COVID-19, your friendly MAGA contact
person is providing you with the option to complete
this simple inspection yourself using the attached
self-inspection sheet. If you do not wish to complete
this inspection yourself, your MAGA-approved
doctor will inspect your anatomy for you.

How long will it take?         You can complete this
simple inspection on your anatomy in 15 minutes or
less. 

 

 

 

 

—Public Domain Cartoon Courtesy of Joe Nolan

OH NO, THERE’S MORE
—Caschwa

bowling or driving, hit some
miss some

to bed, to sleep, tomorrow
arise

is it going to rain today?
hail, yes

organized labor worker:
Ob Gyn

wars end, but persecution
prevails

what name is Pete’s twin brother?
Re-Pete 

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa

BARN SWALLOWS
—Greg Norman, Manitoba, Canada

Burnished blue-black backs and wings
Surround a sunrise breast
Sitting singly or with family and friends
On a long overhead line
Sober and oddly judgmental
Pass by below
Look up and wave
The birds are unperturbed
They pack mud cups under eaves
To hold hungry chicks
Who must fly before they walk
Though I’ve never seen one walk
If you pull down a nest they’ll rebuild
But we encourage the incorrigible
Because they eat a zillion mosquitoes
Dive-bombing dogs and cats
        and us too
Watching a pair play a game
With a white feather
One releasing it high aloft
To waft earthward
Caught by the other
And repeat
Amazing

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa

HECHO EN MEXICO
—Greg Norman

The label in my straw hat
is a change from made in China,
made in USA, made in Canada,
because it takes me back
to a Manzanillo beach
where entrepreneurial spirit
lived in an old man
with a small folding table,
a styrofoam cooler,
and a sharp machete.
He topped off free coconuts,
scraped down the white flesh inside,
added juice from
ubiquitous lemons, and a dash
of Tabasco.
He sold it to a lineup
with a cool beer
for two bucks a pop.
My money was
deliciously well spent. 

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Illustration Courtesy of Medusa

AURA
—Sayani Mukherjee,
Chandannagar, W. Bengal, India

A silent Pitchfork, a rubble outside
I am all that i have been, not so well connected
A galactic fusion over the rimmed walls
A paycheck for the month it's all a plaything
Poetry calls me often in the darkest night
A knowing edge surpassed me
As I went down the rabbit hole
This is the age of new thought protestants
A summer binder over at my glass
I know that buttercup lifelong simulation
Poetic engulfment is rising, the aura is new
Of subdivisions and postmodern pranks
The fun we had at the treehouse jingoism
The subversion is all around my wretched
watch. 

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan

MARRIAGE PROPOSAL ON A
BLUSTERY NOVEMBER DAY
—Joe Nolan, Stockton, CA

Wind whipped past our windows
On a cold November day,
Blowing fallen leaves around
Empty streets, abandoned,

But you and I,
So in love,
Put on our parkas
To brave that blustery day.

It was then I
Asked you to marry me,
Under an arbor tree
In a park
We often went to

And you asked me,
“Don’t you know?
I’ve been feral
Since my birth.
Many times,
I’ve slipped away
To clutch
A sheep’s neck
In my teeth.”

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa

TRAPPED INSIDE AN ICICLE
—Joe Nolan

I think I could not
Call on you
If I were in need.

You’re trapped inside
An icicle
That on the patio, bleeds,
Water that turns
Into ice,
Once it hits the ground,

While with your finest
Articles,
You splay a seductive aura
That sparkles and surrounds.

That’s what jewelry
Is for—
To make a brilliant image
That makes your power, more.

Burn and shine
Every glossy image
And thing—
All of that is useless
When the future brings.

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Illustration Courtesy of Joe Nolan

 
EMPTINESS OF CONFESSION
—Joe Nolan

Who believes in Confession
To overpower
The power of sin
And to let you in
To Heaven
When you have been
Full of every outcast-sentiment
Since your life began—
Who believes in Confession?

All will stand naked
Before the Light
When their time
Has come
To face their maker.

This should come as no surprise
That a priest,
Who held out an
Offering cup,
Who promised you salvation,
Might have got
His power, wrong,
Working from
An ancient song,
From two-thousand years ago,
When Jesus,
Gave Peter
Power to bind, above
Or loose below,
As he chose
And in his judgment,
Determine.

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Illustration Courtesy of Joe Nolan

STOP THE GENOCIDE
—Joe Nolan

I study charts
To pick cherries
From trees—

Delicious plums
That only fall
To sinners
When sweet Jesus
Comes.

We lie in wait
For a sudden
Moment
To free the
World from hate.

Every other,
Other thing
Prays for grace
And what grace brings
When Jesus walks again.

We wish and
We wait for our Savior
To stop the genocide
In the Holy Land.

Surely, it’s not
Too much to ask for
To simply stop
The killing?

We pray for
Divine Intervention.

_____________________

Today’s LittleNip:

Nobody ever drowned in his [her] own sweat.

 

—Ann Landers 

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa

Good morning from the Kitchen on this Labor Day, 2024, and thanks to our contributors—some of whom tackled our Seed of the Week, Work. Be sure to check each Tuesday for our new SOW.

 

 

 —Illustration by Marc Martin

 

Last Saturday. on our post by Kushal Poddar, "Flight Skill of the Starlings", I used the above picture of starlings, even though I couldn't read the verse. So I threw myself on the mercy of readers to decipher it, and Stephen Kingsnorth and Joyce and Robin Gale Odam came through with the verse below, which is from a children's book called, We Are Starlings: Inside the Mesmerizing Magic of a Murmuration by Robert Furrow (Author), Donna Jo Napoli (Author), and Marc Martin (Illustrator), available at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/We-Are-Starlings-Mesmerizing-Murmuration/dp/0593381637/:

We are starlings.
This morning is chilly.
We are restless to leave
this cold place.

Many thanks to those SnakePals for their research.

 

Congratulations to El Dorado County Poet Barbara Young for having her poem, “Remedy for Blues”, published as Poem of the Month in Placerville’s Mountain Democrat on Friday 8/31. (See https://www.mtdemocrat.com/prospecting/poem-of-the-month-remedy-for-blues/article_9156038a-5a80-11ef-aabf-6722849e667a.html/.)

 

 

And thanks to the Mountain Democrat for this wonderful feature!

___________________

—Medusa

 

 

 

 

Workaholic Beavers

—Public Domain Cartoon Courtesy of Joe Nolan

 

 

 

 

 

 

A reminder that
Sacramento Poetry Center
presents readers from the
Hart Center Workshop
tonight in Sacramento, 7:30pm.
For info about this and other
future poetry happenings in
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
(http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html)
in the links at the top of this page—
and keep an eye on this link and on
the daily Kitchen for happenings
that might pop up
—or get changed!—
 during the week.

Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
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Find previous four-or-so posts by scrolling down
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 into the little beige box at the top
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Would you like to be a SnakePal?
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send poetry and/or photos and artwork
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