Humorous Poems

From yesterday...

Humorous Poems

I’ve found my poetry needs to rhyme
If I want to make it funny
Humorous poems that lack that trait
Just never hit on the money

To make the rhymes work in these poems
Clichés are often needed
Or follow the example of Ogden Nash
And use strange forms of words, like “pleaded.”

Serious poems don’t need to rhyme, no
But humorous verses do.
And somehow or other my jocular poems
Often seem to include the word “poo.”

©2008-Art Belliveau

Insight

And, finally, today's contribution to this monthly write-athon.

Insight

Looking at the heaps of paper
flowing over my desk like some obscene landfill
which has escaped its boundaries
and invaded my life, my desk
I sometimes get the feeling
that perhaps, just perhaps
procrastination may not be
the virtue I thought

©2008-Art Belliveau

Haiku for NaPoWri

Here's one from yesterday, 4/07/08.

Chaotic classroom--
why do I even bother,
right before spring break?


©2008-Art Belliveau

The Moon

She is on a roll. After getting a taste of writing that first poem, she insisted on writing another poem, this one about the moon. The NaPoWriMo entry for 4/06/08

The Moon

The moon glows like a lamp,
Round as a lid for a jar of blocks,
Black and white like a zebra in the sky,
Like a flying boat sailing through the sky.
I love the moon like I love my doggie.
They both follow me around.

©2008-Molly Belliveau and Art Belliveau

Carousel Pony

I am inordinately proud of my daughter, four-year-old Molly. We were at a Red Robin restaurant getting lunch and we wrote this poem together. Over the booth we sat in was a carousel pony. Most of the images in the poem come from her (after I asked a few leading questions now and again). So, here it is, Molly's first poem. The NaPoWriMo entry for 4/05/08

Carousel Pony

The pony's eyes are like the black sky at night.
It's harness is as beautiful as a rainbow.
The jewels shine like the sun on a lake.
The pony's fur is as white as a cloud in the sky.
I would like to ride the pony to California,
Its hooves hitting the ground with the sound of a drum,
And pet it and love it and ride it forever.

©2008 Molly Belliveau and Art Belliveau

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN FOUND!

This comes from an exercise I do with my classes. They are to pick from a collection of tabloid headlines and write a poem using one of the headlines as a title. I have several on my teacher blog. Here is one I worked on as my 4/04/08 poem. Took me a while to post it--busy weekend and week.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN FOUND!

The way to heaven I was told,
Was to be as good as gold.
Don't make waves and follow the rules--
To get to heaven, those were the tools.

So imagine now how foolish I feel,
After all those years I was made to kneel.
In the North Downs of England the Stairway was found.
An easier way to travel for those Heaven bound.

But how Did Led Zepplin know it was there?
And why would they tell of the heavenly stair?
Perhaps they were sure no one would ever believe it.
I admit it is certainly hard to conceive it.

And what will come next in these Revelations?
Are there to be more of these divine observations?
Perhaps we should believe AC/DC as well,
And all watch out for that Highway to Hell.

©2008-Art Belliveau

If (for teachers)

If you can wake up before dawn each morn
And often work 'til after dark
If you can deal with constant aggravation
And resist the urge to bite and bark

If you can eat a five course meal
In less than a quarter hour
And silence thirty yelling voices
With nothing more than a menacing glower

If you can make out the smallest handwriting
And decipher the messiest chicken tracks
If you can survive for days on end
Consuming nothing but sugary sodas and snacks

If you can grade a mountain of papers
Or on a bad day, maybe two or three
If you can face a room filled with hostile adolescents
And resist the awful urge to flee

If you can maintain your temper
When most others would have blown their tops
If you can return home each evening
And not drown yourself in hops

If you can take the constant striving
For monetary goals forever out of reach
And not feel overly despondent
Then, perhaps, you are fit to teach

©2008-Art Belliveau

Apologies

This is just a note to say

sorry

I fell asleep last night

after reading to my daughter

please forgive me

the bed was so comfy

and

it was so peaceful and dark

©2008-Art Belliveau

A Boy and His Best Friend

It was love from the first glance.
Those deep brown eyes, full of hope
Behind the wire bars of the cage
Saying, “Take me home!” Your tail wagging.
Your tongue eagerly licking my offered hand.
A life’s journey began for us then
We knew we’d never leave each other.

Over more than a decade we met
Your puppy days have long since gone
Your step is slower, you’re tired more,
But still in your eyes I see
The joyful puppy within your canine soul.
Your tail still wagging happily at night,
Each time you see me return home.

And I dread that day to come
When you are no longer with me.
Our shared journey over in this world.
Waiting until we rejoin in the next.
A boy and his dog merrily playing
Never to part each other’s company again.
Forever young. Forever content. Forever friends. Amen.

©2008-Art Belliveau

To Emily D.

Here's one from a while back. So few people seem to know who I am writing to here.

To Emily D.

I think I know
in my own faltering way
something of what
you must have felt

sitting in your room
looking out your window
writing your soul onto paper
only to keep it hidden

you had to write
it was in you
demanding freedom
and could not be denied

but just because
the words emerged
into the world
of the everyday

just because they
could not be contained inside
didn’t mean
they were that world’s property

the words were yours
and you kept them hidden
no one had the right
to lay you open to the world

but I’m glad they did


©2003-Art Belliveau