Nuestras Tias in the Antilles. Prospero Ano Nuevo/ Happy New Year

A Visit to the Aunts in the Antilles (Ghazal)

(see Monday's Child)

Tia Rosa is very chilly even though she stays in the Antilles.

Tia Ana cooks arroz con habichuelas to amaze in the Antilles.

When the New Year comes the Flames of fire--

 like a dragon's tongue-- lick the bay in a blaze in the Antilles.

Leave your corn, your nuts, and dried apricots;

plantanas y empanadillas are all the craze in the Antilles.

Swim on a moonless night in Mosquito Bay and

 your limbs will alight as bright as days in the Antilles.

Wrap your shawl tight, listen to the coqui sing. 

Papa comes home tonight, but-- o!-- such delays in the Antilles.

Poem Waiting

From WikiMedia Commons

Miss Fancy Mouse Visits the House

Illustration by:  Phoebe Erickson 1947

Ms.Fancy Mouse visits the House

I'm so glad you've come to tea

with your fire-red boa and purple plume hat,

no one could mistake this Miss Mouse,

for a lowly common rat.

I'm so glad you've come to tea--

you dress up the place you see,

with your green leather purse,

and your visits to the nurse.

You say your health has gotten worse?

Oh dear, I hope it not infectious!

Sit, you'll find the soup delicious.

I'm so glad you've come to tea.

How on earth did you catch it?

You sat beneath a toadstool and were bitten by a flea!

A tragic story, I see why it is you cry.

Let's sip our tea and dwell on matters happy by and by.

Prompt from Monday's Child. Thank you!

Counting by Twos

Two oak trees with their leaves turning brown

Four sugar maple leaves, red and gold on the ground

Six sparrows dashing in the privet to hide

Eight laughing children in line for the slide

Ten geese wait by the shore at the park

Twelve streetlights line the street after dark

Fourteen sweet and cold apples in a bowl

Sixteen lumpy holes in the lawn from a mole

Eighteen tulip bulbs wait in their winter bed

Twenty pages left til I rest my weary head. 

Image in the public domain from wikimedia Commons  : Views of Kyoto - 10. Merrymaking beneath Maple Trees at Tsuten Kyo      by Hiroshige Utagawa

Prompt from Monday's Child, a Miriam Dixon illustration

From Monday's Child

The Kiddle Kittens

Wake up Kiddle Mixie, Mama's little pixie;
time to find your dinner, first one up's a winner.

Hey Kiddle Wink, what do you think?
Someone's made a tuna salad but put it down the sink!


Get up Kiddle Snore, do you want to eat some more?
There's mice inside the walls, and one's peeking 'round the door.

composed by Tess

Couplets in A Ball of Red Yarn

Prompt at Monday's Child( Jessica Wilcox Smith , 1863-1935,ills.

Let's play cat's cradle
with a yarn as red as flame.

Help me to unwind this heart

so we can start the game.

As my fingers dance and weave,

if by chance you do the same,

we'll knit a dream of peace

and that's the place we'll claim --

A basket for two hearts

and Love will be its name.

Pelican Bay -- Did I write this poem already? Sure feels like it.

This poem is written as a response to the prompt at Monday's Child.

illustration by Jessie Wilcox Smith , 1863-1935

Pelican Bay

It was always Sunday

when we would romp and play

splashing the water of Pelican Bay

And at the close of the day

we'd sigh a long sigh as if to say

oh! if only we could forever stay

here at Pelican Bay!

Fairy Princess (prompt at Monday's Child)

Of fairies, she's our very own.
She'll be queen once she is grown.

Made of petals of lily and wild roses,
she honey bathes our eyes, and delights our noses.

Little queen to be, you have yet to speak a word...
but through all the glen today,
your name alone we heard.

Your secret name is kept in a seed of flower's wild,
Your manner will be light as air; your heart, as kind and mild.

But for now, you sleep like any babe, our little fairy child.
Copyright © 2010 Tess

Need Inspiration?

I just discovered a site that's really lovely (thank you Marinela!) and I think it will be a great help. Monday's Child at http://childrensverse.blogspot.com/.

Check it out!  Although this work has been mis-attributed to Bernhard Oberdieck, his work is well worth checking out at: http://www.bernhard-oberdieck.com/en/home.php

The Moon and Me

We are happy, the bright- faced moon and me,

Gazing past the fluffy clouds to an ocean blue.

The sailboats rocking themselves dream the open sea.....

If you were told to go to sleep what would you do?

My calico cat purrs at the foot of my bed.

Mother hears me scribbling and calls up the stairs, "Remember what I said!"

She promised we'd ride to the white sandy beach

and pack in our basket juicy plums, cherries, and peaches for each.

A Cradle Song by Thomas Dekker 1572?-1632

Golden Slumbers kiss your eyes,
Smiles awake you when you rise.
Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby:
Rock them, rock them, lullaby.

Care is heavy, therefore sleep you;
You are care, and care must keep you.
Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby:
Rock them, rock them, lullaby.

(not composed by Tess)

Alphabet Form With a Polish Desert

Working on a poem and stalled, hoping that putting it here will give me momentum to continue or revise--to go forward or back:
FAR FROM FINISHED .... yikes! I wish there were a hide feature for this blog. Hmmmm. This will teach me not to compose online.

A was an alligator sprawled on a log
B was a buoy that bobbed in the fog.
C is the charity that the child showed.
D the dark that vanished then glowed.
E is for every journey in every book,
F is for following when you take time to look.
G is for the glasses upon the teacher's face,
H hurries from here to there and any place,
I is the infinite sky spreading a blanket blue,
J just as the moon's fond face wanes before its new,
K is the kielbasa sliced cold on a plate,
L is how lovely horseradish, it's great!
Many months have passed since the tulips died down,
Now the nasturtium is the salad's peppery clown.





What comes next?

Conversation with a Baby Jay

Me:     Baby blue jay, Why are you alone on such a day?

Baby Jay:    My mother's gone to find worms and I'm left to play.

Me:    Why are you there deep in the wood?

Baby Jay:    Where else should I be? These leaves are good.

Me:     But now I can see you clear as day and take your picture before you fly away.

Baby Jay:    Go ahead, I'm enjoying the weather and while I do, enjoy my new feathers, too.

Out of Doors

Yesterday I found two nests. One in a vacant bird house, and one a true mouse bed,very well made -- like my son's big puff -- full of bird feathers. This is a picture of the mouse bed. I found it in the wood pile. Mice love wood piles!

FOR THE MOUSE

How nice a nest,

full of feathers,

full of fur;

the care you took

to create this place

is proof on earth

of endless grace.

How Can I Help Children in Gaza?

Please consider visiting United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East : United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
Also, please do not copy the image of this child. The artwork, by artist Michael Thompson, is here by permission only. 

I am Gaza

I am Gaza
Originally uploaded by freestylee
by the kind permission of Michael Thompson

(This poem isn't working. I have revised it and it's a bigger mess.The more I think about it, the more I am certain that Michael Thompson's art says it all.)

What's Mad Cool At School, and What's Not So Hot

What's Mad Cool about School, and What's Not so Hot

Lice are not nice!
When you scratch you think twice:
who's there, in my hair?
Why me, it's not fair?
No, lice are not nice!
Do I need a short shave?
Mom says, behave and be brave.
Because lice are not nice,
no, lice are not nice. No!

Feeling Like I Let You Down

I am so sorry and want to apologize for not writing in a while. I should have given a little notice that I was caught up in a tree on a hill watching the snow drift and fall and not able to put pen to paper because my fingers have been too darn cold. I hope to write something soon. I hear the snow drip, drip off the branches and the ice in the bird bath turned into a little pool today. Thaw is here. Will write soon!