Starring Roles

Posted on June 29, 2012 by kathryningrid

Beware of Bad Luck & Worse Deeds

Posted on June 25, 2012 by kathryningrid

If you can’t make a grand entrance, at least try to make a spectacular exit . . .

Talk about Relief!

The way my insurance is freighted

With small-print and guilt, and prorated,

I find that this chick

Who can’t risk being sick

Can afford to be

Decapitated.

Campfire Song for the Unwitting Centerpiece

Singing silly campfire songs, we sit at either side

Across the pit and toast marshmallows, making note how wide

And high the flames can leap at will, and thinking if they might

Be quite sufficiently stoked up by middle of the night

To throw something substantial in to roast before the dawn,

Perhaps a certain someone here we’ve finally settled on,

Whose camp-songs so annoy us; cook to ash before next day

Our deep-disliked camp counselor: our own auto-da-fé.

Why, certainly, cabin-master, Sir, have another toasted marshmallow! Here, just lean over a teensy little bit closer . . .

The Stench of Doom

Posted on June 23, 2012 by kathryningrid

Breathe on Me, Breathalyzer

What is that sulfurous smell?

Is it the mouth of Hell?

Or is it only Morning Breath?

With you, I cannot tell.

Through mystic haze and mystery,

Through funky dark and gloom,

Throughout the house and yard and park

And to the edge of doom,

It penetrates both brain and soul

And harries unto death—

Begone! foul demon, Hell-bound hound,

And take your stinking breath.

Take Thou Thy Hindmost Hence-ward

If thou must wind down, go downwind, please;

I’ll remain up here while thou tak’st thy ease,

for I’ve found if a lady’s downwind of thee, she’s

immediately an endangered species.

A Whisper in Your Ear, My Dear

Posted on June 21, 2012 by kathryningrid

Friendly Advice to a Feckless Youth

The true Reckless Endangerment

is seldom what you’d guess:

not often quite so obvious

as acting under stress,

thus putting others in harm’s way

for physical duress;

more likely, it’s just saying things

much better left unsaid

about your girlfriend’s hairstyle, or

about great-uncle Fred,

who is your mother’s richest

relative and, shortly, dead.

It’s bad enough your note on Fred

will cut Mom from his will,

and likely keep you from her own

good graces longer still,

but there’s your girlfriend left to calm.

Let’s hope the bitter pill

of your ill-thought hairstyle remark

won’t make her wish you ill.When Ladies are Dancing

Patterns of elegance, synchronized moves,

Footsteps as fluid as flowing in grooves

Down sides of a fountain afloat with champagne,

They leap and they glide and they dance the refrain

As though they were ageless and weightless as light,

Each gesture, each pattern, each detail so right,

So proper and grace-filled, expressive of joy—

Intimidate wholly the poor sidelined boy!

Nervous Nellies and their Little Mysteries

Posted on June 20, 2012 by kathryningrid

Hyde and Seek

In my youth my friends and I,

When we were of a mind,

Played little games, amused ourselves,

Were seekers of a kind,

But then grew old and cynical,

Unable to unwind

The fright of not just how or when,

But whom, we feared to find.

Things of which one ought to be scairt

The fretful Porpentine, I hear,

Grows scarier from year to year,

No less than Jabberwocks and ghouls

That frighten us and make us fools,

And like Godzilla and his ilk,

Make desperate for hugs, warm milk

And night-lights, all us children who

Are scaredy-cats, like me. And you?

San Francisco, Fabulous as Always

Posted on June 10, 2012 by kathryningrid

Since we arrived yesterday afternoon for a couple of days OFF (excuse my yelling it!) in San Francisco, a longtime favorite city of ours, I will keep it mighty simple today. If you’ve ever had the smallest opportunity to visit this great city, you have no need to know why we’re thrilled to be here again, even for a quick stop. Stupendous food everywhere you go, glorious scenery (in this case, enhanced by perfectly clear, sunny and warm but breezy weather), fantastic walking, gorgeous architecture of all sorts, beloved historic and tourist friendly sites and sights galore, and most of all, a deeply endearing mix of cultures and ages and backgrounds among the people that make the people here memorably friendly and thoughtful and just plain fun to live among, however briefly.

So we are off from our temporary digs, located just outside the gate of the wonderful SF Chinatown, to enjoy the beauties of this marvelous place. I can’t be sitting around clicking and nattering on the web when San Francisco is right outside my door, much as I love talking to you lovely friends. I’ll give you a few quick snapshots from our locale here and get out to stock up on lots more.Happy Sunday, my fine friends!