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I took your guidance, Lisa, and just played and went with with my own instincts! What came out, these three poems, seem silly, but they were fun!

Callie

Bouncing, boisterous, bounding dog

leaping over stones and logs

dashing in and out of coastal fog

ready to jump right in, whole hog!

Ah, to play with such abundant joy

seeing the whole world as a toy

no need to damage or destroy

moment by moment her only ploy.

Teacher, guide, companion and friend

simple pleasures that never end

not much thought of what’s ‘round the bend

laughter and love all we’ll send.

Passing It On

“In like a lion, out like a lamb

home again, home again, jiggety jig…

Wake up sunshine…

You can catch more flies with honey…”

My mom loved her sayings and cliches

passing them down in her simple, gentle way.

I share them easily with Josanna and Kai

these things we hand down, by and by.

Another lost hour

Just a quick moment, sneaking a peak

Facebook marketplace makes me week.

Yes, I can use one more buddha head,

or enough bubble wrap to fill up the bed.

Majestic stone lions to guard the way

all manner of drums ready to play.

Brown crystals guaranteed to heal

free bikes with only one wheel,

petrified wood hearts aching for home,

composted remnants turned to loam.

I meant to stay a minute but lost an hour

wondering about the blue ceramic flower,

rabbit holes and box canyons filling dreams

never quite being all that they seem!

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These are so playful and fun, Larry! I found myself illustrating the poem about Callie in my mind, as if she were the star of a picture book, and the line in your third poem “Facebook marketplace makes me weak” had me laughing out loud. So very relatable and so much fun!

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Thank you Coach!!!

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"I meant to stay a minute but lost an hour"

I love it when something makes you do that.

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Hah, for an ADD, wandering, distractable mind, it happens often!

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Congratulations on going so deep into play that you emerged with not just one but three poems! These are all a lot of fun.

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Thank you Rebekah!

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Larry what fun poems. Loved the rhyming in the first one. Callie seems like such an amazing dog, joy, friend! And the second one, all the cliches we pass on. Fun to think about where and how they began. Then your third one had such great lines, "Facebook marketplace makes me week." Oh my it sure does! "I meant to stay a minute but lost an hour." Yep, can relate to that.

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Thank you Julie! Callie is one of our grand dogs, the one closest to us geographically, and we recently had an 11 day stretch of dog sitting at our house. We encourage Brady and Leah to travel just so we can hang with Callie!

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Such clever and playful rhyming in each of these, Larry! They are reminiscent of Ogden Nash poems (I remember loving his book Adventures of Isabel). You have a great start on a collection here!

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Thank you Keith! In high school, I remember Ogden Nash being referred to as the "great modern american poet." There were other I learned about later, but I have always had a fondness for Nash. Thank you for the compliment!

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You're welcome! I really enjoyed hist stuff, and you deserve the comparison!

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They *are* fun! I love the glimpses you've shared into these lighthearted everyday moments.

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