Backyard Beauty

Backyard Beauty, a photo by Sparky2* on Flickr.

Haven't had many opportunities for new shots lately. Now I'm finding some free time ... I should be doing many other things - adult, responsible things - but I would rather play -- need to play - ;-) - and the weather isn't cooperating - so I'm just archive diving today ... reviewing old pics from around the same time in previous years. I didn't realize how very many I never used for anything at all!

Daily Life
by Susan Wood


A parrot of irritation sits
on my shoulder, pecks
at my head, ruffling his feathers
in my ear. He repeats
everything I say, like a child
trying to irritate the parent.
Too much to do today: the dracena
that's outgrown its pot, a mountain
of bills to pay and nothing in the house
to eat. Too many clothes need washing
and the dog needs his shots.
It just goes on and on, I say
to myself, no one around, and catch
myself saying it, a ball hit so straight
to your glove you'd have to be
blind not to catch it. And of course
I hope it does go on and on
forever, the little pain,
the little pleasure, the sun
a blood orange in the sky, the sky
parrot blue and the day
unfolding like a bird slowly
spreading its wings, though I know,
saying it, that it won't.

Whomperjawed

Whomperjawed, a photo by Sparky2* on Flickr.

Urban Dictionary's definition of a word we use often around here when things don't go according to plan - when the world feels a little skewed or tilted ... ;-)

1. whomperjawed
Southern term referring to an object or person that is out of sorts.
Ex: I got out of the car and the wind was blowing so excessively that my hair got all whomperjawed.
"messed up" "jacked up" "screwed up" screwed twisted

We kids would all laugh hysterically when my grandmother used the word "whomperjawed" - she said it in such a fun way ... usually in reference to something like a crooked tablecloth or picture frame on the wall (or a chore we'd done poorly in her estimation!)

Interesting bit here ... evidently Molly Ivins used it frequently when discussing politics .. ;-)
wordcraft.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/932607094/m/72760...

Then I stumbled on this poem - made me laugh ... perfect!

Poetics
By Howard Nemerov

You know the old story Ann Landers tells
About the housewife in her basement doing the wash?
She’s wearing her nightie, and she thinks, “Well, hell,
I might’s well put this in as well,” and then
Being dripped on by a leaky pipe puts on
Her son’s football helmet; whereupon
The meter reader happens to walk through
and “Lady,” he gravely says, “I sure hope your team wins.”

A story many times told in many ways,
The set of random accidents redeemed
By one more accident, as though chaos
Were the order that was before creation came.
That is the way things happen in the world:
A joke, a disappointment satisfied,
As we walk through doing our daily round,
Reading the meter, making things add up.