777 - Modest Ambitions

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: modest, distracted, and genuine.

Modest Ambitions

A modest little man 

In a modest little house

Had a modest little job

And a modest little spouse.

Early every morning

He would tumble from his bed

Shave his prickly face

And leave to earn his bread.

The little modest man

Had a genuine desire

To move to Moonee Ponds

And comfortably retire.

Moonee Ponds was fabled

As a land of milk and honey,

Gladioli grew there abouts

Though the water tasted funny.

The little modest man

Toiled throughout the day

Never distracted by the thought

That his dream was far away.

The little modest man

Shuffled off his mortal coil

They had his ashes scattered

Upon his longed for soil.

But the little modest spouse

Of the little modest geezer

Banked the insurance cheque

And moved to Indonesia.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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776 - Much haiku about something.

Illustration by gipi.

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #195) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

capitulate, ennui, sense, end, condemn, list,

single, inky, smell, render, generate, channel

Much haiku about something.

A true God is love,

Or so the story is told.

Actions disagree.

◊◊◊

When a single God

Needs to be channeled through man

He’s rendered useless.

◊◊◊

Fundamentalists

Use guns to push old ideas.

Inky responses.

◊◊◊

Capitulation

Is not on the agenda

No sense of an end.

◊◊◊

While quick to condemn

The press smells a good story

And generates fear.

◊◊◊

“They envy our life”

Say our leaders, piously.

How wrong can they be.

◊◊◊

Feelings are aroused,

Anger replaces ennui,

But impotence too.

◊◊◊

All religions kill

And kill, time and time again,

The list is endless.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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775 - A Savage Awakening

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: savage, electric, and passionate.

A Savage Awakening.

The object of his passionate favours

Was a household labour-saver.

But the electric supply

Brought a tear to his eye

And a scream that woke all the neighbours.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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- - -

774 - Fragments

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: jovial, promise, and resolute.

Fragments

I

A pizza without any anchovy’ll

Be scorned by the cognoscenti;

The Maffia, never particularly jovial,

Will demand anchovies a-plenty.

◊

II

Everything has promise.

◊

III

New Year’s a time of reflection,

Seldom sober, often in sorrow.

Resolute, we chart the ‘better us’’—

But can we hold off until tomorrow?

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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773 - Early Morning

Early Morning

Early morning
Gloom hangs heavy
She's standing up
— I had to use the spray
That makes no sense
— My jaw hurt
xxxAnd my chest was tight
xxxI used the spray
xxxMy pulse was racing
xxxIt’s better now
She sits on the side of the bed
Bent over
Hugging a pillow
— What time is it?
xxxAbout five
xxxNo, what time is it exactly?
xxxFour fifty nine
The penny drops
— Use the spray they had said
xxxIf the pain doesn’t stop
xxxIn five minutes
xxxCall an ambulance
She’s waiting
— It’s easing now
She lies down
And sleeps
I lie beside her
Wide awake

 .

© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

Christmas 2014

772 - The Silly Season

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: alive, glaring, and misty.

The Silly Season

In a time of tinsel and of elves

The Press is pretty smitten.

Headlines shout, in glaring font,

Of folk with guns.  And kittens.

Perhaps, in their misty mental voids,

They dream to mesh the two—

Longing for gun tottin’ catty types,

Who (bonus points) are fond of vindaloo.

At a time when just being alive

Is a blessing we can use,

Should we really concern ourselves

With what passes for the news? 

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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771 - The Dismissal

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week (well really last week,

there have been distractions) were: blunt, drunk, and lethargic.

The Dismissal

Is it the case, 

In this modern world,

That courtesy and attention

Are suspect and derided?

That simple respect is dismissed 

With a lethargic wave of the hand

And a bluntly delivered “Whatever”?

Where are our manners?

What are we thinking?

Are we so removed from the 

Niceties of a truly civil society 

That we are immune to politeness?

Or are we so embarrassed by it

As to enquire as to the sobriety 

Of the unfortunate person

As if they must be drunk

To be polite?

That to show

Consideration or concern 

Is not the act of a person

In control of their own actions?

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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770 - Corrupting a Miner

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: compact, jubilant, and neglected.

Corrupting a Miner

Deathbed confessions of Mr Faust, Industrialist.

“There’s something I neglected to tell you;

It’s a trifling little thing,

But you probably need to know of it,

Before the death bells ring.

I made a compact with the Devil

And traded off my soul,

And in return he gave to me 

Vast reserves of coal.

I dug it up and shipped it out

As is an owner’s right.

The shareholders were all jubilant 

And danced into the night.

There were those who whinged about the smoke

And the supposed nasty fumes,

But they, like me, could have moved away

To a house of twenty rooms.

But now I’ve reach my twilight time

I feel a slight remorse:

If I’d dug it up twice as fast,

I’d die twice as rich, of course.

There’s a consequence of my actions,

Which gave the Devil mirth,

Having sold my soul for eternity,

I’ve bequeathed you Hell on Earth.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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