When You're A Marshmallow

When you're a marshmallow
Life is sweet
It's goopy and soft
And yummy to eat

Then comes time for roasting
Aiming for brown
You're brave and bold
The toast of the town

But playing with fire
Can burn you quick
Thoughts turn black
As you fall off the stick

Going out in a blaze
Is exciting and hot
But innards melting on embers...
... is not

Hang in there instead
On that twig turning round
Skin slowly wrinkling
That light crispy brown

You're at your most vulnerable
Just before you are done
But pull it off without falling
And you'll please everyone

When you're a marshmallow
Life can be sweet
But it's when you're old and crusty
That you feel complete

- Donna Holmes, May 26, 2014

Comfort

(this is a poem I wrote last year but forgot to press the "publish" button)

Comfort sounds like an old jazz standard or a friendly conversation through the screen door.
It is the turning pages of a book or slippered footsteps on the wooden floor.

Comfort looks like a patchwork blanket and my comfy woolen socks.
It is a sun-dappled lane through the orchard and coloured crayons in a box.

Comfort tastes like buttered toast and salted brazil nuts
It is the little wooden spoon that comes with icecream in a tub

Comfort is lemons and burlap and paper and cork
It is caramel and the ocean and a home-roasted pork

Comfort is corduroy and a cat sleeping in the sun
Comfort is hugs and home and being loved by someone.

In Drought

I'm not thirsty
I have a place to sleep
I've clothes to wear
I have enough to eat

But I'm in drought
I lack
I am falling... falling back

Back to front
Up and down
Wheels spinning
But never turning 'round

And I'm in drought
All my water's
Seeping through the cracks

Cracks in walls
That are falling down
Losing shelter
Losing ground

Cuz I'm in drought
I lack
I'm no longer... intact

THE CIRCUS

In the spotlight he demands attention

The light may blind him but you’d never know

He introduces death-defying action

And juggles our amusement as we go

The lion’s mouth is opened up and ready

The elephants and dancing bears stand by

The trapeze artists wait their invitation

To thrill us and to chill us as they fly

CHORUS:

The Ringmaster knows the secrets of the dark

The Ringmaster smiles, sending terror through your heart

He commands the circus, forging magic friends and foes

The Ringmaster sees; the Ringmaster knows

Step right up get ready to be astonished

As we walk upon the dark intriguing path

Towards the clowns in cars and clowns in cannons

But it’s the clown that is in tears that makes us laugh

CHORUS:

The Ringmaster knows the secrets of the dark

The Ringmaster smiles, sending terror through your heart

He commands the circus, forging magic friends and foes

The Ringmaster sees; the Ringmaster knows

END

Song written by Donna Holmes - March, 2014

Performed at Open Mike & Donna - April 1, 2014

That Clock

The clock at the coffee shop I hang out at has been wrong now for months.   It has inspired another little rhyming ditty from me....

If you need to know
The actual time of day
That Clock will tell you
As it leads you astray

Perhaps it runs slow
Revisiting the past
Reviewing treasures or regrets
Or perhaps it runs fast

Speeding you away
To the future's delight
Telling you to hurry
Towards deadlines in sight

That Clock exists
In its own era
Don't let it take you
From a time where a...

Coffee shop, friendly,
Full of present and WOW
Resides in your heart
And in the NOW.

- Donna Holmes, Jan 23, 2014.  :O)

Super Cow Comic #7

This is becoming a bad habit, isn't it.    Remember to CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO MAKE IT BIGGER and actually readable.   - Donna. ;O)

Super Cow Comic #6

Is it my imagination?  Or are these getting really bad?   (rueful look)   Don't forget to click on the comic image to make it bigger and readable.  - Donna.  :O)