Nickers and Ink

Monday, March 12, 2012

St. Pat's and That's Thats

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Limericks are the order of the day on this celebration of the Irish patron saint. Here are a few limericks and poems that particularly pertain to this occasion.

Have you ever tried your own hand at writing limericks? Nickers and Ink has many limericks. These five-lined, tightly metered rhymes are fun to create. Limericks need not be risqué, although many tend to be. But they can also be simply playful.

Limerick is also one of the largest cities in all of Ireland. So why not come up with a limerick or two to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

Do you know what’s wrong with this picture?

The horseshoe and four-leaf clovers are traditional symbols of luck. (OK, these two have three, as my friend Mike fittingly and comically points out in his comment. See below.) However, according to lore, a horseshoe should never be tacked up upside-down. Apparently, the luck will fall out. Instead, the horseshoe should be placed as a “U,” so it will catch any good fortune that happens to come along.

Feel free to follow on GooglePlus and Twitter. You are also invited to join this writer's fan page, as well as the Chicago Etiquette Examiner, Madison Holidays Examiner, Equestrian Examiner and Madison Equestrian Examiner on Facebook.

Image/s:

Public Domain ClipArt

WP ClipArt

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

March 2 is the birthday of the late great Dr. Seuss. Although this popular children’s author passed away more than 10 years ago, his award-winning works have taken on lives of their own in the hearts of many generations of readers.

How many of us remember reading our first words aloud from one of these titles?

The Cat in the Hat
Fox in Socks
Go Dog Go
Green Eggs and Ham
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
Happy Birthday to You
Hop on Pop
Horton Hears a Who
I Can Read with My Eyes Shut
If I Ran the Circus
If I Ran the Zoo
Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?
Oh, the Places You’ll Go
Oh, the Thinks You Can Think
The Sneetches
Yertle the Turtle
You’re Only Old Once
and many more.

What’s your favorite Dr. Seuss book of all?

And how about those favorite television specials, based on many of these books? Is Christmas TV viewing complete without The Grinch?

Dr. Seuss supposedly pronounced his name to rhyme with “poise,” rather than “puce.” However, for the sake of some Seussian fun on this literary legend for little folk, let’s go with the Anglicized version.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss.

What a world you did produce.

Rhyming comic on the loose,

You crafted humor most obtuse.

We love the tangled tales you spun –

Alliteration on the run

And words invented, just for fun

To teach us reading, one by one.

So thank you, Seuss, we miss you still.

We long for silly stories shrill

And whisper verses penned with skill

That twist and turn and tell and trill.

Today’s your day. We won’t forget.

We’ll weave a silly rhymed vignette.

We’ll tell a tale to show our debt

For appetite for words you’d whet.

c2012 by Linda Ann Nickerson

Theodor Seuss Geisel

(March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991)

Related Items:

Honoring his birthday, Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax” opens this week. Have you seen the movie trailer yet?

Image/s:

Dr. Seuss

Creative Commons Licensing Photos

Happy Birthday to You, by Dr. Seuss

Book Cover – Fair Use Photo

Ballyhoo and Overdue - A Rhythmic Design on 1099

(Can you hear the hissing when something’s gone missing?)

Hark, the ship won't stay afloat!

Evergreens may merely bloat.

All those articles we wrote

Nevermore need we promote.

Links may linger, seeking site -

Page view promise to ignite,

Still, the libraries we write

Disappear into the night.

Give to me the years I spent,

Crafting stories to present,

Trusting publishers' intent,

To pay my golden years’ due rent.

Perhaps the ship has run aground,

If simple forms cannot be found.

c2012 by Linda Ann Nickerson

Image/s:

Two Tax Collectors

By Marinus van Reymerswaele

Public Domain Artwork

Blooming or Assuming?

Blooming or Assuming?

Lines Adorned Where Care’s Been Scorned

Her blouse hides a tiny tattoo

Of pansies in yellow and blue –

But under the ink,

The heart, it may shrink,

As green overtakes every hue.

Each warm ray that on her is shed

Brings withering rancor instead.

Her petals may streak

To answer her pique,

As bloom turns to gloom freely said.

Still simpler gardens may call,

Whose blossoms stand regal and tall.

Though petals may wilt,

They transfer no guilt,

But share their glad glory with all.

c2012 by Linda Ann Nickerson

Image/s:

Vintage Pansies

Antique Clip-Art

Stop, Drop and Stroll

Stop, Drop and Stroll -

Limericked Selections on Coming Elections

A frolicking frenzy endures but awhile,

‘Mid feigning false fabulist’s sneakiest smile.

They sashay and stroll,

Surrounding the poll,

Where frustrated judges the ballots compile.

Do fondness or frigidness greet outstretched hand?

Can coaches groom greatness, if honor’s unmanned?

A fresh polished face

Assumes rightful place,

Although frequent frost leaves its frown ‘cross the land.

c2012 by Linda Ann Nickerson

NOTE: This original and copyrighted poem was posted in response to prompts from Mr. KnowItAll’s Flash-55, Meme Express and Simply Snickers.

Image/s:

Ballot Box

WP Clip Art

Let Freedom Ring

Today is Martin Luther King Day in the United States, a national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 - 1968), a most memorable civil rights leader and spiritual statesman.

To mark this occasion, instead of posting a poem, I'm including the full video of Dr. King's often-cited "I Have a Dream" speech, which he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963.

This landmark lesson for humanity of every hue was far more than a rhetorical exercise or a fiery display of forensics. The words of Dr. King, amplified across the Reflecting Pool towards the Washington Monument in our nation's Capitol.

And the world remembers.
.

.

Take a listen to the familiar words, and catch the famous dream:

.

"'My country 'tis of thee,

sweet land of liberty,

of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died,

land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside,

let freedom ring!’

And if America is to be

a great nation,

this must become true."

Photo/s:

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I Have a Dream" speech

Washington, DC

August 28, 1963

Flesh-colored crayons

Fair use photo

What color is human flesh, anyway?

.

.

Friday, January 6, 2012

What's in a Name?

What’s in a Name?

Here in Wisconsin, a certain group of folks are trying to gather as many signatures as they can to recall the state Governor. The deadline for petitions is coming up in just under two weeks.

Petition-wielding Badger State denizens are standing outside their parked cars in public places in the balmiest Wisconsin weather for January, holding up placards and urging motorists to stop and sign in.

Intriguingly, this petitioning process has become something of a sticky widget. The Governor’s people have even filed court complaints. It seems some of the signatories have names that bear more resemblance to famous folks, past and present (or even pretend) than to real state residents.

How did Wisconsin’s petition circulators get folks like Adolf Hitler, Mickey Mouse, Donald Trump, Walt Disney, Mary Poppins and John Wayne to sign?

Taking Names

With clipboards in hand, they patrol.

Outside on the sidewalks, they troll.

“Please sign on the line.

No need to decline.

Just pick any name for the roll.”

Petitions fill up overnight,

As fictional characters write.

Celebrities pen

Again and again,

But never on our turf alight.

The deadline approaches to file,

With turmoil both sides of the aisle.

Political games

Include taking names

Along every country mile.

c2012 by Linda Ann Nickerson

PC College - a Poetic Rendition of College Admission

Rival Revival - the Spry Sprite of Night that Incites Me to Write

Image/s:

Petition Gathering

Creative Commons Licensing Photo

Merry Christmas from Nickers and Ink

Merry Christmas from Nickers and Ink!

You won't find a plethora of poetic posts on Nickers and Ink this month, because I'm blogging my little heart out at Heart of a Ready Writer - doing my own Advent A to Z Challenge. I invite you to check it out! And have a very merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Dodging the Panda

Dodging the Panda

(for all my AC/YCN friends)

We’re moving to a new domain.

The reasoning is fairly plain.

Since Panda left us in the dust,

No longer do we page views trust.

Since February, we have mourned,

As Google has our readers scorned.

The Panda buried titles deep

With writers crying, “Bleepity-bleep!”

Yahoo! Let’s take another chance

And maybe do our happy dance.

May hyperlinks uplift our hearts

And raise the numbers on our charts.

We welcome browsers, one and all,

To overlook the Panda’s call.

This ursine carnivore is cute,

Unless he steals our page view fruit.

Today the change may make us frown,

And readership may slip way down.

But by tomorrow, all retooled,

May publications be refueled.

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast:

Man never is, but always to be blest.”
Alexander Pope

NOTE: In February 2011, Google implemented Panda, an algorithm alteration that automatically deranked many informative websites in user search results. Those affected most by the change included user-generated news and features sites, social networking communities and websites containing significant levels of advertising.

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Web Writing Wonders - an Easy Tutorial on Titles for People

Writing Wisdom - My Top 24 Favorite Quotations on Writing

Image/s:

Giant Panda

By Matthew Field

Creative Commons Licensing Photo

Frantic, or Pedantic?

Frantic, or Pedantic?

Congratulations all around! We survived another Black Friday, just in time for Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.

My Christmas tree is up. The Advent calendar hangs in the kitchen, eagerly awaiting the first day of December. But my to-do list continues to grow, almost as if it had a mind of its own.

Shop Amazon's Christmas Corner - Holiday decor, tableware, and entertainment

The holiday gift shopping is underway. Santa’s naughty-and-nice list is open. Baking ingredients are collecting in the cupboard. The festive holiday attire hangs in the closet. The family calendar is filling up. And Christmas preparations are beginning to pile up.

Something’s gotta give.

Just yesterday, weathering the Black Friday crowds for a not-so-quick stop at Target, my teen and I left the store one shopping bag short.

Shop Amazon's New Kindle Fire

Guess what! The store staffers found our missing parcel. All we have to do is return to the store, find a parking spot, run the gauntlet of hurrying humanity and retrieve our errant items.

I was relieved and grateful to find (by phone) that our absent purchases were located and saved for us. Still, did I really need another errand on this busy weekend?

Christmas spirit or chaos?

It’s easy to grow more muddled than merry during the holiday season. Maybe you know the feeling.

Frantic, or Pedantic?

A Triolet to Do Today

I just don't get it.
Perhaps I am delayed.
I just don't get it.
A five-chore list I've made.
I just don't get it.
The edges, they are frayed.
I just don't get it.
My focus, it has strayed.

I just don't get it . . . done.

Note:

The triolet is a popular poetic form with a well-defined structure. This traditional eight-line poem, penned in iambic pentameter, contains four couplets and follows this rhyme scheme: ABaAabAB. Usually, the 1^st, 4^th and 7^th lines match – as do the 2^nd and 8^th lines.

My triolet departs from this pattern somewhat. Hey, call it poetic license.

Shop Amazon's Holiday Toy List

Grandma’s Favorite Simple Sugar Cookies

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Outlet Stores: Outlets for Shop-a-Holics

Shopping Etiquette: Courtesy Clean-Up on Aisle Six

Image/s:

Tuckered-Out Santa

Creative Commons Licensing photo

Ring Around the Cozy: Poetic Spin on Next of Kin

Ring Around the Cozy:

Poetic Spin on Next of Kin

A lively link that’s sure to shrink

To cast the others out,

The circle dances on the brink

And tosses blame about.

The starter of the game may fear

Inclusion casts a spell.

And so he plants himself premier

With ever-shriller yell.

The merrymaking song he sings

Its melody has lost.

For she who still may wear his rings

Outside the arc is tossed.

No longer does she press the edge

To join the whirling fray.

For he forgot his long-time pledge

When he began to play.

The circle game for children’s fun

Is fast becoming vague.

Have folks forgotten or respun

It started with a plague?

Free and Clear; Verses Penned on Control’s End

Redeemed from Religion: A Rhymed Retelling of Release

Image/s:

Circle Gamephoto by Inferis

Creative Commons Licensing

Hurry Up, Healing

Hurry Up, Healing

A Senryu for Mending Past Due

Have you ever broken a bone or two? One of my favorite horses tossed me in the dirt about six weeks ago.This practically perfect pony went from plum tuckered out to a boisterous buck-fest in a heartbeat, as a hornet stung him. And I went flying.

In fact, we had to toss my equestrian safety helmet, which was cracked.

Stumbling to my feet and staggering into the emergency room, I found out I had sustained at least 10 fractures. You might say I’ve been sidelined awhile, and I’m growing a bit more antsy each day.

If you’ve experienced a fairly significant injury in your lifetime, you probably know the feeling, when you just want to hurry up the healing.

Hurry Up, Healing

A Senryu for Mending Past Due

Can’t stand sitting still.

Disregarding doctors’ words.

C’mon, fractures! Heal!

Paging the Prime Veterinarian

German Spider Scare Loses in Court

Image/s:

Falling from the Horse

Public Domain Artwork