My Thanks, 2012

It's not Pushkin, Frost or Poe. Heck, it's not even Dr. Seuss or Shel Silverstein. But here is a poem I composed off the cuff about things for which I am thankful this year. Here goes (in some kind of iambic or trochaic or mosaic #-ameter):

*ahem*

"For Tamara dear, my one true love,

Her heart's as pure as a winter dove.

I'm not sure if winter doves are real,

But I love my wife, that's how I feel.

Closest I'm gonna get to a winter dove, I guess.

My parents old, though smart and wise,

For teaching me to tell no lies.

For Juli, though her cat is feral,

They're both more fun than a monkey barrel.

And that's saying something, believe you me.

For Emily, Joe, Noah and Lucy,

Who are more entertaining than even you see.

For Elise, no, not the Beethoven song,

Whose chipperness shines over miles long.

Ludwig, on the other hand, isn't so chipper. Don't worry, he
can't hear me.

For Beckie, kicking back on a Hawaiian beach;

she shows more life than a smellhound named Geech.

He gone to heaven, alright.

For Sarah, the hippy, the granola, the nature-phile,

whose knowledge of animal parts would make anyone smile.

For Kirsti and Ryan, not Kiki and RyRy;
Too bad they're in Utah, that we have to say bye-bye.

Or, as they say in Baden-Baden (trans. "Baths-Baths")...

For Melanie Johnsen, yet another sister,
Whose brightness is such that you know when you've missed her.

For Bacon the coon hound, his sniffing and shedding,
For his happy disposition and his un-chewed bedding.

Yeah?

For Trissy and Sadie, for Alfred and Cocoa,
For pet birds uncountable, driving one loco.


For work and for school, for shelter and hearth;
For means and for food, for Han, Leia and Darth.

I find your lack of iambic pentameter disturbing.

For freedom and choice, for safety and peace;
For a fortepiano on which I could play Für Elise.

For laughter and good times, playing games and mirth,
I'm thankful for all that I have on this earth.

-2012