Ode to Buttons

Buttons, buttons everywhere,

they’re on this and over there.

They’re on clothes and touch-screens.

They’re on phones and washing machines

They can be found in boxes or jars,

or in neat rows on planes and cars.

Being on the button is good,

pushing peoples, you never should.

Some buttons are big, some are small.

Some buttons do nothing at all,

some are outies others innies,

silly buttons on our bellies.

You may have a cute button nose,

to enjoy the smell of sweet rose.

While buttoned up or buttoned down,

in the rain or strolling in town.

Buttons in all shapes, any size,

having a spare is always wise.

Buttons for eyes on our stuffed friends.

Uses for buttons never ends.

We glue them on paper plates,

making gifts for special dates.

Add string then sprinkle glitter on,

next curly yarn, name in crayon.

Some are toggles, some are switches.

Some like snaps to hold up breeches.

No zippers for me, I prefer,

buttons to hold all together.

Glad to share my buttons with you,

we’re all buttoned up, story through.

Rhyme’s done, time to button my lip,

I’ll say goodbye, have a safe trip.

By Steve Kittell

https://www.childrens-stories.net/poems-and-rhyming-stories/buttons_steve~kittell.htm

Not buttons but bowl of baby mandarins just for fun © image Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2023

‘The Giver’ by Sara Teasdale

The Giver

You bound strong sandals on my feet,

You gave me bread and wine,

And sent me under sun and stars,

For all the world was mine.

Oh, take the sandals off my feet,

You know not what you do;

For all my world is in your arms,

My sun and stars are you.

By Sara Teasdale

Sara Teasdale (born 8 August 1884 Missouri U.S. and died 29 January 1933 New York New York) An American poet whose short, personal lyrics were noted for their classical simplicity and quiet intensity.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sara-Teasdale

‘Smile’ Poem

Universal fact © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2023

Smile—A Poem

Smiling is infectious,
You catch it like the flu.
When someone smiled at me today,
I started smiling too.
I passed around the corner
and someone saw my grin.
When he smiled I realised
I’d passed it on to him.
I thought about that smile,
then I realised its worth.
A single smile, just like mine
could travel round the earth.
So, if you feel a smile begin,
don’t leave it undetected.
Let’s start an epidemic quick,
and get the world infected!

by Spike Milligan (Possibly)
Irish Writer, Poet, Comedian, Actor.

NOTE: Author/illustrator Jez Alborough also attributed to this poem.

Firecat smile fan the flames © Dot Bernet 2018

Poetry of Geometry and Sociometry

Geometry Class
by Michael Devoe

In geometry we learn how to measure the distance between things

The space between things

The empty space between lines

How long is the shadow cast by a branch on a tree if it is two o’clock
and the branch is east facing
and seven feet above the ground

A train departed Madrid in rush hour at 5:40pm
and arrived in Barcelona at 8:15pm
it went 63mph for 50 minutes
how fast did it go the rest of the way if it is 386 miles between the cities

A trove of treasure held 300 cubic inches of gold
and had a six inch square face
how long was the box

If it takes three seconds for my phone to chime after you send a text message
and it takes two seconds for my brain to recognise your name on my phone
how long will my stomach flutter if I’ve loved you for one month…

Assuming my stomach flutters for that long
and you ended our burgeoning relationship yesterday
to stay comfortable in your current surroundings
and we both don’t want to give up how real it all feels
how much silly putty does it take to fill the empty space in my chest

If Wal-Mart sells silly putty for $1.36 per package and each package contains 4oz. of silly putty and I work for $13.51 per hour and $13.30 of each hour’s wage goes towards bills and other essentials how long will I have to work in order to save enough money to buy all the silly putty required to fill my chest with it, assuming I live in Oregon where there is no sales tax and that I only drink one six pack at $8.99 a week

More importantly though

If I fill my chest with silly putty, will my heart bounce back after it’s dropped next time.

A collection of poems by Michael DeVoe is available:

Where She Left Me – Michael DeVoe

https://hellopoetry.com/michael-devoe/

https://hellopoetry.com/tag/geometry/

I like geometric imagery but don’t appreciate the mechanics.
However, I do enjoy the clever confusion of this poem and the end twist.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

We stopped for lunch at the Gatton campus of University of Queensland and admired this heritage-listed Foundation Building constructed in 1896 and used for events and conferences.

Mouse in the House!

*Our House Mouse* chalk drawing © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2022

MISSING

Has anybody seen my mouse?

I opened his box for half a minute,

Just to make sure he was really in it,

And while I was looking, he jumped outside!

I tried to catch him, I tried, I tried….

I think he’s somewhere about the house.

Has anyone seen my mouse?

Uncle John, have you seen my mouse?

Just a small sort of mouse, a dear little brown one,

He came from the country, he wasn’t a town one,

So he’ll feel all lonely in a London street;

Why, what could he possibly find to eat?

He must be somewhere. I’ll ask Aunt Rose:

Have you seen a mouse with a woffelly nose?

He’s just got out…

Poem by

A.A. (Alan Alexander) Milne (1882-1956), famous for his stories about Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, Tigger, Piglet and the crew who lived in Hundred Acre Wood.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/A-A-Milne

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

‘The Empty Glass’ by Henry Lawson

The Empty Glass

by Henry Lawson, 1906

—

There are three lank bards in a borrowed room —

Ah! The number is one too few —

They have deemed their home and the bars unfit

For the thing that they have to do.

Three glasses they fill with the Land’s own wine,

And the bread of life they pass.

Their glasses they take, which they slowly raise —

And they drink to an empty glass.

—

(There’s a greater glare in the street to-night,

And a louder rush and roar,

There’s a mad crowd yelling the winner’s name,

And howling the cricket score:

Oh! The bright moonlight on the angels white,

And the tombs and the monuments grand —

And down by the water at Waverley

There’s a little lone mound of sand.)

—

Oh, the drinkers would deem them drunk or mad,

And the barmaid stare and frown —

Each lays a hand on the empty glass

Ere they turn it upside down.

There’s a name they know, in a hand they know,

Was scratched with a diamond there —

And they place it in sight — turn on more light —

And they fill their glasses fair.

—

There’s a widow that weeps by the Hornsby line,

And she stood by him long and true —

But the widow should think by the Hornsby line

That others have loved him too,

‘Twas a peaceful end, and his work was done,

When called with the year away;

And the greatest lady in all the land

Is working for her to-day.

—

If the widow should fear for her children’s fate,

Or brood on a future lot,

In a frivolous land with her widowed state

In a short twelve months forgot.

She can lay her down for a peaceful rest

And forget her grief in sleep,

For his brothers have taken an oath to-night,

An oath that their hearts can keep.

—

They have taken an oath to his memory,

A pledge they cannot recall,

To stand by the woman that stood by him,

Through poverty, illness and all.

They are young men yet, or the prime of life,

And as each lays down his trust,

May the world be kind to the left behind,

And their native land be just.

—

(Silence of death in town to-night,

And the streets seem strangely clear —

Have the pitiful slaves of the gambling curse

Fled home for a strange new fear?

Oh, the soft moonlight on the angels white,

Where the beautiful marbles stand —

And down by the rollers at Waverley

There’s a mound of the golden sand.)

—

Henry Lawson, 1906, Australian poet

Source:

http://www.ironbarkresources.com/henrylawson/EmptyGlass.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Lawson

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Knowledge and Wisdom

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in full Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson of Aldworth and Freshwater (born 6 August, 1809, Somersby, Lincolnshire, England — died 6 October, 1892, Aldworth, Surrey) an English poet often regarded as the chief representative of the Victorian age in poetry. He was raised to the peerage in 1884.

Source https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Lord-Tennyson

Clouds, No Daffodils

Clouds from Mt Coot-tha lookout, Brisbane © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2022

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

By WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze…..

Remember this poem from school days?
Complete verse on Poetry Foundation
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45521/i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

I have been WP blogging 5 years so that is 10,000 views per year – maybe! GBW 2022

D H Lawrence and the Swan

Relativity

I like relativity and quantum theories
because I don’t understand them
and they make me feel as if space shifts about
like a swan that can’t settle,
refusing to sit still and be measured;
and as if the atom were an impulsive thing
always changing its mind.

by

D. H. Lawrence (1921)

David Herbert Richards Lawrence (1885 – 1930) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, critic, playwright, and painter.

WILD BIRD RESCUES, GOLD COAST, QUEENSLAND
http://wildbirdrescues.com.au/feeding-native-birds/feeding-swans-and-ducks/
Read why you should NOT feed wild swans!

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Reading Wales #Dewithon22 has Arrived!

This will be my fourth Reading Wales #dewithon and I am excited at the list of Welsh authors and poets which Book Jotter has assembled to tempt our reading taste buds.

Source one book, source ten!
Create your own list!
See my list!
Join in Reading Wales!

https://bookjotter.com/2022/03/01/reading-wales-2022/

Currently I have six books on a waiting list at my local library because it will be easier to collect them rather than hanging around waiting for an interstate or overseas parcel delivery.

I hold Covid-19 responsible and also a catastrophic flood which swept down the Queensland coast, through my city of Brisbane (everything is still soaked) and pounded coastal New South Wales before heading towards Sydney. Notice how I worked in the word ‘Wales’?

A MESSAGE FROM THE CREATOR
BOOK JOTTER, PAULA BARDELL-HEDLEY

Welcome to the fourth Reading Wales celebration (aka Dewithon 22), a month-long event beginning on Saint David’s Day, during which book lovers from all parts of the world are encouraged to read, discuss and review literature by and about writers from Wales.

For more in-depth information on this reading jolly, head over to DHQ (Dewithon Headquarters), and to see what’s happening this year, please follow this link. You can also share your thoughts and posts on Twitter by using the hashtags #dewithon22 and/or #walesreadathon22.

____________________

visit DHQ Reading Wales Dewithon22 websites below.
click ‘On Our Shelves’ to browse Dewithoner’s suggested reading list.
source books relating to Wales from library, bookshop, online.
post a book review and tell everyone!

https://bookjotter.com/2022/03/01/reading-wales-2022/

https://bookjotter.com/2019/04/02/wales-readathon-library-on-our-shelves/

N.B. Dewithon22 reading includes fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays, in fact anything with a significant link to Wales.

____________________

What have I ambitiously chosen and which are available to me?

Turning Points in Welsh History 1485-1914 by Stuart Broomfield and Euryn Madoc-Jones UWP. AVAILABLE at my local library. READ
Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman (because my family are dragon fans and it’s part of Welsh Princes trilogy I have always wanted to read). DOWNLOADED e-book. READ
Black Valley (Jessica Mayhew book 2, couldn’t source book 1) by Charlotte Williams, a domestic drama arts thriller of some intensity. AVAILABLE in my local library. READ
On the Red Hill: Where Four Lives Fell into Place by Mike Parker, a relative new book which according to The Guardian is “A moving, multi-layered memoir…extraordinary, ambitious…” ON ORDER.
The Owl Service by Alan Garner was too tempting, so I’ve added it to my list. The Guardian says “…the plot is very gripping and slightly creepy.” AVAILABLE in my local library. READ
Sugar and Slate by Charlotte Williams – past winner of the Arts Council of Wales Book of the Year, an autobiographical story of a Welsh-African mixed-race woman who brings her unique qualities to the story, transforming it into a lively and living account of her life. ON ORDER.

I’m keen to get started 😀 and already made some headway!

My thoughts are that I will eventually read them all—perhaps not all in March—and I am looking forward to having my mind held captive by the literati of Wales. When I put down the books and walk Terra Australis again, my reviews will be either here or Goodreads.

Looking forward to reading about what you are reading!

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward