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Shirtless in the yard
Not a lick of sunscreen
Daring the bright sun
To do his wicked best
Grass-stained tennis shoes
Follow the roaring mower
Around the yard's edges
Crisscross back and forth
Shorts and no socks at all
Expose his legs to more
Than just the beating sun
Flicks of sticks and grass
A wide-brimmed hat atop
His short-haired head
One concession granted
To the smiling sun
Slow and steady progress
Across the wide yard
Virtually on autopilot
Lost in his thoughts
@}>--'---,----
- Copyright 2009, by Joseph Rohrbach
Thank you for reading my poetry. Please feel free to print it, copy it, or distribute it in any manner that you see fit, but please also keep the copyright notice attached. And whatever your reaction, I would love to hear from you! Please e-mail me at jadepoet@me.com with "POTD" somewhere in your subject line (that way I will know to let you by my spam filter).
'Round and 'round and 'round she goes! Where she stops, nobody knows! Sometimes I post more poems here in a week than there are days in it; sometimes I go eight weeks between poems. The months of April and May were a prime example of the latter. Between this, that, and the other thing - primarily our buying a new house and moving into it - I made no time to sit down at the keyboard and write a poem to post here. Ah, well, water on the bridge, as they say.
The thing about that water under the bridge is that it flows constantly, whether I watch from the bridge, swim with the current, or fight to paddle upstream. Each day that I write a poem is a day that I write a poem. Each day that I do not write is a day that I do not write. Neither one is better or more valuable than the other except in my own declaration. My declaration is what creates the game called POTD. I find that I enjoy life more when I am playing it than when I am not, so back to the keyboard I come.
Speaking of arbitrary distinctions, I posted my first poem in two months on the one hundred fifty-first day of the year, a day that has no inherent meaning to anyone, especially since most people worry more about days of the month than days of the year. In this case, however, the 151st day of the year, May 31st in three years out of four, has a special meaning to me.
When I was in high school, a couple of my friends and I set about creating a party. We had a variety of reasons for having a party - a couple birthdays, the end of the school year, the start of summer - but decided instead to make up a heretofore uncelebrated holiday. We chose the "151st Day of the Year" as our cause for celebration and announced it with all due fanfare. The party was a hit and we observed our "holiday" twice more before our gang was broken up by college and other life travels.
I have never forgotten that May 31st is the 151st day of the year (it helps that I am a complete numbers geek) and it has held a special place in my memories and in my heart ever since that first party. So here I am again, celebrating that special day, this time with my 1,160th Poem of the Day. Another day, another poem...
Ever onward...
In case you are wondering, my full name is Joseph Alan Daniel Rohrbach, making my initials JADR, and that is how I originally signed my poetry when I was 16 or so. Not being easily pronounced, I eventually morphed that to "Jade," and I have been signing my poetry that way for over 30 years. In addition to almost being my initials, jade is also my favorite semi-precious stone, is the color of my eyes, and reminds me of the Orient.
If you enjoyed the poem above, or even if you did not, you may want to read some of my other poetry...
Poems previously featured on Poem of the Day can be found here
(the five most recent poems are also listed above)
This page is a Zap Software production.
(c) Copyright 1996-2008 Joseph Rohrbach
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