Geography and Pronunciation 101

Welcome to Maine.  I just picked the easy ones.  I mean Eggemoggin is pronounced just the way it’s spelled, but I’ve never actually heard anyone say Passagassawaukeag.

If you rhymed the spelling with palace

A Frenchman might accuse you of malice

If you’re from away

You would call it Calais

But Downeast they call it Calais.

It hurts my ears when people mangle this one.

The name’s pronounced almost like bancorp

It’s an irony no one could plan for

It’s not hanger or banger

Or rancor or anger

Stephen King’s hometown is Ban Gore.

May They Rot in Peace

Our compost pile is a meeting place for vegetable matter from all over the world.  Where else would a pineapple from Hawaii meet a tomato from Mexico, an apple from New Zealand, a weed from Sedgwick, Maine, a cucumber from Chile and a peach from Georgia?  And they all get along.

My compost has an international flair,

Mexican and Chilean produce are there

With tropical fruit

Rotting right next to it

And the local ingredients don’t care.

Much to our own irritation, sometimes we give the process a head start.

We keep produce in the refrigerator

Because that’s what an icebox is for

So I was surprised

The day I realized

That ours has a composting drawer.

 Deadlines

I hope that doesn’t refer to the lines below.  

OK so I finished and filed my taxes on time.  That’s a deadline with some real meaning, because even to file an extension you have to get most of the work done.

With serious consequences in place

There’s pressure to keep up your pace

It’s a delicate art

To know when to start

So it’s pressure, but not panic you face.

But I haven’t prepared the vegetable garden for spring planting, I haven’t picked up the yard debris, I haven’t posted a limerick in over a week, and if I listed all the other evidence of failing to meet self imposed deadlines I’d never ………..

I hate the self imposed deadline

With no penalty, no sanction or fine

Just self induced stress

And the stream of consciousness

Gets dammed up somewhere deep in my mind.

Primary Challenge and Response

Made for TV political theater.

In politics tempers get short

Criticism provokes a retort 

The insults start small

But it’s winner-take-all

Bloodletting full contact sport.

So far much of the blood-letting has been on the Republican side, but with the New York primary coming up, where each claims a home state advantage, Bernie and Hillary are demanding equal time.

Bernie says she’s unqualified

Hillary says Bernie’s tongue-tied

Because he may shirk

Doing his homework.

That’s what happens when egos collide.

Welcome Spring

Whaddya mean, ‘It’s backordered’ ? 

It’s sunny and there’s a light breeze

But no leaves are out on the trees

See, here’s the thing

Although it is Spring

(April 5th) it’s just twenty degrees!

Tax Time

It’s April and our minds turn to what accountants have been thinking about all winter.

It’s April and time to assess

How much money we owe IRS

This pain of the irs

Is made even worse

Since it pays the salaries of Congress.

I do believe in paying my taxes, but it would be nice to get a functional government for my money.  Though my contribution wouldn’t buy much of these guys ‘valuable’ time.

I don’t mind paying my dues

I’d feel better though if I could choose

Where MY money went

It hurts that some’s spent

Paying Issa, McConnell and Cruz.