This Poem was Submitted By: Ellen K Lewis On Date: 2007-01-03 02:10:38 . . . Click Here To Mail this Poem to a Friend!

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Tigers & Camels & Zebra's-oh my!

There are no turtles or frogs near the pond today. Haven't seen a snake in nary a month Haven't heard a cricket in the same yep I don't know when I'll get down on the pond again but when I go, I'll be there. There've been deer out back, edge of the field corn some young cocks; still not got their tails up but they's there. There are coyotes howling near ever' night sometimes they are a thing to hear but mostly there just out there cause of those cocky young deer. There's a zoo not far from me now exotic animals, and I know it's true first time I heard an ostrich at dawn I thought I'd done gone to the birds. There's camels there and zebra's too it's a pleasure for my imagination places I can never go  but they can always be my destination. If I went down to the pond tonight I wouldn't see any turtles or frogs Funny how they just go one day but when they're gone they're still there. Not so with me. Cause I know that somewhere yonder across the way I'll find some toad want's a kiss and me and the wizzard will go there. But for tonight and for now I'll just stay put by this pond and while I listen to the howls  and the hoot owls I'll be thinking of horses their breath steamy in the mountains.

Copyright © January 2007 Ellen K Lewis

Additional Notes:
I am right smack in the middle of Oz, but I've never seen the Wizard. This piece is just for fun; a neat way to 'unstress your brain'.....so smile! it won't hurt......cheers! Happy new year!


This Poem was Critiqued By: marilyn terwilleger On Date: 2007-01-26 12:22:10
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 10.00000
Hi Ellen....I just love this poem. It is full of humor and fun in every line. I also like the down home dialect....it gives the entire piece charm and makes it pleasant to read. As I read your words I keep thinking I wish I had a pond like this in my backyard! Thanks for making me smile today! cheers...Marilyn


This Poem was Critiqued By: Sharon J Eisenmann On Date: 2007-01-21 10:53:03
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 10.00000
Hi Ellen, This definatley fills the bill for a cold snowy winters day. I'm there with you! It's so deliciously refeshing! I don't know if you've thought of it but this would make a great childrens illustrated book! Great title that draws the reader in and wonderful images! My favorite part is "If I went down to the pond tonight I wouldn't see any turtles or frogs Funny how they just go one day but when they're gone they're still there." I love the ending as well! Thanks for ther stress relief. Sometimes we need that! LOL All the time. Best, Sharon
This Poem was Critiqued By: Mary J Coffman On Date: 2007-01-11 08:49:31
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 10.00000
Ellen, Wow! I felt like I was in Oz with you, my friend. Such a mixture of animal life...sights never to be seen in 'real life' together at all. What an excellent tale of whimsy and amusement! A delightful and pleasing break from the sometimes-starkness of everyday life! I especailly love the last lines, as I could actually relate to that having a horse and living here in Colorado. Thanks for the respit, my friend. I so enjoyed this offering! What an imagination you must have!! *smile* Warmest regards, Mary
This Poem was Critiqued By: James C. Horak On Date: 2007-01-09 08:43:53
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 1.00000
Ellen, had not the Wizard of Oz not subscribed well to Freudian Analysis, your poem certainly does. What usually comes straight from the heart retains such candor and, like with the expressions of a child, bares itself to the very psyche. That trueness is detected instinctively by children and that is why your calling is obviously, like that of Baum, Milne and Carroll, wonderfully discernable to a child...even overgrown ones like me. Kissing toads and the steaming nostrils of stallions in the mountains hearkens beyond the mundane, metaphors attaching to universal imagery. Better than a Christmas tree your menagarie spell-binds the imagination and finds its own, Yellow Brick Road. When the impressionists discovered the camera had made realism an antiquated genre in art, poets had, likewise, the opportunity to acknowledge that form should accede as much to imagery and substance. That this did not happen is tragic and is why free verse such as yours and mine is, I think, vastly underrated. JCH
This Poem was Critiqued By: Claire H. Currier On Date: 2007-01-05 04:24:10
Critiquer Rating During Critique: Unknown
All you need is a pair of red bowed shoes and off you may go......they do sell at WalMart, bought granddaughter a pair......this is adorable, so silled with wonderful images of the pond, the frog, turtles and deer.....all I have to do is look across the back road where I live and I see the pond, I hear the ducks as they fly overhead and land in the water from which the beavers made the little stream into a large pond where the fish now jump thanks to the State for stocking..........the coyote's you speak of howl here at night and sometimes you can hear the entire pack as runs behind the pld farmhouse...... I so love animals, all kinds, shapes and sizes but those snakes you speak of could leave town and I would not care at all.......my roosters were enough to shake up my neighbors so you get to keep the ostrich for I do believe they are rather loud...hehehe......and if you do find that prince in the shape of a toad please let us know........loved the entire piece, read very well and stirred my own imagination. God Bless and good luck in the contest..........will be on my list for sure.....Claire
This Poem was Critiqued By: Lora Silvey On Date: 2007-01-04 11:31:54
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 1.00000
Ellen, I totally enjoyed this, yes it is a great un-stresser. What a chuckle I had as I read and loved the venacular, your a hoot girl and just what the doctored ordered this AM. Thanks for the respite, keep writing. Lora
This Poem was Critiqued By: Mark Steven Scheffer On Date: 2007-01-03 15:14:54
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 1.00000
Ellen, The voice here was extremely refreshing. And delicious. A poem that is original, and, yes, fun. But more than fun. You got your smile in this reader. Mark
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