My dog Jasper loves taking walks and spending time with me in my gardens. He doesn’t even know he is mentioned in some of my books and poems, but I think he would approve. He would also approve of this fun thing that arrived in the mail this week: a recognition for a humorous canine poem in my mostly otherwise serious collection of poetry, Glimpsing Glory.
Do “humor” and “poetry” go together in your mind?
Well, we might ask, why do we write and read poems, anyway? I found a few famous answers to the question “why poetry?”:
I think most of my poems in Glimpsing Glory do reflect “a homesickness, a love sickness,” they “probe deepest emotions and longings,” and express a kind of “prayer.” But sometimes we need our hearts lifted and loads lightened as well as our souls elevated, something to help us tilt our heads and look at circumstances with a different perspective. Sometimes everyday experiences cause my sense of humor to erupt in fun poems. When these are included in a volume of poetry, they are like lucky limericks teasing Irish elegies or perky wildflowers surprising in cultivated gardens. These things I find delightful, and I hope my readers do also.
Do you have a favorite humorous poem that brings a smile to your face and quickens your step? Perhaps it’s a folk song or ditty, or a poem like this one for which I received the above recognition:
CANINE SOCIAL MEDIA
My dog, Jasper, reads
pee mail with his nose.
And he’s a dexterous texter
as he lifts four toes.
Some moms dole out tech time;
but me? I give trek time.
Each bush, post, and bench
offers doggy wifi.
When he wiggles and whines
and starts to holler,
I lace up my shoes, click
the links of his collar.
When he meets other dogs, it’s
‘Will you be my friend?
Follow me in the net-erhood,
my hashtag’s a trend.’
Dogs carry screen names
on their behinds;
Cuz that’s where they sniff,
their profiles to find.
With his nose he scans lawns
for the latest chatter
from cute Lily on the corner
or Bruce the Irish Setter.
–Catherine Lawton
Here’s to soul-elevating and prayerful, as well as playful poetry!