Definition poems

This is a word count poem of 25 words.

The pattern is like this:  The poem is 9 lines lone and each line has a set number of words:

1.                 One Word--------The first word is the word you are going to define.

2.                Two Words------Followed by the words defining line one.

3.                Three Words

4.                Four Words

5.                Five Words

6.                Four Words

7.                Three Words

8.                Two Words

9.                One Word--------Then if possible use a synonym for line one 

                                      or some cleaver ending.

Example but when you are done you can eliminate the numbers:

1.       DOUBT                                  --by tex norman

2.      When you

3.      ask a child

4.      ‘who ate the cookies?’

5.      and they say they have

6.      no idea,. . .  with their

7.      mouths full . . . and

8.      they’re chewing

9.      something.

Just try defining some short common words or unusual words in this manner.  It could be enough for a book all by itself.

Faith:

Trust in

an unsubstantiated story,

a myth, because it’s

shared by many non-thinking beings

too lazy to think

for themselves, too

dumb to

doubt.

Dog:

A living

thing so delightful

its presence almost proves

the existence of a loving,

all powerful, all loving 

higher power.  Well,

they're almost

enough.

Money:

An idea

That, when accepted

by all, turns ordinary

paper into our idea of

money, when it is

still, just ordinary

slips of

paper

Intimacy:

A combination

of vulnerability and

trust with a dash

of believing you are desired

and able to return

your ecstasy for

her delightful

ecstasy.

Fortuitous:

It has

Nothing to do

With fortune. It’s occurring

By chance, serendipitous, lucky, an

Unexpected accident like the
day I meet

you.

Assurance:

No knowledge

and no doubt

equals absolute assurance and

makes intolerance and short term

solutions the political norm.

No doubt creates

the stupidly

sure.

  

Doubter:

Knowledge plus

doubt results in

intellectual hesitancy that

will watch the world

implode, while absolutely certain they

know a better way. . .

maybe.  But doubt

says, “Maybe

not.”

  

Putative:

Believed to

be – assumed to

be – as in ‘putitive

father’  – not confirmed by DNA

but mom was there

and pretty sure

who she

screwed.

  

Insomniac:

You lay

in your bed

like meatloaf in an

oven at a low temp

and you think and

wait and until

you're finally

done.

  

Talent:

Do something

until you’re the

best one among all

the people you know and

never consider that that

doesn’t make

all that

good.

Republican:

Someone so

selfish and lucky

they believe they have

the power to take care

of themselves, so piss

on everyone who

is less

lucky.

Weakness:

The truth

behind every strength.

We are stronger than’

we know, and weaker than

we imagine.  Over time,

only our weakness

strengthens.  That’s

life.

  

Shitty:

Some days

are so shitty

you wake up and

immediately you can just smell

that shitty day heading

your way.  There’s

no way

out.

Selcouth:

It is

a synonym, for

cool.  If something is

wondrous, marvelous, delightfully rare and 

strange in a strangely

magnificent way then this

is the word 

to use.  

Cool.

Selcouth

is not

a word easily

used in a sentence.

Left alone, I made up

several selcouth plans to

change my life

Let it

be.

Malarkey:

Sounds like

bullshit, blither blather

yahdah, yahdah, double speak.

It is something you’d rather

not hear and damn

near to “them

is fightin’

words.

  

Uxorious:

Yes, dear.

No dear.  Can

I bring you something

please, dear.  Can I visit

my balls, my sweetness, my

warmness, my white throated

dove.  Sorry if

I’m bothering

you.

Let Go

My dog is half lab which is,

as you know, short for

Labrador Retriever.  He will,

with no hesitation, run after

and retrieve whatever is thrown

but once retrieved he won’t

let go.  “Drop it!  Let Go, dog-gone-

it!”  I beg.  But he won’t let go,

he will not, no way in hell

is he going to let go despite

the fact that he delights in

chasing after whatever is thrown.

We hold on so tightly, even when

There are advantages to letting go.

Why is it so hard to let go?

Why is it so incredibly difficult

to accept nothing in exchange

for the utter bliss of the chase?

The Button Tin

My mother had a tin container

that had once held a fruitcake,

and now it held buttons.

Buttons were prized in those times.

Before an old shirt became rags,

the buttons were salvaged and placed

in the tin.  Buttons from dresses,

pants, coats, shirts, blouses,

even the eyes of a rag doll were

removed, a sort of organ donation

before the toy was laid to rest.

In the early days each button had a story.

My mother remembered the dress or

shirt a particular button came from, and

she remembered some incident that

happened while that garment was worn.

The buttons were saved out of Great

Depression fear that someday you would

need a button the size of a lady bug, and

when that day came you wouldn’t be able

to afford to buy one.  This huge tin of buttons,

many older than me, were still in her sewing

room after she died.  No one felt the need

to inherit all those buttons.  They were about

as popular as a fruitcake in late June.

My Father’s Way

My father’s way to praise

is to offer criticism.

Have you thought of getting your

stomach stapled?

Have you considered taking some

life drawing classes?

People buy landscapes.  Why don’t you do that. 

Maybe then you could sell something.

Each phrase means, with deep

sincerity, “You are inferior, and I

love you enough to say so.”