This is a list of the five poems I have made for the Forest Poetry contest. Over the years, my poems have gotten more ambitious. Pet Peeves has five parts and Balding Eagle uses particularly difficult to rhyme words. I couldn't have made these without the creative help of my mother and online thesauruses.
(2017)
Acorny Poem
There once was a squirrel named Einstein
On acorns all day he would dine
He just couldn’t resist
So his wife did insist
That he make his home up in a pine
(2018)
Work Was Slow
There once was a slow snail named Bruce
Who was late for his job selling juice
Bruce tried to explain
That his ride was to blame
But boss didn’t believe his excuse
So he started working part time
Scrubbing the floors of their grime
While cleaning the ground
He went round and round
Mopping his trail of slime
Because he likes cookies and cake
He got a job where he could bake
He fell in the dough
And became escargot
And his friends were all late to his wake
(2019)
Animals With Medical Problems
There once was a duck named Rasputin
Who had a bad problem with tootin’
The bread that was tossed
It came with a cost
He was severely allergic to gluten
His friend was a rabbit named Scamp
Who once was a cross country champ
Though he once was athletic
He's now diabetic
Every time that he ran he would cramp
Their boss was a frog named Moses
Who was cursed with a grim prognosis
His employees would choke
Every time that he croaked
For his meetings came with halitosis
(2020)
Pet Peeves
There once was a gopher named Lloyd
Who was prone to getting annoyed
The chewing of nails
And the grooming of scales
Made him hope for a second asteroid
His wife was a 'dillo named Jen
And she wouldn't get out of her den
All day she would sleep
And though it would beep
She'd snooze her alarm once again
He was vexed as he suffered through traffic
Delayed by a daft demographic
The sloths didn't care
For the others' despair
Lloyd's response was admittedly graphic
He worked with Bob, the cicada
Whose job was inputting data
The clicking and clacking
Made Lloyd dream of whacking
His friend just like periplaneta
He hoped to experience healing
And breakthrough emotional ceilings
His therapist tried
But gophers have pride
So he couldn't help burying his feelings
(2021)
Balding Eagle
There once was an eagle named Knox
Who was blessed with luxurious locks
Oblivious was he
Of his bald destiny
Which would strike like a large bag of rocks
One day he was soaring with Chief
Whose divulgence caused great disbelief
When the slip of the beak
Leaked a future that’s bleak
Knox went through the five stages of grief
As he faced his inevitable balding
Knox questioned his father named Roaldwing
The answer of his
Was, “it is what it is”
This did not make his fate less appalling
As he roamed around feeling defective
He saw a vulture and gained some perspective
It could have been worse
With the carrion’s curse
(Of his hygiene he was highly protective)
(2022)
A Songbird's Lament
There once was a songbird named Joyce
Who was cursed with a horrible voice
What came from her beak
Was an unpleasant squeak
Her silence made others rejoice
She hoped lessons would end all the jeers
And cicadas had vocal careers
Her dreams were soon quelled
Because class would be held
Only once every seventeen years
The whales could make her less strange
So a meeting she tried to arrange
But she sang much too high
And stayed in up the sky
She was doubly out of their range
She had failed to find an instructor
So she settled for choir conductor
This launched a diatribe
Which was hushed by her bribe
And the choir was convinced to induct her
Such good stuff! My favorite line below (poor thing!):
While cleaning the ground
He went round and round
Mopping his trail of slime