Whether They'll Whither

Whether or not the flowers will whither

depends on the weather,

and whether the weather's been dryer or wetter.

And whether or not they can weather the weather,

Also depends on

whether or not

they've had enough water

(or too much).

Unless I'm Wrong, I'm Right.

Unless I'm wrong (or left), I'm right -

With pen in hand, I write.

A maker is a wright.

A priest performs a rite.

Underwear Shopping On the Isle of Guile

For some strange reason,

on the Isle of Guile,

the underwear aisle

seems to stretch for a mile.

And after you've browsed

for a little while,

you can tell that - 

here on the Isle - 

polka dots

are always in style.

Faithful Hound

Although we didn't know where to go,

or how,

or when,

or what to do,

but to march on...

"Ruff! Ruff!" barked the dog, when the going got tough,

and the weather got rough,

and we trudged through icky, sticky, stuff.

That dog got us through.

He knew what do do.

But how did he know the way to go?

Or how to lift the hearts of men,

who had lost all hope.

Emptied of pride,

grown men stopped in their tracks and cried.

And doubtless, many would have died,

but for our canine friend.

When, at last, our homeward march was done,

amidst the rising of the sun,

I marveled that each and every one of us was there.

The prize we'd sought when we'd begun

was lost to us.

We hadn't won.

And yet we did, by that return,

escape the ultimate defeat.

And so, on that night, and every night since then,

for his faithfulness to all my men,

the choicest cut of meat and bone,

I serve to him, and him alone.

Brave Matilda

Under the old wizard's gaze, students usually whither.

But not brave Matilda,

who kept her wits with her,

when he asked her,

"With which little witch did you switch?"

"Switch what?" she replied,

looking straight in his eyes.

And although he was easily three times her size,

he seemed smaller than she was

for a moment, and then 

he coughed and said, "I wondered whether..."

But then he just trailed off.

And he walked off.

And we all dispersed,

Wondering if somehow

The old man she'd cursed.