Every Day Poems

A Poem A Day

Funny Poems

First Ave by Jason Giltner 

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A photo of a Jason Giltner

First Ave

by Jason Giltner

Have you seen the guy that stands out on First Ave?

The one that wears the pink winter hat
and the acid-wash overalls?

He recites Shel Silverstein poems to passersby
and give free hugs
to those willing to accept one.

He sings Joni Mitchell songs
and does interpretive dance
to the rhythms of street performers.

I’ve never seen him either
but everyone talks about him.

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Jason Giltner is a writer from Minneapolis. His work has most recently appeared in McSweeney’s. He often lies awake at night considering that the Bat Signal is dependent on clouds. He isn’t sure if his use of the word “lies” in the previous sentence was grammatically correct.

the bedsheet weighs in by Wanda Morrow Clevenger

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Wanda Morrow Clevenger

the bedsheet weighs in

by Wanda Morrow Clevenger

morning bedsheet weighs a ton on same-old
hard to face no matter the season with same
knee pinch neck grind jaw pop joint ache, but

one day the insurance will reinstate and
oh, the thought to shop QVC cures and sample
designer hormones blowing breast cancer scare
off the catwalk

and first thing the eyeballs hurt;
the doctor says glaucoma can’t be felt
one day sight and the next, WHAM, he says
for emphasis, HELEN KELLER
so keeping up the exams is crucial, your
thicker corneas are built-in protection but
they produce high readings, false readings
so regular exams are crucial
remember, WHAM, he says 4 times a year

it’s criminal the bedsheet weighs in that
only and the truly afflicted and Rosanne Barr
qualify for medical marijuana

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Wanda Morrow Clevenger lives in Hettick, IL. Over 160 pieces of her work appear in 62 print and electronic publications. Her debut book This Same Small Town in Each of Us, a collection of memoir, poetry and flash fiction, released on October 30, 2011. She is currently compiling her first poetry manuscript for query. To view a sampling of published and new work, visit her blog It’s All Just Telling Tales Out of School: http://wlc-wlcblog.blogspot.com/

Remember by Art Heifetz

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Remember

by Art Heifetz

Despite a notice in the paper
Requesting contributions
In lieu of flowers,
They continued to arrive,
Like uninvited guests,
The buds of bereavement
The petals of sorrow,
A lush memorial of
Stately peace lilies with stylish fronds,
Thorny bushes of miniature roses,
Daffodils like prissy schoolgirls,
The flimsy pots swaddled
In crinkly green foil,
The senders identified by
Brief notes of consolation
Clipped to plastic stakes
Pressed firmly in the soil.

At the first heady rush
Of temperate weather,
He planted them in his garden,
The roses beside the mailbox
The daffodils in the rear,
Encircling the massive oak
Which towered above the deck,
And the lilies by the birdbath.

He marveled at their
Rare exuberance,
Returning year after year,
Thrusting their stems
Insistently
Through the hard clay soil,
Their blooms growing
Ever more exquisite
Even as the faces
Of the ones he’d loved
Grew fainter,
As if the dead were
Reaching out to him
And saying,
We once were thus,
Remember us.
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Retired State Farm insurance agent, returning to his first love, poetry. At urging of friends, began to publish in June. 16 poems accepted thus far. Life begins at 66.