Deer Elk: Letter by JOE PARENTE (top young adult novels txt) 📕

Deer Elk: Letter

Deer Elk, have you herd? Aunt Ler and Vinny’s son Spike are in a rut with no doe. Knowing how fawn you are, could you send them a few bucks. They need to hoof it off the mountain. I know you’ve done a lot fur them before. That stag Spike and Aunt Ler are having a cow about buying Rudolf’s rain gear, butt she moosely understands.
Spike needs them fur re-grouping in the open with the others.
I know he’ll take the lead someday. Spike halves to kick his hindquarter. It’ll be-hoove him to make his points. That’s all I can tail you so fur. See you at crossing.

So long fur now,
Winters hair.
Don’t have a bang!

Don Ner


PS: Spike and Aunt Ler’s spread look nice. I know
Eventually they’ll both be hoppy. With the doe you send, I’ll bet Spike and your Aunt elope!


The Wedding

Ushered to the correct location,
All soon waited with anticipation.
Today was Daddy’s special day.
He was giving his girl away.
As she grew, he could remember,
Memories alive with tears of splendor.
For when she walked down the aisle,
He took her hand for this last while.
Through tears, it soon became clear to him,
Once a little girl, now becomes a woman.
At the same moment, he was thrilled and sad.
Losing his little girl, she her dad.
Realization became true with that verse,
As the priest says “for better or worse”.
All out now, to the reception,
As the dance, they took with applause of perfection.

Now at the house and all alone,
He can now look back of memories of home.


The Wetting

Solid wall of water drops.
At certain times of the year.
No relief until it stops,
Rising water-bringing fear.
Rivers flowing over there’re brim.
Causing havoc for miles around.
“No let up” from weathermen.
Roads are closed throughout the town.
Debris and mudded water soup,
Trees with roots, floating down.
Black clouds form this endless loop.
“All alert” for higher ground.
Neighbors saving precious items.
True devastation has ruined this town.
Children, animals as others find them, Saving Miss Murphy, but loosing Clem.
Houses now knee deep in mud.
As it pours some more with rising flood.
Days go by as prayers are heard,
Lighter showers replace the flood.
Water retreats for a landing bird.
Bright white streaks of Sun appear.
All around things start to clear.
Although the cleanup has yet to start,
Something made these seas to part.


The Whetting

Piece of steel lying in the drawer.
Cutting butter is still a chore.
Then came an overdo decision,
Was to sharpen it to it’s precision.
I tried ceramic and every gadget.
However, dull it stayed with every effort.
I tried to grind it, and file it.
Every try wasn’t worth it.

Then remembering grandpa’s whetstone,
One side rough, the other, smooth like bone.
Taking the blade by the handle,
I drew it across the rough side.
Then on the other, I began to hone.
Out of all the knives in that drawer,
I’d be sure to leave that one alone.
Now it is the one I’d reach for,
When that knife married the whetstone.


To Care

Don’t flatter me,

Matter me.

Instead.


I’ve Got It

Why do I need to buy that stuff? I hate shopping. I’ve had enough!
I don’t want to go to that store. I just don’t need anymore.
I have plenty of those things. I made sure of that myself.
Every time in the past, I bought two so things would last.
When one wears out I have a spare so that when needed, I’ll have no care.

The stock I’ve built took me years so that a replacement was always near.
I have so much and stacked it high, in boxes lashed with wire and twine.
All I have to do is go out there and try to find it under that stair.
I’ve searched in cartons, looked in bags and gotten lost in looking there.
I looked last week to find that item; I looked and looked on into time.
I know I’ve got one maybe two or three. It could be locked up with that key.

The realization is oh so true, I’ll need to buy one more or two.
I hate to shop but there’s no way out. I forgot where I put that last one bought.


Gift

No decision made, not sure what to get, I was loosing my smile as I searched every aisle.
What could I buy a guy that owns the sky?
A tie, a pie, I’m gonna’ die.
I gotta do this. I gotta do that.
After two and a half hours of looking around, I really do have to sit down.
After sitting and staring, and mourning this day, I see what I need on the end display.
Walking towards it quickly but bold I soon discovered the last one was sold.
Trying so hard with all my might I bribed this old lady. She was holding it tight.
A few dollars more was all that it took, even then, I felt like a crook.
I turned on my heel after making the deal walking over to pay the bill.
The clerk was commenting “the last one they had”as I looked it over and saw something bad.
Yelling obscenities that I’ve never spoken realizing then, that something was broken!
Just as I thought when the grueling pace was over, the decision was made so I paid.
Carrying the box out of the store with pieces of it falling onto the floor, just at that minute I did not care anymore.

I was done with this and I was sick of that, I was still gonna mail it to brother Matt.
I knew when he got it he would complain, but there was only one way to place another one to blame.
I’d tell him it was Thomas, the old fuddy duddy.
He works downtown.
He’s my old mailman buddy.


New Day

Good morning! It’s a brain new day.
Just awakening? Don’t delay.
Think of it this way:
Fresh thoughts are rushing your way.
In your mind you were sleeping,
However, your brain was awake.
It’s time to use what you’ve dreamed of,
In addition, put it in play.
Fresh new solutions, goals you can gain,
Plan it for now, but do it today.

Time is now noon.
You should act soon.
What are you doing? Eating again?
I thought you were planning to start up at ten.
Now you are tired and taking a nap.
When you wake up you can start up with a snap.
You don’t want to miss what’s on TV?.
It’s getting late, and it’s well past nine.
Soon that big clock, at eleven, will chime.
Things didn’t work out.
Nothing to worry about.

Get a good night’s sleep.
And, think this way,
Tomorrow will be,
A brain new day.


Conservation

In lake, fish are.

In take, none are.


Blink-You lose

Have you ever played that game of not blinking?
My sister and I used to do it not thinkin’.
We would start in by starin’ real long at each other waitin’ for her eye or mine to shutter.
My eyes would water and start to burn and itch, you couldn’t win if your lids start to twitch.

My eyes were hazel hers of blue, as we stood there starin’ at us two.

Every blink game we played ended as we were laughlin’ so hard that I’m thinkin’ we both started blinkin’.


Have you ever played the game that if you’d stop blinkin’ you’d lose?


Missing

Black or purple, blue or brown wherever I look it will never be found.
I’ve looked in all places and all the time wasted a pile is starting to grow.
There’s now more than fifty all in a ball, even if found the order is tall.
To find that ones’ mate both color and length will be the worlds’ miracle.

Load after load more singles are showed to adding to that great giant lump.
The desperation and constant irritation is causing me to go nearly dumb
The problem is this; if I throw it away it may find out a way to appear from it’s hidden abyss.
So you see, if I toss and the other un-lost the problem will again re-exist.
There’s but one real solution bringing to this conclusion, all may not agree

I’ll wear one or other regardless of color, style or knee.
In order to hide them I’ll lengthen the cuffs of my most favorite dungaree.


Celebrating?

Both at dinner with a steak on order and salmon so fresh it’s alive,
We noticed the deplorable sharpness of our knives.
My knife had seen all the glory when new, but was so dull it couldn’t cut stew.
Her blade had quite an edge, just as sharp as a building’s ledge.
Believe it was better than mine, that was saying a lot this time.
I’ll tell you where it was at, you could cut my steak better with a baseball bat.

Raising my hand to alert our waiter my cufflink got caught on the dinner platter.
Completely embarrassed with a red face, the server assured me and our dinner replaced.

I swore to myself from all of that flutter, that I would remember to bring my own cutter.

All I can say, it was a great meal, even though we had to chew a great deal.


Eye Show


Beauty carries itself and how it does, shows how it does.
Natural shows it.
It can be seen only by the natural eye, and it does show it.
Together natural beauty shows itself for when you notice it does.
They show in many forms, when they do, they know how to show.
The show is only noticed by the eye that sees the show.
Not all eyes see the show.
The bloom, the change, the color, the strange, is all the show.
A practiced eye can see the variation.
If it does not vary, the show can still be seen by the natural eye.
The elk, the deer, the mountain, the bear can usually show the deviation.
Then it’s prances, then its swagger shows it’s splendor.
Only the discerning eye can chance its display of total grandeur.
See it beautifully.
Catch it naturally.
Catch its show!


Autumn

Tree leaves tree.
Tree leafs be.
Leaf alone.
Tree leaf sees
Tree alone.
Burden less
Then re-leaf.


Haste Waster

Do it right at first try.
The reason is simple, and this is why.
Doubling effort's a total waste.
When it’s done in utter haste.
Over and again, these