Poems From the Porch 19

Super poems, John, light-hearted and fun. Each brought a smile to my face.

I love travelling, dogs and snow, so this was right up my street!

Glad to hear that most of the fires have gone. There must be so much rebuilding to do for some but it's amazing how resilient humans are and how they rally round when others need help - it lifts the spirit.

How about a poem regarding poetry versus prose?!

Ann

These are all such wonderful poems, John. Its difficult for me to say which one I like the best. They are all top-notch. I especially love the poems about dogs. Like you, I love animals too and always seem to be adding more to the ones I have either by fostering or taking in strays! I had a dog named Ginger for a very long time and she was a real buddy to Ernie who is now 16 years old, and he can still hear and see just fine! I love Omo. She looks so sweet. I've always loved the snow but where I live now, we don't get any. But your poem, certainly struck a chord. Beautifully written, it brought back wonderful memories for me. Thanks!

These were all great. Your travel ones remind one of the many opportunities people have to discover this wide world of ours. It is fun traveling with family or friends. It would not be as much fun (for me) to travel alone as your 2nd travel poem described.

Snow does blanket the earth with a pristine whiteness. We rarely see snowflakes, much less accumulation of snow in Houston, but having lived in Wisconsin as a child, and later, as an adult, it is a fun memory.

Loved your dog Omo poem! So happy for her and Ginger. Most of our dogs through the years have been rescues. May your pets give you many years of pleasure!

The sentiments in your poems about travel and pets. and also the descriptions in "Muffled Silence" are touching as is your appeal at the end. Thank you.

John, you wondered why they didn't stay. Apparently they had an important agenda. We saw them first in a shelter advertisement in the paper, a brother and sister catahoula, and thought about adopting them, but someone else beat us to them. Two months later, they appeared on our back deck. We live in a woodsy area close to the intersection of two major interstate highways I-40 and I-430. They were tired and hungry and seemed quite content after we fed them and gave them a soft place to sleep. We'd planned to check with the shelter the next day to see who the owner was or if we could adopt them. We didn't put them on leashes to take them outside because we hadn't fed them breakfast and thought they would come back to eat. But they didn't come back, and we've never heard from them again. We will always wonder about the little sweet mystery wandering dogs.

What a wonderful edition! Your poems about travel have given me wanderlust. My favorite is the last one. You captured the magic and beauty of the season with your words. It almost has me longing for snow.. almost. haha!

I enjoyed reading all of your poems, beautifully expressed. My favorite it the The Muffled Silence of Snow. Great poetry.

Hi Jodah, I like the fast pace of the first poem about the benefits of travelling, as if we are actively and miraculously time travelling to see many countries and seeing glimpses of their beauty. And I am amused at the food and drinks part because we taste each specialty quickly. The Lonely Traveller poem is like a relaxed and leisurely walk, really like what solo travelling is all about. The one about Ono is a lovely tribute because you know your pet dog from nose to tail. Haha. As for your last poem about snow, I can understand how time can stand still with the silence of the snow. It's a good way of describing snow because you get to appreciate the moment. Thanks for sharing!

Your poems are remarkable and I enjoy each one. My favorites are the dog poems...I love our precious animals so much.

I'd love to see what you can come up with using "Lies or Dishonesty" as the subject for a poem. Thanks, John.

Yeah, can you hear me clapping? Love the travel ones, but the dog poems are brilliant! (I love dogs, so.....) LOL!

I loved all of them and the ones about the dogs were just delightful

Really great job, my friend. I always enjoy reading your work :)

Thank you very much for the poems about travel. They are great, as I expected. Once again you have shown your versatility with poems on dogs and snow as well. The stray dog reminded me of stray dogs that hung around our holiday accommodation in Cyprus.

Thank you for sharing the poems and for adopting Omo, John. I'm glad that Omo has a good home and that Ginger has a new friend.

Loved the poem about the stray dog... Wish all people are as considerate as you and show a little kindness towards them!

John, I meant to tell you how pleased and relieved I am that you finally are having some rain that's benefiting your land. Great news that many of the fires have been extinguished.

I, too, give homes to animals (cats) that need some comfort and love. Two of my three indoor cats are rescues. My two outdoor cats are strays that decided my home needed to be theirs. Sadly, I think both were abandoned because they're definitely not feral.

Loved today's porch, John. For someone who hasn't experienced snow, you gave us a nice experience. Travel was great, and the dogs were superb. Didn't write about a traveling dog, huh. If I were a poet, I would write about the two little traveling catahoula puppies that we'd hoped to adopt, but they said, "No thanks," we've got to move on." And so they went.

Yes agreed. Continue to carry on.

Hi Jodah another poem with an easy flow and such talent from you shows me your expressions from all sides.

So nice of you to carry on with the series and giving us gifts of lovely poems to read each week from your porch, John. The poems on traveler, dogs, and snow are so very well rhymed and presented. Although I personally do not like pets, I couldn't help appreciating the poems about them.

You rocked with these. The cadence was wonderful.

I loved each and every line. esp. the Doggie and the snow. As you probably know, I am allergic to animal dander. ( I've written about how hard I've tried to have one. ) I usually have a doggie 2 or 3 days before my eyes begin to swell. The last one was so special, my friend Tammy gave him to me, I took him to the Dr. got all he needed, bought him a bed, jacket and food he'd never had before. He loved shrimp. On the third day I got really sick, so I called my friend, she came to pick him up and was standing at the door getting ready to leave, he broke loose from her and came to me and licked my hand, as if to say, " I enjoyed my time with you, but I'm going home with mommy. " Needless to say, I was crying like a baby. It ' ain't ' fair.

Great job with all of these, John! I particularly like "The Stray". I read a lot of wonderful stories and watch videos on The Dodo about strays that have been taken in by compassionate humans.

I also enjoyed your traveling poems. I don't travel much, so thanks for taking me along for the ride.

For never having experienced snow, you responded well to Bill's request. You pretty much nailed it!

John, your love for animals shines through. That poor little waif under the porch needs a real home. Your Omo does not look very pleased. Perhaps she doesn't like the new hair style?

I can't imagine never experiencing snow. Perhaps you should visit Washington State. Bill and I would be glad to introduce you to Mount Rainier.

I love this series. How about a poem about a cook in the kitchen? It could be an experienced chef, or someone who is hapless and helpless. Let your Muse guide you.

John, you wrote such beautiful poems, as requested by friends. Love reading all of them. I also got mine " The Stray " , and it is almost close to my feelings when I spotted a dog. Thanks a bunch my friend for sharing your talent.

Thank you for sharing your descriptive inspiring work.

John, you such an amazing and inspirational writer. The poems are nothing short of top-notch.

Omo is so adorable by the way.

I love reading Poems From the Porch. I look forward to it. It's like waiting for my favorite tv program to come on, or waiting for the next chapter in an amazing book I'm reading. It feels like that. I love "chillin" on the the porch.

A poem about dogs and my snow poem...what a great time on the porch this week. You've never experienced snow? My goodness...I wish I could rectify that for you, my friend. Anyway, thanks for taking my request....when you get the time, how about one about woodpeckers?

Well this was cool - not just the snow one. I counted ten of the places you mention as being there. Reminds me of Jesus sending out the disciples and Buddha's long journey. To semi-quote Buddha said that a earnest day of travel is worth a year of school.

I have had the pleasue of meeting the travelling dogs. Always seemed polite enough to me. Like meeting a new friend.

Wonderful poems on different topics, and I enjoyed all of them.

The travel poems are great. Wonder if, you have visited all those places, you have mentioned in your poem! Must be a great experience.

I believe, you can compose poems, on any topic.

How about a poem on, ‘Trust and Betrayal.’

Thank you for sharing!

I really like the variety of topics for your poems today, and as always each one was very good. Your weekly poems from the porch are always nice to read and I truly enjoy your series.

No. I'm ahead of Lorna. Lol. Anyway, I was about to press 'comment' when the 'angel' dentist, called me in. So I lost another five minutes. I'm claiming this. Ha ha.

"Beautiful weather

White snow settles upon cars

The hanging trees waltz." - spontaneous haiku by Manatita

Seems I'm the first here. Great! All very nicely done and I like both travel poems. I'm a nature man so how can I not love the snow poem? Excellent work!