LEFT ALONE

 

Once again I am left alone at home, it is that time again. 

All the children have packed their school bags, shouted goodbye and walked out the door. 

Mum and Dad have snatched a breakfast, gathered belongings, calling back as they shut the door, be a good dog it won’t be for long. 

Silence falls, as I do a checking run to see if anyone has stayed home with me. 

No such luck I am alone! 

I look at my dishes to see what I can drink or eat, nothing there in my loneliness appeals to me. 

I check all the chairs to find one that will be a comfort for me to jump up and sink into, without a voice saying get down! 

Down! Stay off! Off! 

Settling for a long wait, as from experience I know, I have to wait and wait. 

Chasing indoors any occasional person who hovers near our gate. 

We have no way to manage time, only with our noses, sniffing, sniffing. 

Or our ears on high alert, for footsteps approaching familiar to us over time. Is that them! Is it! 

My tail goes in rapid motion, a whine starts in my throat, faster faster. 

It is! t is time to bark my head off, welcome home, welcome home everybody! 

As they have all come home together. Now the fun begins, time to eat when it is ready, then off for a walk and a good ball game. 

This is the time of day that I love.

When we are all settled down, to watch their I-pads and the TV, I lay my head on my favourite persons lap. 

It is certainly the best time of day for me. 

With all my family safely home in our house, ready to start another day tomorrow. 

Oh how I wish there was another way and I could go to school too.

© 2022 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: Pixabay License

TERROR ROAMS

 

Leaving home where I live, is not a natural thing. 

Fear cloaks and surrounds you as you go innocently on your way. 

Hoping you will not meet a knife carrier on the street today. 

It is amazing, that they have not learnt that it does not give them strength. 

It is the means to take their life away too. 

After the attack, many perpetrators are caught within hours and after a trial in jail packed. 

Under threat from attack from other criminals, never knowing who has your back. 

Afraid to be alone or one of a pack, or to be singled out for too much praise. 

Which gives rise to other inmates' jealousy and rage. 

Leaving two families in different ways forever changed and no way back. 

So before you pick up the knife remember it has the power to destroy many lives. 

Not just now but for generations to come, destroying yours too. 

If not caught, the guilt will weigh you down and fear will reside in your chest. 

You will never be the man you wanted to be, a man of worth, respected. 

Cloaked not in fear, but in the arms of generations of a loving family. 

The choice is yours, mine too, never to carry a knife anywhere with you.

2022 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: Pixabay License

SUMMER TIME IS FADING

 

Summer time is fading away, back to school is fast approaching. 

Gone the lounging on the back lawn with loads of sun protection screen on. 

Under an umbrella with sunglasses perched on my head ready for wear. 

I-pad in action a game in full play, I reach for a cool drink, to ease the tension away. 

Radio playing the latest hot tunes of the day, cause my feet to tap, body to sway. 

Later today mum has been making appointments for us to keep, purchasing new uniforms and shoes for our feet. 

Along with trips to the dentist, hairdresser for a short back and sides. 

To the bookshop for books we just have to have, for school requirements for course work, exercise books and new pens. 

I am allowed to choose some exciting new books, to swop and share with my friends. 

As the new term approaches there is a flurry of family visits, trying to fit them all in. 

As once term starts there will be little time to visit them. 

A last a short holiday weekend break, all we can afford to contemplate. 

Budgets are tighter than they have ever been, as our parents keep reminding us. 

Finally a big clean out of our personal space, to make room for all the new things we had to purchase. 

As we pack our school bag, ready for the final Summer-day that is slipping away and we stand waiting, for the arrival of the school bus, ready to take us to whatever’s there ahead of us. 

© 2022 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: Pixabay License

A GLANCE

 

When passing a mirror, 

I happened to see new wrinkles looking back at me.

How did they appear so quickly?

Glancing again hoping the angle was better, 

The effect was the same.

Those wrinkles had come to stay, 

They would not leave again.

Unless I smiled. 

Then they sprang into a different line.

So constant smiling, is now a act I have learned to acquire,

To hide my wrinkles with what I hope is a beautiful smile.

You should try it, as it works.

2022 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: Pixabay License

ONE JUMP TOO HIGH

 

On pulling back the pool cover for the first time, on our return to New Zealand, a lone frog was visible in very low water.

Every so often he grabbed hold of a floating rope-like piece of a Norfolk pine tree, hooking his front leg over it, to have a rest.

I wondered how long he had been there. At the slightest movement, he shot down to the bottom and hid in some dark leaf debris.

Occasionally he left strange footprints in the algae at the bottom of the pool, which was quite artistic and first drew my attention to his presence.

Other times he just bobbed about with minimum movement, head above water, observing all that was going on.

His problem was that he could not leap high enough to leave the pool. So I decided to help and called out.

‘Please, Mr. Frog let me help you. I am not going to hurt you, but you won’t be able to jump out of the pool on your own, no matter how high you leap.’

First, a couple of wooden planks leaning down into the water were tried, but he had not heard of walking the plank.

‘Mr. Frog, will you please hop onto the plank, then I can lift you out.’

He just disappeared down to the bottom of the pond in terror.

Next, a big tree leaf was cast-off to act as a stepping stone but it failed to encourage him. He just bobbed up, looked at it and moved further away.

More drastic action was needed with the use of the pool net, and leaf strainer to rescue him.

Thankfully he was scooped up to safety in one go and I was able to catch a glimpse of how handsome he was.

His skin was marked in green, orange, brown, and black. We eyed each other respectfully for a moment or two.

Then slowly and carefully I removed him, away from the pool, to my neighbour’s fence, where there was a pond on the other side.

There I gently tipped him out. He leaped high into the air, showing off his agile dancing skills, before disappearing into the bushes.

Who knows, perhaps we might meet again one day, but please, not in the pool, as there may not be anyone there to rescue him.

This little story reminds all of us not to go to pools or rivers on our own. Also, all of us need to learn to swim.

© Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: Daniela Silvia Serban

CERTIFICATE OF INDEPENDENCE DAY LITERARY

 

CERTIFICATES OF INDEPENDENCE DAY LITERARY HONOURS 2021

The pending certificates of last year's Independence day literary honours are being posted on behalf of our respectable founder Shiju H. Pallithazheth, from Media coordination office Bangalore.

Congratulations  to the recipients of Independence Day Honours from Motivational Strips jointly with Gujarat Sahitya Academy. 

OH BED!

 

Oh bed you seem so inviting,

Yet your pull is not enough

I must keep on writing, writing.

Stories slip with speed across my mind.

I dare not stop or they will escape.

I try to keep on repeating so I can find

Them one more time.

Oh bed I know you are still calling,

I am sorry to keep ignoring your desire.

One more line to write before falling,

Into bed to rest my oh so weary head,

Till morning.

© 2022 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: Pixabay License

IMPERIAL GARDENS

 

In the Imperial Gardens, 

the willows bent and sighed, 

sharing court secrets heard nearby. 

Dipping leaves in the water as it languished, 

slipping, bubbling musically, on it’s way. 

The carp played hide and seek, 

away from the majestic eagle eyes. 

With courtesans, twittering like birds, 

walking sedately by arm in arm, 

leaving scented remembrances behind. 

All is at peace in this garden, at this time.

© 2022 Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: © Pixabay

Happy International Cat Day!

 

 

I AM AN UGLY BUG

 

I am an ugly bug, a really ugly bug

No one wants to give me a hug.

People chase me away or want to kill me with one swipe.

All I want to do is live like you.

I have to kill to eat, then so do you.

How I do it is not nice, yet it is what I was designed to do.

My job is to keep the cicada population down under control.

© Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen

Photo: Pixabay License

The Penny Anna Playground

 

The other day I was led astray

To a better place, I will admit

Joined the engrossed audience

Stopped and then did sit

In my head, I went to places

Not visited for so long

Yet here and now with this singing cow

Felt again I do belong.

The Penny Anna playground

Where everything is fun

Boys with toys and girls with curls

Dance under smiling Sun

The animals have their stories

The good in each shines through

Sometimes it has guest tellers

Maybe more than two.

It has no fixed location

In fact, has more than one

It is wherever has a reader

As each chapter has begun

A playground that's a classroom

A classroom that's a hope

A hope for encouraging young ones

In wisdom and how to cope.

Penny Anna is, in fact, two ladies 

Of equal importance in my story 

Both deserve the recognition 

Both deserve the glory 

Two outstanding figures in real life 

Weaving it with make believe 

Inspiring others to do something 

Seeing what they could achieve ,

Ian Wilcox