pictured words

June 20, 2025

One Man’s Play is his Neighbor’s Labor (a poem of silly American English spellings)

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One Man’s Play is His Neighbor’s Labor
(a poem of silly American English spellings)

He would have / should have chopped some wood
and would have, if he only could.
A livelihood of chopping wood would
likely be misunderstood
by those who live in his neighborhood
whose labor for their livelihood
feels more like floating on driftwood.
He noted that their income’s good,
not having fought for what they’ve got
(a yacht named “We Just Tied the Knot”)
which left him fraught with just one thought
atop his head like a 60-watt:
That someone surely chopped the wood
that made his neighbor’s fancy yacht,
which now he knew was headed straight
for the passage known as Taiwan Strait.
And as they cruised, his thoughts defused,
and then he snoozed, quite unamused.
And then he bought a nice hot brat,
and gave it not another thought.

© Marie Elena Good 2025

ood and ould make the same vowel sound: would, wood, could, should, good, livelihood, driftwood, neighborhood, understood

a, ai, ay, ait, aight, ey, and eigh make the same vowel sound: play, straight, Strait, labor, they, neighbor

o, a, augh, ough, ach, ot, and att make the same vowel sound: chopped, on, got, not, knot, hot, yacht, fraught, bought, thought, atop, watt, brat

live and live make a different vowel sound in these words: live, and livelihood

ote and oat make the same vowel sound: note, float

not and knot sound the same

u, ui, ew, and oo make the same vowel sound: knew, cruise, defuse, snooze, amuse

defuse, snooze, cruise, and amuse also all make the z sound

The e at the end of like gives the i its long sound, but not the i in live, unless it is the verb live (I need food to live) and not the adjective live (We are going live in 10 minutes)

The ai in Strait makes the long a sound, but the ai in Taiwan makes the long i sound. (In all fairness, Taiwan is not an American English word. wink wink.)

PHEW!

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June 15, 2025

The Other Side

The Other Side

Can we count the blades
that seize carbon dioxide
and share oxygen

reduce pollution
even as they cool our air
and clean our water

aid noise reduction
provide wildlife habitat
support stress relief

offer a clean hill
for our children to roll down
(and we adults), and

furnish spongy space
for toddlers to toddle, while
tickling their piggies?

© Marie Elena Good 2025

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June 8, 2025

IF YOU FEED THEM, THEY WILL COME

Photos by Keith R. Good, who attracts and cares for our birds 

IF YOU FEED THEM, THEY WILL COME

Aging comes with what seems almost an expectation:  Bird beguilement. But my own love of birds began in junior high on Audubon Lane, where pheasants favored our backyard. And though those days have long passed, I can still enjoy the crimson male cardinal singing to his autumn-color lifelong partner. Our bluejays, if not for being common, would be coveted. I’m captivated by the bold ladderback and bright red splash on the red belly woodpecker.  The soft sorrowing song of mourning doves does not sadden me in the least. It makes me smile.  I giggle at the quirky little honk of the nuthatch as he darts up and down our trees. I find the cheerful little black-capped chickadee entirely enchanting.   Goldfinches, bright as lemons, titter as they sail the air as though on waves. When we hear the intricate trill of tiny wrens, we know spring has entered.  Orange orioles take our breath away with their arrival. And, of course, the minute emerald body and ruby throat of the hummer is electrifying. These and countless more captivate and delight us. They make our home, home.

Doing what we can
to attract the vocalists
that color our yard. 

© Marie Elena Good, 2025

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May 25, 2025

And This is Love

And This is Love

No need for Hallmark-
gold-sealed card with fancy words
that someone else wrote.

I’ll take morning jokes
and/or hand-drawn hearts on a
yellow Post-it Note.

© Marie Elena Good 2025

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May 4, 2025

SURRENDER

S*U*R*R*E*N*D*E*R

Me, a young girl in
a whirlwind of sudden change.
Strange new surroundings.

Unsure what is real,
or who, in this new-to-me
space, can be trusted:

One who stands rusted;
one too timid to answer;
and you, straw dancer.

They win me over
(especially you), and they
chauffeur me to Oz

because, because, be-
cause, because – because they’re there,
and they care. Deeply.

Green skin. Broom. Smoke. Threats.
And me, tricked. I lost my friends
when I clicked my heels.

But to my surprise,
I see you in these eyes I’ve
always known, at home.

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Image | April 27, 2025

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April 20, 2025

The Heart of Golgotha

“And heaven’s peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world with love.” ~ Dyma gariad fel y moroedd

The Heart of Golgotha

Before He stepped foot,
He knew the path: Golgotha,
“the place of a skull.”

He knew it, for He
had formed it. Created it
with God His Father.

Before carrying
the crossbeam on this long path,
He created it

before man became;
before woman, born of man,
bore The Son of Man;

before the first sin
had ever been committed,
or life led to death,

and before you were
formed in your own mother’s womb,
He knew you, and He

chose you, and He chose
the horrific path He’d walk
and death He’d conquer.

It was a matter
of turning your face to Him;
of loving you first.

It was a matter
of bonding your heart to His,
for eternity.

© Marie Elena Good, 2025

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” ~ John 15:13

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April 13, 2025

As I Stop at the Light

As I Stop at the Light

She, with little to her name, fumbles a moment in her purse, rolls down her window, and hands money to the man with the sign she can’t read. He thanks her, and says, “God bless you.” All she understands is his smile, which she returns with a nod of her head. She rolls up her window. I place my hand on her shoulder. She smiles at me, and I at her.

And how could I have
immediately known her,
if not for the light.

© Marie Elena Good 2025

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April 12, 2025

Untitled angst

If not for nations
coming to my own doorstep,
I’d never know them.

I’d never have seen
they’re here to feed me the food
that comforts their souls.

I’d never have seen
they’re here to make my home both
strong and welcoming.

They’re here to make us
kinder. Gentler. Here to make
their own lives better,

but also the lives
of all those who welcomed them,
and those who didn’t.

I want to save them
from the strangling hands of this
administration.

If not for Donald,
would Vance, Rubio, Musk, Noem,
and all the others

be so emboldened
to heartless vindictiveness
and mercilessness?

If not for clear signs
from history (you know which),
one might never know.

© Marie Elena Good 2025

April 6, 2025

Untitled haibun-like firehose

this not a trickle but a wide-open firehose that is not meant to douse flames but to disorient the American people leaving us reeling feeling discounted disregarded overlooked overwhelmed overpowered and overthrown (overthrown?) unquestionably and categorically overthrown and now so unrecognizable my country looks far more distorted than even what I see through my wrinkled retina and make no mistake this firehose is intentional gish gallop in its inundation and devastation and

How can one stall a
strategic tsunami with
a spoon and a sponge?

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