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Purple Carrots

Graeme Bourke

arrots

  Copyright 2014 by Randolph Knight

  Table of Contents

  Walking Home

  Crazy

  The Day That I Met You

  The Earth

  A Pretty Good Run

  Proofreading a Poem

  Hippopotamus Boots

  Whose Whoming Who

  Work

  The Cocoon

  Gots To Do

  The Heavy Hitter

  Shoes

  Timing

  Bad Gone

  Water Is Going to Win

  Roses

  Nothing But Trouble

  Pathways of Life

  Purple Carrots

  An Awakening

  As You See It

  Climbing the Old Oak Tree

  Every Once In A While

  Half Empty

  Man Of A Thousands Deaths

  Instead Of

  The Juggler

  The Master Key

  Walking Home

  From where the school bus let me off,

  The walk home seemed quite far,

  But I made it a little easier,

  With my make believe jellybean jar,

  The jar was full of jellybeans,

  Of every size and color,

  And eating jellybeans on the way home,

  Made the walk seem less a bother,

  I would put the jellybeans in my mouth,

  And the flavor was nice and sweet,

  The sugar gave me a boost of energy,

  Accelerating the movement of my feet,

  And when I reached the end of the pavement,

  Where the road was dirt and sand,

  I would eat a few more jellybeans,

  At least the ones I had in my hand,

  And when I passed the old oak tree,

  The one we used to play on,

  The family dog would run to greet me,

  And I knew I was almost home.

  Author: T. Sky Handring

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  Crazy

  Everyone has mental concerns,

  I heard the psychiatrist say,

  And if these concerns are addressed,

  A difference can be made,

  But if you choose to ignore them,

  And go on your merry way,

  You are going to be crazy,

  Until your dying day.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  The Day That I Met You

  Of all the things I’ve ever seen,

  And of all the things I’ve done,

  One thing stands above the rest,

  As the most important one,

  And after all is said and done,

  I know this much is true,

  Where in the world would I be today,

  Without the day that I met you?

  Author: T. Sky Handring

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  The Earth

  Compared to the universe,

  And the wonders thereof,

  Planet earth is quite tiny,

  When viewed from above,

  Like one grain of sand,

  Out of millions on the shore,

  Or a tick of the clock,

  Keeping time forevermore,

  Of what should one think?

  Living in such a place,

  With limited time,

  In unlimited space,

  I believe of the spirit,

  Which has no bounds,

  Not distance, not space,

  Nor time to confound,

  For without the spirit,

  Time overcomes,

  And claims yet another,

  When life here is done.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  A Pretty Good Run

  Sometimes I think my life’s been wasted,

  For I haven’t the money as some,

  But in other ways, I have made it,

  So, it’s been a pretty good run.

  Author: T. Sky Handring

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  Proofreading a Poem

  Proofreading a poem is tricky,

  Especially if there's no rhyme,

  Or if the poem lacks cadence,

  Without a beat and time,

  Yet the poem may be valuable,

  If the message is hidden or sublime,

  So I know I must always remember,

  To read between the lines.

  Author: T. Sky Handring

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  Hippopotamus Boots

  When I went into my favorite store,

  I had planned on buying a suit,

  But leaving the store I had in hand,

  A pair of hippopotamus boots,

  I bought my hippopotamus boots,

  For he didn’t have a thing to wear,

  Now he doesn’t have to worry,

  If we go out somewhere,

  My friends may think I’m crazy,

  Or that we are in cahoots,

  For who in their right mind,

  Buys their hippopotamus boots?

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Whose Whoming Who

  It was a July night,

  In early September,

  And an owl was hooting,

  Near my bedroom window,

  She said, “Be leery,

  Of the friends you choose,

  Because you don’t need,

  A ‘Whose Whoming who’,

  Now a ‘Whose Whoming Who’,

  Says there’re for you until the end,

  But they’ll go behind your back,

  And talk about you with their friends,

  And the things they say behind your back,

  Aren’t designed to flatter,

  And all the people that they hurt,

  Doesn’t seem to matter,

  So be extremely careful,

  In the friends you choose,

  And make really sure,

  They’re not a ‘Whose Whoming Who’”.

  Author: T. Sky Handring

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  Work

  I can finally get some rest,

  For my daily work is done,

  I used to have some helpers,

  But now I’m the only one,

  And it doesn’t get any easier,

  For my body is growing old,

  And I can’t bear the summer heat,

  Or withstand the winter cold,

  But who is going to do the work,

  When I am finally gone,

  The work will overflow the place,

  That used to be my home.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  The Cocoon

  Walking with my grandfather,

  On the road next to his farm,

  We came upon a small cocoon,

  Grandfather took me by the arm,

  He said, “A caterpillar will go in,

  But a butterfly will come out”,

  And at that moment I was to witness,

  What grandfather was talking about,

  For a beautiful butterfly came out,

  On this warm summer day,

  And after drying its wings in the sun,

  The butterfly flew away,

  And grandfather smiled as he spoke,

  "Son, learn like you were in school,

  For some believe you die when you die,

  But I believe them fools".

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Gots To Do

  A man or a woman,

  More often than not,

  Will do what they've gots to do,

  And it may not be
easy,

  Or it may be unpleasant,

  But if it's their duty, they'll do,

  And soon they'll discover,

  They've come a bit closer,

  To their spiritual side, it's true,

  After they've stepped,

  Up to the plate,

  And did what they've gots to do.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  The Heavy Hitter

  Every time he came to bat,

  He was given the sign to bunt,

  And although he sacrificed himself,

  The team would score a run,

  And though he wasn’t celebrated,

  He was never cold or bitter,

  And his record still remains today,

  But he was never a heavy hitter.

  Author: T. Sky Handring

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  Shoes

  Athletic shoes or sandals,

  Dressy shoes or boots,

  If you dislike the shoes you have,

  You won't give a hoot,

  For all of them can be replaced,

  On that very day,

  Because the price is relatively low,

  For they are foreign made,

  But sometimes it does matter,

  How a shoe is placed or put,

  For it will feel quite different,

  If it's on the other foot.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Timing

  Timing is everything,

  Look at your watch,

  Is the sun ever late,

  When it’s time to come up,

  Does it make an excuse,

  Like it stayed out too late,

  Or was it too tired,

  Because of a date,

  Has the earth ever changed,

  It’s speed of rotation,

  Or the full moon decided,

  To choose another configuration,

  Timing is everything,

  Look at your watch,

  You say you don’t wear one,

  Please tell me why not?

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Bad Gone

  Bad gone you,

  Bad gone me,

  Bad gone too many,

  From sea to shining sea,

  And when history writes about us,

  I pray it doesn't read,

  Too much of a bad gone you,

  And too much of a bad gone me.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Water Is Going to Win

  Noah built an ark,

  A long time ago,

  And everyone wondered,

  What did crazy Noah know,

  But they found out in the end,

  That water is going to win,

  And when God made a path,

  Through the Red Sea,

  Turning back the waters,

  For the Israelites to flee,

  And the Egyptians met their end,

  For water is going to win,

  Then they built a Titanic,

  And said it couldn’t sink,

  But the ship hit an iceberg

  And the rest is history,

  For they found out in the end

  That water is going to win.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Roses

  Horrendous was the smell,

  As if it came from hell,

  One sniff by a single nostril,

  And my nose began to swell,

  Yet out of this condition,

  How was I suppose to know,

  That from under all this stitch and stink,

  Beautiful roses would grow.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Nothing But Trouble

  My grandfather,

  Was a smart old man,

  And I would test his brain,

  Every chance I had,

  But he offered this advice,

  Without solicitation,

  And daily I follow it,

  Without hesitation,

  "In this old world,

  Filled with evil and sin,

  Always set limits,

  To whatever you’re in,

  And the following rule,

  Keeps you inside the bubble,

  If it feels too good,

  It's nothing but trouble".

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Pathways of Life

  The age of sixty,

  Will come too soon,

  And the age of seventy,

  Is like a leap to the moon,

  Where pathways of life,

  Begin to divide,

  And some live to live,

  While others wait to die.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Purple Carrots

  A farmer grew some purple carrots,

  And took them to the store,

  Consumers couldn’t get enough,

  And were crying out for more,

  Other farmers heard their cry,

  And grew carrots of their own,

  Until purple carrots were available,

  For every American home,

  And the following question revolved,

  Inside every social circle,

  Why settle for orange carrots,

  When I can get the purple?

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  An Awakening

  Before he was stricken,

  With his first heart attack,

  He loved driving his classic car,

  With the continental kit on the back,

  And he had so many fancy clothes,

  He never wore anything twice,

  And expensive restaurants he enjoyed,

  The meal was never a question of price,

  But on the day before he died,

  Several people heard him say,

  “I wish I could take it with me,

  On my dying day.”

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  As You See It

  Fifteen artists set their easels in a circle,

  In the center was an apple on display,

  Each of the artists were to sketch the apple,

  As it appeared to them on that day,

  The results were fifteen commendable sketches,

  Each quite different as a rule,

  Yet all were derived from the same exhibit,

  An apple in the center on a stool.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Climbing the Old Oak Tree

  I oaked up early this morning,

  For I’m an old oak tree,

  And in summer all the kids,

  Will climb all over me,

  They break my branches, tear my leaves,

  And play in the swing strapped to me,

  So it’s not easy in the summertime,

  Being an old oak tree,

  But soon the mothers will call them home,

  Feed them, then they’ll sleep,

  And dream the summer night away,

  Climbing the old oak tree.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Every Once In A While

  Every once in a while,

  I’ll have a lucky day,

  And ever once in a while,

  Things will go my way,

  And I get feelings I am blessed,

  And my heart begins to smile,

  But it doesn’t happen too often,

  For it’s only once in a while.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Half Empty

  Half Empty was her nickname,

  And she left room for little doubt,

&nb
sp; Because if something were half empty,

  She would toss it out,

  But the day would finally come,

  When she didn’t have food or drink,

  And the growling of her stomach,

  Made Half Empty think,

  If only she had kept the food,

  That she had thrown away,

  She’d have more than enough,

  To get through this rainy day.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Man Of A Thousand Deaths

  He died more than a thousand times,

  But it was only in his mind,

  He read the obituaries every day,

  And feared dying all the time,

  Then finally his biggest fear happened,

  For his days on earth were done,

  And the man who died a thousand deaths,

  Only had to die but one.

  Author: Randolph Knight

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  Instead Of

  Had the world treated you better,

  And given you a helping hand,