Was granted license to glow
By the Commission on Chemical Emission
And the Department of Flit To and Fro.
But a court of some sort
In the mason jar found
That his reason, this season,
For glowing and flying around
Was illumination of a child's education
Via books from the library sneaked out.
The residing presiding
Found no reason to bless,
And concluded, it's prudent
To illuminate less.
The glowworm was informed
Of the judges decision
By the aphids up under the lid.
And scolded with derision,
As the lightnin' bug nervously peeked out.
But the firefly, I don't know why,
Believed in both glowing and booking.
And shined, half the times
When he thought no one was looking.
Well the child went wild.
The rotten bug that he'd caught by the road
Hid his light half the night
And got fed to the toad.
Compromise is a myth when a child is freaked out.
FAIRNESS, n. Death for the slow and confusion for the busy.
29 comments:
fairness,n. the extinguishing of natural talents in others
evil aphids!
Fairness: the light by which all road kill shall be judged.
Fairness: See "lowest common denominator".
Aside: Life's not fair.
Fairness: Rupert Murdoch's greatest virtue, along with Balancedness.
Nice word today, Doug. Nice rhyming words, too.
by the way, and speaking of fairness (and/or "balancedness", heh*) -- you did a grand job co-authoring today's SNARK POST with our oh-so-fair penguin! just sayin'... thanks for lending that oh-so-male perspective of yours to help balance Minka's decidedly female point of view! while i'm at it, i also forgot to tell you how much i enjoyed this post, too. d'oh! ; )
*that was great, Al! i swear i came thisclose to writing something very similar, but i'm hard-pressed to think it would have been even 1/2 as funny as your comment. : )
If there were any fairness, I would be young, rich, beautiful and smart. But since the Pod People stole my real body at birth, I'm none of those things. It's not fair darnitall.
Really good poem today.
Minka, that's the true definition.
Neva, that from Bubba 3:16?
Morgan, who prefers a funny anecdote to a life that's fair? A skeptic in a house of cards or a lion in his lair.
Al, it's all 1s and 0s isn't it?
Neva, muchas gracias.
TLP, you look young, rich and beautiful to me. Did I say smart? I meant smart, too.
Minka, that's the true definition.
Neva, that from Bubba 3:16?
Morgan, who prefers a funny anecdote to a life that's fair? A skeptic in a house of cards or a lion in his lair.
Al, it's all 1s and 0s isn't it?
Neva, muchas gracias.
TLP, you look young, rich and beautiful to me. Did I say smart? I meant smart, too.
Dawg, now in all fairness you will have to repeat your remarks to everyone else today as well.
FAIRNESS -- a make-believe concept believed in only by children under the age of 4.
Oh, and ...
FAIRNESS n. a concept that, when it does work in the adult world, only works for others ....
In all fairness I got nothing but I will say that's a very clever poem. Nothing but the cold my coworker shared. How fair is that?
i was just thinking that, more times than not, staying in the "middle" of the road can be more dangerous, than "fair".
in case anyone wondered, prior to her last visit, teh Penguin thought "fireflies" only existed in fairy tales.
veri = "scwwbug": whoa. i do believe this is a kinder/gentler/more pc version for one of my favorite guy-related insults. ; )
FAIRNESS, n. The principal which states that, upon boarding the bus, each person shall pay the ... no? Whaddaya mean, no?!? Who gave you a free pass? That's not fair ... um, fare ... um ... oh, never mind.
;)
Quilly, you realize, I hope, that you've prevented me from deleting the repeat. No fair!
Jenn, that's an awful injustice. Get well soon.
Neva, there's nothing in the middle of the road but white lines and dead armadillos.
Amoeba, that was hilarious. Worthy of the Marx Brothers, Groucho and Karl.
that's so sad Doug. Life ain't fair.
Thanks Neva, do you relaize we almost made it two months without that coming up?!
I find fireflies magical, illuminating and if I squeeze my eyes really tight...they create the stars in my own little world.
fairness,n. if more than one person involved, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow... unreachable.
But to be fair, John Ciardi's Lucifer Leverett Lightningbug, who "Was born inside a broken jug / On the Fourth of July, or slightly before / At twenty-seven minutes to four,"
glowed so hard that he glowed right through
--As very likely you would too,
If you had a glow like a firefly
The night before the Fourth of July.
And the moral, very sad to say,
Is: "Glow too hard and you'll glow away."
Doug, I saw my very first firefly in Arkansas while visiting my baby sister some years ago. I think it very cute that Minka thought they were fairy tails - they might as well be. I first learned about them while reading "Sam and the Firefly" to my children. Then, finally, I saw my first one 6 years ago visiting my sister Sally. I braved the scary, deafening carcophony of the cicadas, and the voracious mosquitos of Little Rock to sit outside on a rock hoping against hope to see a real firefly. I saw one. I saw several! It was pure magic. I'd say, that was fairness.
Fireflies and bats, darkness is really not without miracles.
Terry, thank you! Although to be quite clear...I only thought they were fairy tales...rather than ...um attached to the rear of ferries :) Although that would be kinda neat...it'd certainly make fairy air-traffic a lot less chaotic :) There's an idea for a children's book...one thinks!
I love the first stanza of this post especially.
Kyah, don't you think it depends on the species? Dogs enjoy justice.
Actonbell, it's been a modern myth since antiquity.
Minka, I suspect fireflies are no more than ornaments on the stars you see.
Hobbes, I've met my master.
Terry, as you know, I don't see them here in California but they are a wonder even to 40-year-old curmudgeons. That was a cool invention.
Ariel, I'm impressed you wrote that before Kafka.
Minka, this one thinks so, too. In Icelandic it could even be a newspaper article from what you've told me.
Well, he also translated Dante (Ciardi, not the lightning bug).
Hobbes, I should have recognized that name. I was taught his translation by a Florentine Dante scholar when I was at Deep Springs. I should be made to float around with Francesca.
Did you write that Firefly poem yourself????
If so, I am in awe and awash in wonderment.
You are showing your whimsical side.
Very good poem.
BTW, my dad calls them lightning bugs. He scolds me for calling them fireflies which he claims is what Yankees call them. Funny, huh?!
J.D. thanks. My mommy might have helped a little.
You wish . . .
I have a signed copy of this book, THE REASON FOR THE PELICAN, so I think my dad knew Ciardi from the MacDowell Colony.
And I taught his translation at Yale.
Oh, yeah? Well are you Florentine? Didn't think so!
fairness,n. That which allowed the younger of two siblings liberites she would not have been granted had she been the elder of the pair.
Fret not, Cooper. The eldest only pretends to care.
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