steampunk dreidel

Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I forged you out of brass...and when you're cooled and ready, with dreidel I shall last

dulce et decorum est pro patria mori?

The following cartoons are even more disturbing than what I had in mind.

Suggested music:

My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade [Official Music Video] [HD]

Elena Siegman - 115 Lyrics

James Bond Live And Let Die New Orleans Funeral Scene1

Coffin Dance (Official Music Video HD)

Lays of Ancient Rome - Wikipedia

***

This poem contains the often-quoted lines:

Then out spake brave Horatius,

The Captain of the Gate:

"To every man upon this earth

Death cometh soon or late.

And how can man die better

Than facing fearful odds,

For the ashes of his fathers,

And the temples of his Gods."[4][5]

***

hair haiku and limerick - poems 29 and 30

long strands brown and white

stretch from twelve seasons of growth

hair like a lion's mane

***

he grew his hair so long

though many thought it wrong

it looked so damn fine

in the spring sunshine

made him feel like King Kong

AI Poem #1 - Fossil Ode

From GPT-4o

prompt: write a poem about the picture

 

In ancient stone, a story lies,

Beneath the earth, where secrets rise.

A fossil's whisper, time's embrace,

In rocky depths, its silent place.

The card beside, a measure true,

Marks the past in shades of blue.

A glimpse of life from ages past,

In layers deep, its shadow cast.

The sunlit dust, a gentle veil,

Covers tales of creatures frail.

In every line, a history told,

Of life and death, of young and old.

With careful hands, we seek to find,

The echoes of a distant kind.

In stone and soil, the past we trace,

A timeless dance, a fossil's grace.

AK-47 Ode - poem #20

From the mind of Kalashnikov

A fine weapon of instant fame

In many hands it is held aloft

Around the world they know its name

It graces the flag of Mozambique

From Mother Russia it does hail 

Its magazine is curved and sleek

The Soviet Union's holy grail

Ballad of King Frumtingle - poem #24

The land of Gadzookshagen was fair and fertile

Ruled by King Frumtingle, so noble and wise

Its people feasted on the local skrunt turtle

Its meat was rich but went straight to their thighs

All was well until a huge horde on horseback

Pillaged and plundered and burned all they could

They stole all the skrunt turtles in the attack

A litotes would be things weren't looking good

King Frumtingle knew it was time for a speech

He rallied his knights and put on his armor

"Remember, lads, the Battle of Plovfeech!"

Bellowed the king as he tried to yell louder

"Let's hunt down these knaves and teach them a lesson

That Gadzookshageners are men of faith and courage

We are masters of arms and also mindless aggression

For our testosterone levels are far above average!"

Arose from the men such a thunderous shout

Which echoed from the hills to the camp of the horde 

King Frumtingle rode hard in spite of his gout

It was battle he loved and most else made him bored

The king and his men caught horde off guard

They hacked, hewed, bludgeoned, and impaled

The carnage would retold in the song of a bard

Some made a last stand, but the rest of them bailed

In triumph they returned with their cold-blooded booty

A fest was prepared for the return of the valiant

The warriors were pleased for they had done their duty

The king had fought so hard that his sword got bent

Some stories have morals, and this is the case 

Sometimes in life, the rules must be tossed 

You get more with words when you're holding a mace

So be a tough customer or else you'll get bossed 

abattoir haiku and limerick - poems 47 and 48

an abattoir grim

for the cattle that go in 

a job most macabre 

from a grisly abattoir comes our beef

and the doomed, fatted cattle come to grief

but later when I dine 

on a juicy steak so fine

vegetarians are beyond belief

Four Seasons - poem #4

New January  

Then February comes soon

March grounds are muddy

April and holy moon

Rain and May during Beltane

Summer coming soon

June brings waves of grain

Summer solstice then July

August heat will wane

September is dry

Samhain in October night

December cold sky

Night, day, dark, and light

Cold, hot, rain, wind, snow, and ice

Such a lovely sight 

Hunt for the Maneater Manatee - poem #1

Out on the bayou, way down south

There's a tale the old fishermen tell

Of the terrible beast with the blood-stained teeth

And a massive whale-like physique

This creature arose from the depths sometime in the ancient past

Filled with a hunger oh so cruel it would even make Satan laugh

After twenty men went missing in less than the space of a week

The town elders called a meeting and gave everyone a turn to speak

They hemmed and hawed and shouted for hours

There was an endless hue and cry

Until at long last a man rose to speak and he had hate in his eyes

"How dare you cowards waste my time with your empty talk and fear

Because I'll kill that monster if it's the last thing I do

And to prove it, I'll bring it here

All I ask is a good, strong crew who will heed my every word

So raise your hands if you're a real man and make your voices heard"

In the blink of an eye, a dozen hands shot up

They were the best of the town

There was Murphy, Johnson, Caparzo and Smith

With Lucas, Hector, Santelli, and Brown

To them were joined the Lafayette twins 

As well as the Dengler brothers grim

Who were known far and wide from every side

For their fierce scowls and grins

They each grabbed a gleaming harpoon 

Before boarding the humble craft

Their kids and their wives and the loves of their lives

Stood fast and watched as the oars were clasped

Farther and farther into the mist 

That had suddenly crept in on the coast

The motley crew rowed right on through

Every man gave his utmost 

Til at last came a blast that rattled the mast and nearly tipped them over

It was maneater manatee, huge and fierce

The brave men whimpered in horror

Not one of them had seen such an awful gleam in the eyes of the creature of yore

It rammed their boat hard as it could 

The men were tossed in the water

It bit off their legs and swallowed some whole 

And chewed alive a new father

Then at once came alive from the waves of the brine

The old captain who fought for his life

He stabbed the beast with no hope of relief

Til the sea filled with blood and gore

The survivors and he gathered some ropes from debris

And patiently dragged it ashore

The tide was their kin and helped drag them in

Onto the sand of the strand where they were home once more

A crowd soon gathered to see the men tattered

And the ghastly maw of what they hauled in

"Now", said the captain, "you see what has happened

So give us our due and begone!"

To the tavern they went and spent every cent 

Of the bounty bestowed by the crowd

And still to this day near the old, broken quay

You can see the bones of the thing

The maneater manatee was fearsome and cruel

Enough to make a sailor's blood run cold

But now it's gone and all that's left

Is a legend that may be sung and told

War of the Boorish Boer and the Poor Moor - poem #59

A boorish Boer lived on a moor

His neighbor was a poor Moor

The poor Moor and the boorish Boer

fought over who could bore more

To settle the score 

the poor Moor schemed to lure

the boorish Boer with roar

at his door on the moor

At the stroke of four on the moor

the poor Moor let out a roar

at the door of the boorish Boer

who fell with fright to the floor

Feeling sore, the boorish Boer

tore open a drawer, took out a

sword, and stormed off to gore

the poor Moor 

The poor Moor had a store 

near a sewer on the moor

it had been built not long before

thus it was a newer sewer on the moor

The boorish Boer was sure at his core

that the poor Moor had roared at his door

and using lore of the thunder god Thor

took his sword and beheaded the poor Moor.

And so ended the war of the Moor and Boer

This all happened in the days of yore

when soft rains poured on the moor

jail haiku and limerick - poems 27 and 28

metal door clangs shut

hours pass safe from winter cold

until cell opens

***

a man once went to jail

it left him feeling frail

but once back in bed

at his own homestead

he enjoyed his new tale

on being an overachiever

I thought I was hot stuff until I read about this guy:

Jonny Kim - Wikipedia

***

Jonathan Yong "Jonny" Kim (born 5 February 1984) is an American NASA astronaut, physician, U.S. Navy officer, dual designated naval aviator and flight surgeon, and former Navy SEAL.

***

Well, he's got me beat by a country mile. Judge for yourself, here's my scoreboard:

Derpetology: Smarter Than the Average Bear

gist: Eagle Scout, BS in chemical engineering on full scholarship, Swahili from Peace Corps, Arabic from Army and NSA, perfect ASVAB score

I never believed in a traditional afterlife, and so I thought I could achieve symbolic immortality through achievement. That's a common mistaken belief. The world is full of people trying to be the best in this or that. I like the parable from a story called Hope for Flowers. It shows how foolish the rat race is:

Hope for the Flowers - Wikipedia

***

Hope for the Flowers is an allegorical novel by Trina Paulus. It was first published in 1972 and reflects the idealism of the counterculture of the period. Often categorized as a children's novel, it is a fable "partly about life, partly about revolution and lots about hope – for adults and others including caterpillars who can read". The two focal characters are caterpillars named Yellow and Stripe. They begin their search for meaning by attempting to climb to the top of a caterpillar pillar only to discover another destiny.[1]

...

He focuses, adapts, and drives to reach the top, and eventually he succeeds at being on the top of the caterpillar pillar. This results in disillusionment, as he takes in a vast vista of other caterpillar pillars. Is this all there is at the top? He has not really gotten into the sky. He just has a view of other caterpillars struggling to reach the top of their respective caterpillar pillars.

***

It takes wisdom to realize that at the end of the game, the king and the pawn go back in the same box, and that sometimes the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

In the good book, it says:

***

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

***

It's good to work and study hard when you're young and have the time and energy for it. It often pays off later and gives some pride in the meantime. In the end, life should be enjoyed, not endured. We're human beings, not human doings. 

Charles Schulz, creator of affable loser Charlie Brown, said that most people can't name any of the recent champions of this or that. Applause fades. But you remember the people who helped or hurt you. 

A famous Christian preacher had a goal of becoming a school's tennis champion. He succeeded, and was proud to see his trophy in the school's display case for all to see. Many years later, he came back to visit the school and was somewhat shocked to see his trophy in a garbage can. His conclusion was given enough time, all your trophies will be trashed by somebody else. 

There's a poem that sums up these ideas well:

***

On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness

by Arthur Guiterman (1871-1943)

The tusks that clashed in mighty brawls

Of mastodons, are billiard balls.

The sword of Charlemagne the Just

Is ferric oxide, known as rust.

The grizzly bear whose potent hug

Was feared by all, is now a rug.

Great Caesar’s bust is on my shelf,

And I don’t feel so well myself.

***

It's interesting that the most influential belief system was founded by a man who died young, had no children, and was executed like a common criminal after an eventful life by historical standards. Or at least the story of that has cast a long shadow. 

Work hard, do your best, have fun, enjoy your triumphs. But remember you must die. Memento mori, as the ancient Romans said. No one really owns anything, especially life. We just get to borrow it for a while. 

Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow(?) we die. Tomorrow, this retired overachiever will swim, eat, good food, relax, and be thankful for his good fortune.

brother may I have some oats

Coffee Ode - poem #23

Oh blessed brown liquid

Our stupor inhibit

Your splendid caffeine

Keeps our minds so keen

Indeed, writing is hard without it

Australia Limerick - poem #15

Boomerang and Waltzing Maltida

Marsupials galore like the koala

Invasive cane toads and kangaroos

Sydney Opera House and Foster's Brews

I think that about covers Australia 

close enough for government work

4 chord songs and Emily Dickinson poems

4 Chords | Music Videos | The Axis Of Awesome

Emily Dickinson's Poems sung to the tune of the Gilligan's Island Theme Song.

Cannibal Limerick - poem #10

A ambitious young cannibal

Found his feast not plannable

For the prey fought back 

With a napalm attack 

And that was the end of his tribe

old hat

Black Hole Limerick - poem #18

Of all the stars, there's a kind more fearful by far

It eats with gravity's pull and yet never gets full

The monstrous black hole is even darker than coal

But the sun gives us parole on eating us whole

For it will roast us as a red giant instead

Stacking Rocks - poem #6

China's Great Wall

The Pyramids of Giza

The mysterious Stonehenge

Mexico's Chichen Itza

They are all piles of stones

That men made in ancient past

Those men are now are only bones

The builders did not last

How many of us today are doing the same?

Stacking metaphorical rocks or rhymes

And trying to immortalize our names?

We are haunted by the passage of time

It is far better to live for today

To enjoy the splendid present moment

Than pine for a tomorrow far away

Many failed goals bring resentment

Be content with the threads you add

To the grand tapestry of life

All your triumphs, joys, and sorrows

Someday will be sheathed like a knife

Life gives countless gifts to us

And death keeps them forever

Iron swords are eaten by rust

But righteous deeds we remember