Poem Praising Buns

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Now, with the lid off, we can see clearer. What shall I choose, the ones with the sesame topping, or the green ones? 

Singaporeans like green. They think it suggests fresh green plants or fruit.

Looking at the picture, savouring it, is like eating twice.

Three green buns. Sounds like the nursery rhyme, Three Blind Mice. 

The Story Of Six green Buns

Six green buns

Six green buns

We're all so happy when breaktime comes

Six big buns.

The order of eating is all rehearsed

We let the visitors go first

We want them all to share the fun

Five green buns.

I'm watching the numbers carefully

To be sure there's one left for me

Four green buns.

I think I ought to hand them round

I need some food so I survive

We all need food to stay alive

Three green buns

Good, someone says, Already had

I smile because I'm very glad

If they'd all gone I would be mad

Three green buns.

Three big buns.

Three big buns.

The green one is my favourite one

I ate the green one, now it's gone

Two big buns

One of them has sesame seeds

It looks delicious, it was indeed

One big bun.

No-one saw that I took too

But I must leave one for you

Hurry, friend you must be fast

Or otherwise I'll take the last ...

With two of us - I have to share

I'll share with you to show I care

No big buns.

No big buns.

But we have shared our memory

What we ate for last weekend's tea 

Green been paste, kaya, (and) sesame

Three big buns.

I'm looking forward to next weekend

Three dollars isn't a lot to spend

In Singapore eating never ends

I dream about them every day - six green buns.

-ends-

See more photos of the buns and the filling in

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

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Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Drink, Drink, Drink - water

Drink, d-rink d-r-rink, water

I'm scared to tell you what I think
On holiday give up the drink
You'll lose your passport, Dad, son, daughter
Just stick to juice, milk, tea, or water.

In strange places stay alert
To be sure that you don't get hurt
Make sure that you avoid a fight
Don't walk into a tree at night

Drink, drink, drink water
Drink, drink, drink water

You bought a bottle then ordered a magnum
Went on to hoist a jereboam
You cannot drink all that alone
Call a taxi, let's go home

The local drink is very strong
They drink it, so what could go wrong?
You do know that they don't live too long?
No wonder they sing such bad songs.

After a drink you feel alive
Except you're not allowed to drive
You sing well, tell jokes and hear laughter
But find the toilet's too far after.

You buy a round, what could go wrong?
Nothing, until the money's gone
Remember your child, what you taught her
Sit down, shut up, drink your water.

-ends
Copyright Angela Lansbury 2018
Please read the posts on my travel blog
travelwithangelalansbury
You'll find lots of irony and subtle humour. Please share links to my posts with your friends and family.

Warm Feelings About Worms

Warm Feelings About Worms
by Hazel Nutter also known as Angela Lansbury

A garden's got a million worms
Your eyes are filled with doubt
Just go and watch those little birds
Which keenly hop about

They know something which we don't know
As each bird taps its beak
They seem to be the winners
In their game of hide and seek

I'm standing at the window
And watch the daily show
Nasty worms aerate lawns
But taste good when birds swallow

I try to see the bright side
Worms do a lot of good
I try to see the light side
To birds a worm is food

I've a sandwich in my hands
I lick my lips and munch
All those birds with open beaks -
Those birds are out to lunch!
-ends-
out to lunch, idiom meaning crazy

Text Copyright Angela Lansbury 2018.
Photo by Per Harald Olsen.
My draft of the poem had the pun, but look good to a swallow. I hoped some readers would spot the pun on the birds, swallows.
I checked what swallows eat and they eat flying insects, not worms. So I changed the line to read But tast good when birds swallow 
Please share links to your favourite posts.
Read my travel posts, too. Many of them have a hidden irony, or damn with faint praise.
travelwithangelalansbury.blogger.com

Love is like a cuckoo

Love is like a cuckoo
by Hazel Nutter (aka Angela Lansbury)

Love is like a cuckoo
I love to hear it sing
But other people warn me
It's fun, it's false, it's bling

It wants to shove the others out
It wants to be the one
It does not care for others
When all is said and done

A cuckoo starts off small
But it grows big and hungry
You race about to feed it
It's ungrateful - and angry!

Cuckoo from Wikipedia.

If you suspect a cuckoo
What is it you should do?
Make sure you are not cuckoo
And the cuckoo's not with you.

-ends-
Copyright Angela Lansbury.
Photo by Per Harald Olsen.

Poem inspired by Dolly Parton's Love Is like a Butterfly.
I watched a butterfly flutter past and thought, just write a song starting  LOVE IS, making a metaphor from something you see. My first thought was bird.

I thought of names of birds, Magpie, Robin, cuckoo. Cuckoo offered the greatest opportunities for puns and metaphors. I might try Robin next.
Please share links to your favourite posts.
See my travel posts on
travelwithangelalansbury.blogger.com

Happy Days Scoot Past

Happy Days Scoot Past by Angela Lansbury

I stroll to swim, every morning
Down to the cool, soothing blue pool
I find friendly, helpful teachers
I learn from birds the 'stay calm' rule

I hear taxis to the airport
Tooting, 'Mind out!' on their hooter
A happy small girl swings, zooms round
Sings on her go nowhere scooter

The tall palm trees are waving, hey
Hello, hello, in the fresh breeze
A woodpecker climbs bark to his
Solo penthouse, in shady trees

Stay alert, look round and forwards
And rarely, carefully, look back
But mostly search for friends and food.
See what you've got, not what you lack.

A dacksund keenly sniffs the cacti
Forgetting all yesterday's hurts
Hundreds of birds join a chorus
That well-known round song: chirp, chirp, chirp!
-ends-
Copyright Angela Lansbury
Written after a swim in a pool in Singapore after seeing a girl on a scooter and woodpecker climb a coconut palm. The dog (on a lead taken for a walk)which stopped to sniff was a dachsund. Hooter rhymed with scooter. I contrasted of the impatient driver going to the airport with the girl who was happy without a destination.

You Are Shakespeare To A Baby

You may not write like Shakespeare
Nor have Picasso's eye
But your baby likes a nursery rhyme
And your soothing lullaby

You might not write like Shakespeare
That does not mean you're a fool
You can entertain a toddler
With a rhyming wash hands rule

I might not paint like Picasso
I draw a line with my mouse
I do not need lions nor sculptures
Just someone to paint my house.

Dears, the moral is quite simple
Shakespeare is fun for holidays
But bus drivers, toilet cleaners
Are what we need every day.
-ends-
Copyright Angela Lansbury
June 8 2018

The Little Summer Swimmer

The Little Summer Swimmer
by Hazel Nutter

Every morning you can see me take my early morning swim
Later in the grassy shadow, larking in my improvised gym

My family is large - half a dozen brothers and sisters
So when one of them went missing, when young, we hardly missed her

You may sit watching, glad you're human, from your carved and painted log
But I think I'm the lucky one, having been born a frog.
-ends-
2018 MAY 3RD
Hazel Nutter also known as (H) Angela Lansbury