I hope you aren’t getting tired of poems. I have been having fun reading some old favorites and sharing them. So please indulge me again today. This poem is because Litlove mentioned she like funny poems and this one makes me smile every time.
It is by Jane Kenyon and you can find it in her collection Otherwise which I highly recommend as being amazing.
The Shirt
The shirt touches his neck
and smooths over his back.
It slides down his sides.
It even goes down below his belt–
down into his pants.
Lucky shirt.
Heh.
Lots of reading for school this week and the first of two group projects to do so this is short and hopefully sweet. I’ll try to come up with something besides poetry tomorrow unless there is begging for another one 
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Oh, but I like the poetry! I forget to read it so it’s nice that you feature it here sometimes. Love this one.
I see you’re getting in the mood for Valentine’s Day… Lucky Bookman!
A favorite of mine. Kenneth Hanson was a poet, translator and teacher at Reed College in Oregon. He spent many years living in Greece.
First of All
Kenneth O. Hanson
First of all it is necessary
to find yourself a country
–which I not easy.
It takes much looking
after which you must be lucky.
There must be rocks and water
and a sky that is willing
to take itself for granted
without being overbearing.
There should be fresh fish
in the harbor, fresh bread
in the local stores.
The people should know
how to suffer without
being unhappy, and not to be happy
without feeling guilty. The men
should be named Dimitrios
Costa, John or Evangelos
The newspapers should always
lie, which gives you something
to think about. There should be
great gods in the background
and on all the mountaintops.
There should be lesser gods
in the fields, and nymphs
about all the cool fountains
The past should be always
somewhere in the distance
not taken to seriously
but there always giving perspective.
The present should consist of the seven
days of the week forever.
The music should be broken-hearted
without being self-indulgent.
It should be difficult to sing.
Even the birds in the trees should
work for a dangerous living.
When it rains there should be
no doubt about it. The people
should be hard to govern
and not know how to queue up.
They should come from the villages
and go out to sea, and go back
to the villages. There should be
no word in their language
for self-pity. They should
be farmers and sailors, with only
a few poets. The olive trees
and the orange trees and the cypress
will change your life, the rocks
and the lies and the gods
and the strict music. If you go there
you should be prepared to leave
at a moment’s notice, knowing
after all you have been somewhere.
“When it rains there should be
no doubt about it.”
Love it. Where I live the rain is much too circumspect.
I’m not much into poetry, but I do like that poem.
Ah, Jane Kenyon is one of my favorite poets.
Heh heh heh!!! I loved that – exactly what I needed on a morning with dreary editing ahead and my son’s parents’ evening (meeting with all his teachers) to be dreaded tonight. I will carry that chuckle around with me today – thank you, dear Stefanie!
Now there’s a lesson in context. We are in the middle of media controversy in the UK at the moment over a couple of sports commentators who have been sacked/resigned because of issues to do with sexist behaviour. One of the points of dispute centres round one of them asking a woman to tuck his microphone wires down his trousers.
Context is all.
Heh, indeed. I never get in so much poetry so feel free to share more! I do much better when looking at one poem than faced with a whole book of them!
Poetry to make a person smile! That’s wonderful…I will add Jane Kenyon to my list, I’m trying to slowly (and on the sly) compile some books for a poetry project.
Daphne, so glad you like the poetry of late! I’ll have to do poetry more often.
Sylvia, LOL, you made me blush!
Richard, oh that’s a nice one! I like that the birds should work for a dangerous living.
Softdrink, glad you liked it!
Allison, I love Jane Kenyon and so does my husband. We have a framed broadside on our wall of her poem “Otherwise”
Litlove, I am so glad you liked it and hope the chuckles lasted all day!
Annie, oh dear, yes context is everything sometimes isn’t it?
Danielle, Well I’ll just have to share another one then and maybe make it a habit to do it regularly. I’ve been enjoying perusing favorited poetry books
Michelle, glad you got a smile. And I whole heartedly endorse a poetry project!
Send us more… blessings or shirts.
“There’s something about a red wheelbarrow…” Poetry has a way of staying with you.
Humorous poetry is apparently my magic substance this week. Am still walking around singing double-dactyls in my head (“please find attached the A- / Genda for Baltimore”), and now this – love it! Certainly brightens up the gray winter days.
Love it!
Aw, sweet.
Richard’s contribution is appreciated too. Geographic and pornographic! More or less.
What a great idea to have one of Jane Kenyon’s poems framed. I could easily go for “Otherwise” too, or maybe “Who”. And “The Shirt” never fails to make me smile.
Arti, glad to oblige
Grad, poetry does have a way of sticking with you doesn’t it? I love that William Carlos Williams poem, thanks for reminding me of it. I also love his “This is Just to Say”
Emily, LOL, like I mentioned on your double dactyl post, I think you have a new calling
Willa, glad you enjoyed it!
Carrie, glad you enjoyed all the poems. We aim to please here
catharina, I don’t remember where we got the broadside but it is beautifully printed on thick, creamy paper. We have it haning in near the dinner table where we gaze upon it regularly. It reminds us to count our blessings.
Poetry is always welcomed! I love Kenyon — what a fun poem
I hope your group project went well.
Dorothy, still in the midst of group project number one. It is going fairly well.
This is a good one!
I do love fun poems … what a hoot!
Whisperinggums, proof that poetry doesn’t have to be all serious
Absolutely — and there should be more of it, eh?