At Carry On Tuesday, they gave us this prompt…
“This week, the opening line from Home Thoughts From Abroad. Not by Robert Browning but Clifford T Ward: I could be a millionaire if I had the money.”
Now, you know me. The first phrase that caught my pun-addled brain was “Thoughts From a Broad,” but that is so Bette Midler… Carry on! Amy
If I Had the Money
If I decided to waste a buck
I could buy a lottery ticket
I could be a millionaire…
If I had the money,
I would give it all away.
I would drop it on rainforest recovery
and houses for Katrina victims
and public education grants
(and recalling the governor of Wisconsin).
Buy canned goods, give them to pantries;
clothe the homeless, give them shelter;
feed the hungry, give them hope;
help immigrants learn English if they wanted to
so they could see beyond cleaning rich people’s bathrooms.
I would spend it so fast,
old friends couldn’t catch up to me for loans,
because the money would already be gone.
I could be a millionaire if I had the money.
But if I had a million bucks, I wouldn’t have it long!
© 2011 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
The shadorma is a Spanish form of poetry, following a specific structure. I have always felt limited by forms because it felt like stuffing sausage – only so many words, syllables, etc., per line. During this semi-sabbatical from daily posting to Poetic Asides, I have allowed myself room to breathe, and some of those breaths have drawn forms into my being. Weird, huh?
To find out more about a variety of forms, visit Poetic Asides and scroll down to Robert’s list. Click on the links and try writing some yourself. Amy
TREASURE (a shadorma)
Her treasured
not measured in jewels
nor by money
but in love
demonstrated by sharing
all she had
© 2010 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
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