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October 22, 2014

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Humor, Photography, Poetry

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Ogden Nashery

Pinetree Spurthroated Grasshopper - Melanoplus punctulatus

Itty bitty, not very pretty,
(Unless to his mama)
Stone silent, not very witty,
But the high hop creates drama;
From the woods not the city
(At least not Yokohama)
Inspires this little ditty
From one who likes to yammah.

Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham

Pinetree Spurthroated Grasshopper - Melanoplus punctulatus

Note: Despite my usual inclination that a poet should never explain, for those not from New England, the “yammah” is a Bostonian pronunciation of yammer. My photograph is of a Pinetree Spurthroated Grasshopper (Melanoplus punctulatus), a rare sighting. Not only had I never seen a grasshopper like him before, my research indicated he’s rare in general. My poem is an ode to Ogden Nash, a particular favorite author of my children and I. Here is one of his poems, which I hope offering here, would not have displeased him:

The Ant

The ant has made himself illustrious 
Through constant industry industrious. 
So what? 

Would you be calm and placid, 
If you were full of formic acid?

— Ogden Nash

41 thoughts on “Ogden Nashery”

  1. Ogden Nash gnashed by the mouth of the giant,
    His teeth gnashed the monster for he is defiant.
    A poet of renown and so often thought of as a clown,
    The reviewers are the giants and his works chewed around.

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  3. Absolutely beautiful on all three counts. The ‘hopper, the Ogden Nash offering, and truly most of all, your rhyme to which I would take off my hat were I wearing one, but since I’m wearing two, the’re both off to you.

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  5. I think he is very pretty – attractive in an unusual way! 🙂 We only seem to have green ones in the UK, and they’re very small too, quite tiny sometimes. Was he a big one, or does it just look like that on the photo?

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    • My little grasshopper lives in oak trees, apparently. I bet he would be near impossible to see on tree bark. He had come calling, though. He was waiting for me on my front porch, and he paused for pictures, just as if it was the red carpet and I was the paparazzi. Isn’t life grand? 🙂

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