forward...fetCH!

Greetings, all--it's Poetry Friday, March 6th, and our word of the day is "fetCH."  There have been a number of cat responses so far in our Forward...MarCH Poetry CHallenge (read the introduction to the project here), so I went ahead and did the obvious thing with "fetch" and wrote about a puppy.  I hope my effort is less trite and more fetching than it currently seems, after 45 minutes of work!

Before we get to it, though, I have to give a shout-out to a really great PBS show that lived all too short a life:  Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman.  Of course, I always wanted to be on ZOOM ("Z-double O-M, Box 354, Boston, Mass., 0-2-1-3-4. Send it to ZOOM!"), but Fetch! was even better because of the real-time, out-and-about challenges.  It only ran for 5 seasons, but I loved it.  Possibly even more than my kids.

And here's  my poem:

Fetching

My new puppy’s very cute—

He lies down when I tell him to.

I’m as fetching as my puppy

and I’m pretty useful, too.

I fetch the paper for my mom;

I fetch the tennis balls for Dad;

I fetch remotes for my big brother;

Fetch the book I thought I had.

Gramma needs her reading glasses;

Grampa left his phone downstairs;

Baby sister needs her binky;

Big Sis wants her shoes in pairs.

I’m glad that I am good at fetching.

When they ask me I obey.

But now it’s Puppy’s turn to fetch—

I’ll throw, he’ll catch—it’s time to play!

HM 2015

all rights reserved

Charles (who, incidentally, won the distinction of being the Top Contributor to Laura Shovan's Sound Poem Challenge with THIRTY-ONE poems contributed in the short month of February!) is in again today with another doggy take on "fetch."

MORNING EXERCISE

Fetching this morning’s paper,

Dog collar dangling its daily tune,

Scooping it into my jaws

I scamper back on chilled concrete.

Upon my arrival, I get smiles

 Plus a scrubbing behind my ears,

(Always a bonus)

Shivering in delight

I plop on my bed,

Ready for a nap.

(c) Charles Waters 2015 all rights reserved.

Donna had to do it too.  She and Charles should meet up at the Dog Park!

Catch, Fetch, Lunch

I'm going to snatch this snowball

And bring it back to you!

I love to play fetch all the time;

I know just what to do!

I'm catching it - it's coming!

I've got it in my sights!

But it's so cold and tasty;

It's in such nice sized bites!

I'm sorry I can't fetch it;

I feel the need to crunch;

Next time just throw a real ball

So I won't think it's...

CRUNCH...

lunch!

Robyn also wants to know what time you'll be there...

"Compulsion"

She threw it –
right under my nose in an underarm scoop of a toss.
It a-r-c-e-d, slow motion, into the sky-sun-sky
(blinding me for a sec).
Before I knew it my haunches had sprung
bounding me over the ground in little arcs to fetch
the prompt
(and shake shake shake it
in my snappy jaws).

© Robyn Hood Black

And Mary Lee's acrostic is so full of action:

What to do if You Are a Retriever

Freeze until the command is given.
Explode from the down-stay.
Tear across the lawn at lightning speed.
Catch the frisbee, mid-air.
Hustle back, tail high, ready for more.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015

Joy's acrostic has a tasty double meaning:


FIDO, my
English Cocker
Tries to play
Catch with a
Hot Dog

And Jone has stopped by with a late entry!

FETCH

on sunny days the dog
and I race
to the park a few blocks
away.

I throw a ratty tennis ball.
he fetches
until the slobber slimed ball
is dropped
at my feet. His tongue hangs
out tired.

(c)Jone Rush MacCulloch, 2015 

Isn't it great how many ways there are to become The Dog Within?  And I'm enjoying how many extra -CH words are appearing in these poems!  I'll need to calculate these usages in my wrap-up at the end, I can see.

Diane takes us into a whole new territory, no dogs in sight (and bonus points for "kvetch"):

Fiscal Therapy

The old lady spends
her days online
religiously checking
prices on eBay. 

A born kvetcher
she tells her son that
everything she
has labeled will fetch
a good price

when the time comes.

"Okay, Ma," he says.

The labels are only
a warm-up.

She crosses out $6.99
and re-marks the
Xavier Cugat LP, $8.99.
All the while
humming "Perfidia."

--Diane Mayr

She also offers us Xavier Cugat performing "Perfidia":  http://youtu.be/nYvjFS8wV2E

Please add your "attractive, appealing, sweet, pretty, good-looking, lovely, delightful, charming, prepossessing, captivating, enchanting, irresistible" poem to today's fetching collection!  Paste it in the comments or send me an email.  Remember, the "StretCHiest MarCHer" will win an enCHanting prize at the end of the month.

Today's roundup is with Robyn Campbell, a newcomer to our community.  Go fetch yourself some juicy poetry bones!