Join Diane, MotherOwl, Mimi, Merry Mae and me as we do what we gotta do with this topic :)
You can leave your poem in the comments, or post on your own blog. If you do the latter, please leave a comment so we can come along and applaud. Use the topic, or choose another; the idea is to have fun and work our brains a little.
And if anyone would like to suggest a topic, please feel free to do so! Diane and I take turns providing the topics but there's lots of room for more suggestions.
*****
There's not much of a preamble this week.
Suffice it to say that I am having to work extra hard lately to encourage myself to do my filial duty in a kindly way.
So I've written a poem to remind myself where to find the grace I need.
*****
Filial Duty
Duty alone can be a mean thing
It's only a chore, with a hollow ring
Uplifted by love, any chore can become
A heartening song that we're glad to have sung
*****
And some funnies, because I'm in need of them and I bet you wouldn't say no to them either :)
By the way, they all originated on either Facebook or Twitter. Who says social media is all bad?!
The topic for next week's Poetry Monday will be ..... WATER. Good luck!
Wishing all of you a good week . . . no, a GREAT week. If we're wishing to begin with, let's make it worthwhile :)
LOVE the funnies.
ReplyDeleteYour poem shames me. I did a lot for my mama but I did not do it with a good grace.
I hope that love and laughter (displayed/given/acquired carry you through.
And hugs.
I am shamed by my poem, too, EC. I am having the same difficulty you describe. It is a hundred times harder to have that grace now than it was with my dad. This is my attempt to remind myself to dig deeper. I don't know if it will work. Thank you for the hugs - and sending them in return.
DeleteWow, is it Monday there already? It's still Sunday here - thank you for giving me some belly laughs before bed!
ReplyDeleteSending good thoughts your way regarding the filial duties...
Thank you, Diane. I need all the good thoughts I can get.
DeleteAnd there really is quite a time difference from one side of the country to the other, isn't there?!
Not your best poem but oh, what a laugh I had.
ReplyDeleteAs long as you're laughing at the funnies, it's all good, Andrew - lol
DeleteI have found that at a certain point I got to decide what my duty was, and that decision determined what kind of person I am.
ReplyDeleteThis came to me while I was living alone for an extended period, of course.
As for duties like domestic upkeep and such, I have long subscribed to the idea that whoever has the lowest gag factor in each area should figure on doing the lion's share of the work, but that got upended when I had my stroke.
Now I do the lion's share of the chores that I can actually do. Thus, like always, I do the dishes, but not so much the floors, which are difficult to do when using a cane.
One duty I tend to fail at is getting others to do things on time, even when their not doing so drives me crazy. I haven't found a satisfactory approach to that one yet, though I'm definitely working on it.
I like your poem, your attitude toward any task can be the difference between joy and torture sometimes.
-Doug in Sugar Pine
Your thoughts on this remind me of the quote I read long ago - we become what we do over and over, was the gist of it. One action, good or bad, does not describe us, but the things we do every day do.
DeleteI hope you find a way to get those "others" to do things on time . . . and then I hope you share it with the rest of us!
Those funnies are so funny, I laughed at each one in spite of my pounding headache, (from having dinner at the local hotel with old friends while the bar area hosted a disco party for three hours).
ReplyDeleteOh, yikes! I like disco - a lot - and that would still be too much! I'm glad you could laugh, and hope your headache is gone by now :)
DeleteThat dog on the table is hilarious. Olga's done a lot of things, but she's never been up on a table. (As far as I know!)
ReplyDeleteSome dogs (and also cats) think tables are a rocky outcropping from which they can stalk their dinner :D
DeleteIt is not a chore if you are doing it for someone you love. You got it right, Jenny.
ReplyDeleteThe funnies were very funny. I loved the dressed up and babushka cats. I would never try doing that as I bleed easily.
Ha ha! Me too, Arleen. Some cats don't seem to mind, but we've never had one of those :)
DeleteYour poem has a message that hits like a club. We all need to know and understand this.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet even understanding it doesn't make it easier to do . . . but it's a start.
DeleteMy cats would never allow clothes to be put on them but they look so cute.
ReplyDeleteBriony
x
We've never had a cat that would allow that, either!
DeleteIt’s been a rough few days here too. Thanks for the chuckles, Jenny. Take care.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that, Marie. I hope things improve soon. Glad you had a few smiles in the meantime.
DeleteThey made Tony and I chuckle out loud
ReplyDeleteOh, good!
DeleteHaha I love the funnies this week, and as for the last one, oh I can relate. It's a bit like the question "Do these trousers make me look fat?" - " No it's your fat that makes you look fat". Or something like that.
ReplyDeleteHah! Sadly, I can relate to both of those things, the face thing and the, er, fluffiness thing :)
DeleteLove changes everything. Thanks for the funnies!
ReplyDeleteI had fun picking them out, too!
DeleteThe chickens and the red faucet knob: priceless.
ReplyDeleteYes, I loved that one too!
DeleteMust have been an especially tough week since your funnies list was especially long? I'm sorry. Hope it gets better. I thought your poem was very insightful (not surprising). I have also heard the saying you quoted to Doug. There's another one that I like: Watch your thoughts,they become words; watch your words, they become your deeds; watch your deeds, they become your habits; watch your habits,they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny...it's credited to Lao Tzu but I've seen it credited to other people also so not sure who actually said it, but I love the saying and believe it 100%
ReplyDeleteThat's a great one, Chicken. I believe it too.
DeleteDid you get my newer comment on your last post? I gave you the wrong name of the book I was recommending, can you believe it? My FAVOURITE EVER BOOK and I didn't even get the name right! Sheesh. It's Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson. :)
I've recently discovered Kate Atkinson. It's been several months since I read Life after Life but I'm still thinking about it. She seems to play with time in several of her books. I'm enjoying her detective series right now.
DeleteOh, no, I missed that. I'm glad you mentioned it. I will have to check it out! We seem to have similar tastes judging by your book list over there so I'm sure I'll like it.
DeleteYour poem is good and something to think about. Both of my parents have been gone for many years now but I still worry that I could have done better for them.
ReplyDeleteLove the cat pictures and the funnies! That one monkey cracks me up too!
I'm not doing very well with my mom's particular issues and I need to do better. I'm trying to give myself a sharp poke to do so, and the poem is part of that ...
DeleteGlad you enjoyed the funnies :)
your poem is inspirational dear Jenny as always :)
ReplyDeletei think a daughter like you is needed by all parents ,the way you remained devoted to your parents selflessly is something so rare in world of today HATS OFF TO YOU!!!
when it comes to duty i am weirdly stubborn ,but how fortunate that i never ever found myself STUCK in duties, as wife and mom i just had to follow my heart as simple as that :)
lots of love ,hugs and best wishes for you days ahead my friend!
Right now I'm not feeling like a good daughter, baili - that's the problem. I needed to remind myself of how to deal with the situation. I still don't know if it will help, though.
DeleteIt was much easier for me to be a wife and mom; like you said, it was easy to do!
Hugs and thank you!
i can relate to your feelings dear Jenny
Deletei think this is because we think we did lesser than we could do
but if we think about reasons behind this ,it is obvious that we had lot more to attend at same time ,problems from daily living influenced our decision making ability
along comes the bitter truth that no matter how crucial circumstances are we realize true value of things and relations when we loose them unfortunately and this realization has everything to do with effort we could make more to do better
hugs!
So true, my friend - thank you for pointing out those things. I do tend to forget them and it is good to be reminded. Hugs :)
DeleteThank you for the funnies, I needed them this week. My parents were big on "duty", ironically they didn't give much thought to the duty of good parenting. Nonetheless it has been drummed into me and I tend to do more than I should out of duty. It is not good for one's emotional well being but how to handle it, I wish I knew.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to step up to the plate sometimes, for me at least, but it's equally hard to step back at other times. Maybe take it in small amounts? I don't know.
DeleteGlad to help out with the funnies. I wish I could take credit for writing all those wonderful lines but I just copy/paste :D
DUTY
ReplyDeleteI followed orders.
As snow fell on Sachsenhausen
I pointed my rifle at the sleeping midget
And prodded him awake.
He was next on Dr Wurth's list.
Keeping guard at the laboratory door,
As snowflakes fell like feathers,
I heard the midget screaming inside -
"Nein! Nein! Nein!"
At times like that one had misgivings
But we were bound by duty
And I was only twenty one.
I believe he was called Heinz -
The midget I mean.
Timely and sobering and sad, YP. Thank you for taking part in Poetry Monday this week.
DeleteHAHAHAHA! I LOVED all the humour. I'm late visiting but I'm so glad I'm finally here. Thank you for the smile :) The Russian grandma cats and the last one were hilarious!
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it, Martha - I loved those Russian grandma cats too :D
DeleteI am proud of you for powering through the poem. Good job. I enjoyed the Chunk cat meme and the things that made my toddler cry memes the most. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI still crack up every time I think about the toddler crying because they wouldn't let the dog drive him to daycare! Have a great week :)
DeleteLove the funnies. Too late for a poem. Will try next week.
ReplyDeleteAny contributions are welcome - old, new, on-topic, off-topic . . . you get the idea :D
DeleteGlad you enjoyed the funnies.