Wasp-watching on the front porch
Dancing effusively in a moonlight tuxedo
I negotiated an uneasy rapprochement
Among several truculent and bellicose wasps
I negotiated an uneasy rapprochement
Among several truculent and bellicose wasps
A wasp meandered from room to room
As I inspected the lawn chairs in my soul for faulty karma
And a general lack of ambivalence
As I inspected the lawn chairs in my soul for faulty karma
And a general lack of ambivalence
In the cafeteria the wasp failed to pay
For my deviled eggs and lemon meringue pie
When my honorary degree expired
For my deviled eggs and lemon meringue pie
When my honorary degree expired
The wasp cousins were out late last night
Upon returning they found me
Arguing with their skateboards
Upon returning they found me
Arguing with their skateboards
Everyone predicted a flop
When Wolfgang composed Eine kleine waspmusik
But I told him to add a tambourine
When Wolfgang composed Eine kleine waspmusik
But I told him to add a tambourine
Winter wasps raced bright orange snowplows
Through the neighborhood
While I shoveled the lawn and crocheted some central heating
Through the neighborhood
While I shoveled the lawn and crocheted some central heating
A committee of wasps is suing me for slander
Claiming that all of the above is untrue
But you believe me don’t you?
Claiming that all of the above is untrue
But you believe me don’t you?
Bionote
Buff Whitman-Bradley's poetry has appeared in many print and online journals, including Atlanta Review, Bryant Literary Review, Concho River Review, Crannog, december, Hawai'i Review, Pinyon Poetry, Rockhurst Review, Solstice, Third Wednesday and others. He has published several collections of poems, most recently, To Get Our Bearings in this Wheeling World. His interviews with soldiers who refused to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan became the book About Face: Military Resisters Turn Against War. He lives in northern California with his wife Cynthia.