I’ve made in Hollywood
Where roses blow and dahlias grow
Exactly as they should.
Where Nature in a mood divine,
Her rarest charms unfold
And I who worship at her shrine
Enchantments gay behold.
There color riots in the beds
Of stock and daffodil
And lilies from their nodding heads
The air with fragrance fill.
The merry song birds trill their lays
And water lilies bloom;
Content and pleasure fill my days
And leave no room for gloom.
’Tis there I oft indulge in dreams
Where shady nooks entice
And to my mind this garden seems
An Earthly paradise.
’Tis my retreat from Worldly care;
My one desire, indeed,
Is that within my garden fair
I’ll some day go to seed.
Pink Mondays in Supposyville
“Now I suppose that washing clothes
Is quite a tedious matter,
Causing no end of rubs and scrubs,
Of muss and fuss and splatter.”
Thus one fine day old Solomon
Tremendous Wise observed.
“A lot of cheer is wasted here
That ought to be conserved.
“For as the good dames blue the clothes
They seem to blue themselves,
And when they’ve placed them crisp and clean
And starched upon the shelves,
“They’re limp, and just an awful cramp
Gets in; makes Monday blue and damp.
It settles like a fog upon us—
Blue Monday, what a wrong you’ve done us!”
The good King laughed.
“Perhaps,” said he,
“You’ve thought us up
A remedy!”
“For one thing,” old Sir Solomon
Remarked, “I’ve been a-thinking
’Twould be a lot more sensible
To use a cheerful pinking
Instead of bluing, and I’ve jars
For the entire realm!”
“Your perspicacity, my friend,
Doth truly overwhelm,”
The good King chuckled, “and what else
Have you in mind, my man?”
Sir Solomon puffed out his chest.
“Your Majesty, my plan
“Is to divide the matter up
Between the men and women;
No reason why a man should not
Share up—he’s fond of swimmin’!”
The King’s crown tumbled off. “My friend,
That is a worthy plan.
But don’t you think that washing clothes
Is not quite fit for man?”
“He wears ’em, don’t he?” Solomon
Tremendous Wise commented;
And after quite a little talk
The good old King consented.
Now, every other Monday all
The good dames take a rest.
And the men-folk wash and pink the clothes,
That is much the best
Way out, I think. I wonder what
Would happen, duck and dear,
If we should just insist they try
The very same thing here!
Copyright © 2025 Eric Shanower and David Maxine. All rights reserved.