POTPOURRI OF THE MIND

By Joel D. Ash

A Collection of Poems in the Limerick Style

Published By OLD PINE BOOKS
Weston, Connecticut

Hardcover Edition Printing and Binding by:
Hanover Lithographing, Inc.
New York, New York 10001

Artwork and Graphic Design by:
Kevin J. Ash Creative Design
18 Melon Patch Lane
Monroe, Connecticut 06468

Copyright 1997 by Joel D. Ash
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this book may be reproduced for any purpose other than the personal use of the purchaser. For any other use, reproduction or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, is prohibited without the express written permission of the Publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number
97-92589

DEDICATION

I want to express my deep appreciation to my family and friends for their encouragement during the preparation of this book.

To my wife Marsha for her assistance and loving critiques.

To my son Kevin and his wife, Helen. Kevin for his superlative graphic design effort and Helen for her tremendous help in the poem selection process.

To my son Deron who has consistently provided me with the most useful comments and suggestions.

To Elliot Weinstein. Besides providing a first class printing and binding job, he and his wife, Alice assisted in the poem selection process.

To Harold and Joan Gordon who have given me ongoing encouragement and valuable comments.
A Thank you to family and friends,
Gratitude that I feel never ends;
For your effort and time,
I express in a rhyme,
All the love dedication intends.

PREFACE

The author has had a love for the limerick style of poetry ever since his college days. Over the years, he has penned amusing limericks for various special occasions. For his 40th college reunion he wrote a thirteen stanza poem entitled A REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST. This limerick style poem was published in a limited edition booklet entitled The Class of 1956 - - Famous Last Words. For Mr. Ash, that was certainly not the case since he subsequently has written close to 200 Poetic Limericks and more are planned.

The first "serious" poem written by the author is THOUGHTS EVERGREEN, completed in July 1996. In this poem he tried to express thoughts and feelings which he felt were not adequately captured in A REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST. THOUGHTS EVERGREEN was read to his classmates at a class dinner in October 1996 as part of the Homecoming festivities. The poem was later published in the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine and the class of 1956 newsletter.

A newspaper article concerning Mr. Ash and his poetry appeared in the Weston Forum, January 15, 1997. This article, entitled "There Once Was a Man Named Ash", pointed out that while some people have no hobbies, others like Mr. Ash pursue many hobbies, including tennis, skiing, fishing, chess, studying and collecting oriental art, dabbling in magic, and writing limericks. And this list is far from exhaustive. The author also spends considerable time analyzing the stock market, reading about financial and money management topics, gardening and growing flowers, target shooting, playing bridge, model railroading, researching astrology, and also interviewing for Dartmouth College. His many interests provide a rich source of material for his poetry.

The author, with help from family and friends, has selected 80 of his best Poetic Limericks for inclusion in his first hard cover book. The selected poems cover a very wide range of subjects. A number of poems reflect the author's unique sense of humor - - among these are poems such as LIFESTYLE OF A VAMPIRE, A SCRAMBLED EGG, POT LUCK, ANTI-GRAVITY TIME, and MERLIN AND THE FIRE DRAGON TRICK. In sharp contrast are many more serious efforts such as FIRE, GOD AND THE TERRORIST, CAKEWALK, THE LONG TRIP BACK, and THE MURDER OF ART. The author hopes that you will find many hours of enjoyment in reading his efforts and perhaps thinking about them or sharing them with friends and loved ones.

SPECIAL NOTE: Without incurring any cost, you may review the TABLE OF CONTENTS and the first poem of the book. After that, you will be given the option to enter credit card information and arrange to get a password which will allow you access to the remainder of POTPOURRI OF THE MIND. For the nominal cost of $5.00 (which will allow you 30 days of access) or just a bit more ($8.00 for 180 days of access) you can enjoy all of the remaining poems. That is one of the major advantages of an online book - - the lower cost basis permits pricing at a significantly lower level than is feasible with the hardcover edition.

OF LOVE AND NATURE
Poetry of the Heart	Page 3
Thunderbolts	4
Flower Time	5
Sun, Sea, and Sand	6-7
Yellowstone Ride .... see Notes, Page 109	8-9
High on Nature	10
Ode to Marsha .... see Notes, Page 109	11
A State of Mind	12
Thoughts Evergreen	13
Classmates Forever	14
Fall of Leaves	15
Dead of Winter	16
Fire	17
Emotions	18
POEMS FROM THE DARKER SIDE - - For those who like dark thoughts and dark humor
From the Darker Side	21
Primal Fear	22
All Hallows Eve	23
The Haunt	24

Lifestyle of a Vampire	Page 25
Zombie Ball	26
A Blind Date	27
Fatal Attraction	28
A Lack of Rack	29
The Far Side of Hale Bopp	30
God and the Terrorist	31
The Earth Show	32
Cave Dweller	33
The Murder of Art .... see Notes, Page 109	34
FUN & GAMES AND EVERYDAY LIFE
Sounds of Music	37
Grand Master	38-39
Lots of Laughs	40
Basketball Ballet	41
New York Underground	42-43
Fish Stories	44
Time of Your Life	45
Two Old Cans and a String .... see Notes, Page 109	46-47
Computer Life and Death	48
A Connecticut Fence	49
Don't Take a Fake	50

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Hors D'Oeuvre Stuff	Page 53
No Picnic	54
Let's Talk Turkey	55
A Scrambled Egg	56
Le Restaurant	57
Cakewalk	58-59
Winery of the Gods	60-61
Menu for an Orgy	62
The Oriental Hotel	63
Pot Luck	64
The Shell Game	65
A Hell of a Birthday	66
The United Rations	67
Home on the Range	68
IN THE TIME MACHINE
The Time Machine	71
The Long Trip Back	72-75
The Black Swan	76
The Black Swan Reprised	77
The New World	78
Hitler's Bunker: A Fantasy	79

Silver and Gold	Page 80
Possessing the Past .... see Notes, Page 109	81
Deja Vu Forever	82
Translation 2025	83
Judgment Day	84-85
Anti-gravity Time	86
ODDITIES AND MAGIC
Abracadabra .... see Notes, Page 109	89
Life of the Pharaoh	90-91
Merlin and the Fire Dragon Trick	92
Lucrezia and the Fortune Teller	93
Mind Doctor	94
Double Double Spies	95
The Black Gimoire	96
ANYTHING GOES
Sounds in the Highlands	99
To See or Not To See	100
The Old Family Album	101
The Resurrection of Zion	102-103
Our Animated Friends	104
Orientation	105
Capricorn Rising	106-107

Renaissance Man	Page 108
POETRY NOTES	109

SPECIAL NOTE: If you plan to read the whole book, it is probably a good idea to print out the table of contents as a reference. You may want to print out the entire front section if you ultimately plan to print out the entire book for your personal use in the future. However, remember two things. First, it is almost impossible to get perfect page printouts due to the great variety of printers used. And second, since all of the contents are copyrighted, pages should not be passed on to others.

Scroll down for the beginning of POTPOURRI OF THE MIND poems

OF LOVE AND NATURE

Pages 1 and 2 in the original book (including a blank page)

POETRY OF THE HEART

Poetry springs forth from the heart,
Seeking beauty in this form of art;
A meaningful theme,
Words from my mind stream,
The release of emotions in part.

I favor the limerick form,
For serious work not the norm;
A new way to capture,
A feeling of rapture,
Or visions of wild thunderstorm.

The joy of creative endeavor,
Words intertwine as they never;
If it comes out right,
Perhaps an insight,
A beautiful thought that's forever.

The words of the Muse I am told,
Can have value beyond that of gold;
One magic phrase,
To delight and amaze,
Sentimental or funny or bold.

Each stanza reflects on the poet,
His essence revealed so you know it;
Each nuance uncovered,
His innards discovered,
Despite some reluctance to show it.

There are days when it all seems to flow,
Fertile time when the thoughts quickly grow;
Ideas bursting free,
A poetic spree,
Springing forth from my heart's afterglow.

Page 3

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