Dorothea Lasky

Imitations

The following is a small chapbook of poems

based on Dorothea Lasky’s style.

TURTLE SOUP
by Renee Santo

NOT YOUR LITTLE SKYLARK

by Hong Chung

DIRTY JOKES
by Hong Chung
Renee Santo

TURTLE SOUP

Turtle soup, it seems so wrong

I just love turtles
They remind me of myself
My feelings that I keep locked inside my
hard exterior
You may think I am crazy
I am not crazy
The world traveling so fast around me
Spinning circles in my head
Out of control
Slow down
I just love turtles
The steady pace they travel
And the shades of green they wear
And the spots they carry on their back
And their small beady eyes
And their short stubby legs
And their tiny little brain
I just love turtles
Stop it!
Leave them alone
I am afraid for them
Their shell is not enough to protect them
Who will protect me?
The metal pot on the stove is boiling
Hong Chung

Not Your Little Skylark

I am not your little skylark.

Torvald, will you stop petting my head
As if I were some little pigeon
With broken wings
That you happen to have found in the street.

I do not chirp and flutter my wings

Up and down
Up and down
For your amusement.
Although I do flutter my eyelashes

Torvald, my dear
I know you love me
But I know you don’t love me
You just want to nurture and cage me
Inside of your little heart
Your pathetic little heart.
You pathetic small-hearted man.

I’m not being ungrateful

A little harsh, maybe
And what the hell is a skylark
They are little woodland creatures
Snow White calls to sing songs with
Prancing around in their magical forest.
I don’t like the way you degrade me
Referring to me as your damn skylark
You foolish man
I am a writer
I am a thinker
I am a woman who needs no introduction
I am not your little skylark.
Hong Chung

DIRTY JOKES

They say I am a pervert

Because I make dirty jokes, yes a pervert!
That does not make me a pervert.
A pervert is a one track mind kinda person
I’m a lot more clever than that.
I just simply enjoy the essence of a dirty joke.

I think of myself as an orator

An orator of the things unspoken for
I am fearless of shame and ridicule
Fearless of the labels people put on me.
Dirty jokes are fun.
I command the attention of the room
While I witness the color of that one man’s
face
Change into the petrified purple, no maybe
raging red.
I like the shape of the dirty joke
Sharp and smooth, it’s intent is obvious.
Formality is crap-and so is appropriateness
They tell me to speak what is on my mind
And I speak what is on my mind.
I like dirty jokes because they are not
like people.
You can never correctly guess the intent of
a person
People are forever concealed in layers of deceit.
They want to be so high and mighty
Disguising their own dirty jokes
In a cheap veil of symbols and fancy diction.

Do not speak badly of dirty jokes.

They are a lot more truthful than you, and I.