I
I see the sun on your back, my steamy friend,
Mark said to the engine shiny and black
And this is why I will never go galloping
across Europe, or sleeping late on Saturday
for being with you is more fun than any game
I would rather ride the rails than sail the rivers
II
Some folks laughed at the way Mark talked to his engine
He certainly is a quirky old cuss, they said
He would spend all day and night with that train
And tell any human to go pick mushrooms
He thinks nobody else could ever do justice
To the work that he puts into that old engine
III
He looks at us like earthenware dogs when we
try to help him, the other crew members said
You can sharpen an axe on top of his head
The carrots are cooked, the controller said
Take yourself into your hands, it's a roll with butter
Mark gets the job done, so let him have his way
~cie~
And now for the notes:
Poem copyright 2020 by Cara Hartley
Do not repost. Reblogging with proper credit is acceptable on sites that allow for reblogging.
A link to the poem may be shared with proper credit
Quoted text may be shared for educational or review purposes with proper credit
NaPoWriMo: Write a poem based on foreign idioms
April PAD Challenge: Write a Quirk poem
Words for Wednesday list
The photograph also comes from the Words for Wednesday prompt.
- Justice,
- Mark,
- Game,
- Sleeping,
- Rivers,
- Human.
The idioms I incorporated came from this page. I will list them for you here. All idioms and their explanations come from said page.
The idiom: Сенің арқаңда күн көріп жүрмін
Literal translation: “I see the sun on your back.”
What it means: “Thank you for being you. I am alive because of your help.”
(Kazakh)
The idiom: Галопом по Европам
Literal translation: “Galloping across Europe.”
What it means: “To do something hastily, haphazardly.”
(Russian)
The idiom: Ej bekot.
Literal translation: “‘Go pick mushrooms,’ or, more specifically, ‘Go pick boletes!'”
What it means: “Go away and/or leave me alone.”
(Latvian)
The idiom: Se regarder en chiens de faïence.
Literal translation: “To look at each other like earthenware dogs.”
What it means: “Basically, to look at each other coldly, with distrust.”
(French)
The idiom: Хоть кол на голове теши
Literal translation: “You can sharpen with an ax on top of this head.”
What it means: “He’s a very stubborn person.”
(Russian)
The idiom: Les carottes sont cuites!
Literal translation: “The carrots are cooked!”
What it means: “The situation can’t be changed.”
Other language connections: It’s a bit like the phrase, “It’s no use crying over spilt milk,” in English.
(French)
The idiom: брать/взять себя в руки
Literal translation: “To take oneself in one’s hands.”
What it means: “It means ‘to pull yourself together.’”
Other languages this idiom exists in: There is a German version of this idiom: “Sich zusammenreißen,” which translates literally as “to tear oneself together.” And in Polish, the same idea is expressed by the phrase, “we take ourselves into our fist (wziąć się w garść).”
(Russian)
The idiom: Bułka z masłem.
Literal translation: “It’s a roll with butter.”
What it means: “It’s really easy.”
(Polish)
Cross-Posted to these sites:
Good Stuff from Grover (I'm pretty sure that Ghost Town Grover and Mark would get along just fine. They're both quirky old codgers.)
Naughty Netherworld Press on Publish0x
If you liked this poem, you can grab a copy of my poetry book, Another Autumn, here.
