From The Collected Poetry and
Critical Essays of O. Manly Maunder

On the Metaphysically Alimental
Aspects of Masticatory Empiricism

(Traditional Haiku)

By O. Manly Maunder
 

for once life’s crunch is
not so crisp—still we insist
on chewing—yum yum

Mirth Most Fowl

By O. Manly Maunder

One duck is seemingly
amused. Not with the plaintive retort
of his brother mergansers, but
with great quacks that
alarm the pristine pond he laughs, “Haw, haw,
haw,” and the little silvery
fishes look up with sequin
eyes and frown, as if to say, “We
do not admire you, chuckling duckling.”
But the duck laughs anyway.
Perhaps my pole is too slender,
in his estimation, for raising the great big
fish, or perhaps he has
understood the plight of the poet, who has
sung with sad ducks of other ponds.
Old Maurice the dog looks
up at me, his soggy doggy
eyes seeming to impart, “At
least you have your art.”

Ode to Cecilia:
On a Coffee Cup

By O. Manly Maunder

A drop of milk lingers on my
lip: thus is the vestigial pleasure
of a breakfast of champions repaid.
With weary chin on my many knuckles
then, I grin, and gaze
into the enormous coffee cup, pondering
when next I might stir it up--
but, hokey smoke! a little cloud
rises from the black depths below!
“Oho! No cream?” I scream. You gasp,
“Too much too soon!” At last,
with an esophageal burning
in my soul, I belch forth poetry that
would overflow my empty cereal bowl,
if poetry were hearty wheat.
It is not my coffee cup, but yours,
Cecilia, where I have dipped
my demitasse spoon.
“So soon removed!” you pant. I swoon.

Not Dogs

By O. Manly Maunder

These are not dogs.
If they were,
they would not be fierce dogs,
certainly not fierce German dogs
having lust
zu beissen und zerreissen!

And yet the sheep
constructs the damned lamb
to withstand the tooth and nail,
as mongrel pups,
yapping unanimous yup yups,
assail their tails
ere chowing down
on sacred cows.