74. Are You Challenging Me? [100 poems challenge]

74.          Are You Challenging Me?

I may be getting grey and old,
My body’s not quite at its peak,
But there are tasks, if I am bold,
I claim I’d win if you should seek
To challenge me to pairwise competition.
I juggle three and can fluke four;
My soccer skills can cause surprise;
My paper planes can really soar,
And I, from memory, can reprise
“The Pirates of Penzance”, complete edition.
I’ll launch flat stones across the bay
And make them jump a dozen skips;
When hiking I can proudly say
My cheesecakes no one can eclipse
(Though I will not compete on other cooking).
Give me a word and I can find
A snatch of song to match the theme;
In darkness, if I’m so inclined,
My sneaking skills can make Scouts scream,
Since I will make my moves when they’re not looking.
But clearly, on the other hand,
There are some tasks I must concede:
A swimming race is surely banned;
Reversing trailers won’t proceed;
And memory games will end up quite lop-sided.
If knitting, then I must decline;
I’m sure you’d win on clothing sense;
The knack for painting isn’t mine;
But there’s one thing to cause suspense:
On poetry I haven’t quite decided.

8 July 2013

Comments: I just sat down and started this one without a great deal of thought, and it seemed to know what it wanted to do. Unfortunately it decided to take a few stanzas to do this, and so took longer to write than I could really afford.

Themes to come: 75. Mirror; 76. Broken Pieces; 77. Test; 78. Drink; 79. Starvation

Explanation about the 100 poems challenge here.