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Gnome

A long-time fixture at our home
Is Schnozz, our little garden gnome.
This non-complaining happy chap
Appears to have a handicap,
And looks to me, I must confess,
A poor neglected, grubby mess.

His hollow body, cheaply cast,
Sadly wasn’t made to last.
Beaten down by wind and rain,
Never once did he complain,
But graced our garden without words,
A perch for butterflies and birds.

Like me, he must be past his peak,
I watched a tear roll down his cheek.
Though smiling still, I heard him cough,
Then suddenly his nose fell off.
He looks so weird without a snout,
Perhaps it’s time to throw him out.

I scraped away the grass and grime
And hosed off all the gooey slime.
I’ll try to glue back on his nose,
Some paint would help I do suppose,
And hope to take away his pain,
Oh look! His smile is big again.

.

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Norma Pain was born in Liverpool, England and now lives in Parksville, British Columbia, Canada. Thirty of Norma’s poems were published by Dana Literary Society, between 2004 and 2007 and she was twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize by that same on-line poetry site. She self-published a book of rhyme in 2000 called Bulging Assets.

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18 Responses

  1. Paul Freeman

    Schnozz no longer looks in a huff,
    He’s jovial, smiling and buff.
    But say, did this save all,
    Include from his navel
    Removing some decades of fluff?

    Thanks for the read, Norma.

    Reply
  2. Tom Woodliff

    Well, for a bit he couldn’t breathe so the smile was understandable. I love your cadence and lighthearted story

    Reply
  3. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Norma, I often have told you how much your sense of humor mirrors mine. I really loved this one and am still smiling about it. From the naming of the gnome, Schnozz, to mentioning “the perch for butterflies and birds,” I enjoyed it thoroughly.

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you Roy. I have a number of funny frogs and other small concrete artwork around our garden, that I enjoy painting from their original grey color. I couldn’t bring myself to throw out Schnozz. He is just too cute and cheery.

      Reply
  5. Margaret Coats

    Adroitly glued and artistically painted! I’m sorry, Norma, but the poem made me think of all the human beings who voluntarily gave up snout and smile for a mask. Big smiles again for them, I hope, along with restored oxygen capacity to do the brain’s work.

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      Thank you for your comments Margaret. If only I could mend some malfunctioning brains with my glue and paints!

      Reply
  6. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Norma, I went back and reread your poem and realized the love you must have had for an old treasure and the joy you must have felt for taking care of it in a loving way.

    Reply
    • Norma Pain

      You are right Roy. It did bring me joy to sit in the garden and paint him… ‘All-better now’. Thank you again.

      Reply
  7. Sally Cook

    Norma –

    You always manage to cheer me up no matter what. Thanks for doing it once again ! Nice poem !

    Reply
  10. Damian Robin

    Very nice and crisp poem, Norma.

    And Schnozz is so stoical, “without words”.

    And a very useful gnome. I like very much :
    “A perch for butterflies and birds.”

    Sychronicitous that its name is Schnozz and its nose fell off.

    Also nice before and after photos.

    May you both have long lives. :^)

    Reply

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