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Summer Family Cookout

Criss-cross, hamburger toss,
_Flip that sizzlin’ patty!
Pretty please, and top with cheese!
_You’re the Great Grill Master, Daddy!

Three-two-one, slide it on a bun!
_With ketchup, tomato and lettuce
Hip-hip-hop, put a pickle on top
_Call the kids to come and get it!

Mom’s in the shade with cold lemonade
_And potato salad, cool and creamy.
What a tasty treat! Sure beats the heat
_With the weather so gosh darn steamy.

Everybody’s yellin’ for a chunk of watermelon,
_Kids run through the sprinkler on the lawn,
Fireflies blinking as the sun goes sinking,
_And the streetlights finally come on.

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Doug Stoiber writes poetry and short fiction and is a member of the Mossy Creek Writers in East Tennessee. A dozen of his short stories and seventeen of his poems have been selected for publication in literary journals, poetry and fiction anthologies, and on literary websites.

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7 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Doug, this is classic entertainment at its finest. I thoroughly enjoyed your version of a cookout done with humor and finesse.

    Reply
  2. Mark Stellinga

    A really fun piece, Doug, and I’m suddenly feeling extremely hungry! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Paul A. Freeman

    I’ll be out of the Sahara, having my first barbecue in 11 months next week – you’ve sure put me in the mood, Doug.

    Reply
  5. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Your words bob along with a musicality and energy that makes me smile… I can smell the burgers, I can taste the potato salad… and I am ready for my very own Great-Grill-Master husband to see to my hungry needs, such is the power of your poem. Thank you, Doug!

    Reply
  6. Carole Mertz

    I truly enjoy the flap snap of your hamburger toss and all its fixin’s down to the yellin’ for the melon. What a perfected light-hearted treat for summertime grillin’ and poetry swillen’.

    Reply
  7. Cheryl A Corey

    Doug, your poem is delightful from start to finish. Only yesterday, I was reminiscing about being a kid in the backyard on a summer night, and how exciting it was to catch a firefly, cup it in your hand, and study the glow.

    Reply

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