©2025 Susan Noyes Anderson

art by Melina Valdez, my granddaughter

I’m a monkey in the jungle,
but I’ve got other dreams.
Existing in this heat is less
exotic than it seems.

Our tourists call it paradise,
and some days, I agree.
The views are great, but we lose points
for high humidity.

I’m melting underneath my fur
with no relief in sight.
(No wonder I imagine snow-capped
mountains every night!)

The man in my moon looks more like
two pine trees and a tent.
A nightly snooze in crisp, cold air
would be magnificent!

I have a bright green beanie to
protect me from frostbite.
But this old monkey’s stuck in Bali –
heat-struck! That ain’t right!!

{I’m such a sorry sight.}

image by Zdenek Machacek on Unsplash

YOSEMITE, ANYONE?

Poor, Sweaty Freddy. Looks like he’s having a pretty debilitating summer!

If you enjoyed reading this poem, you might also like reading Kitchen Confessional and Timicky Brown.

©1991 Susan Noyes Anderson

I wrote a good story but something went wrong.
I had all the characters where they belong.
The setting was great, and the word use was strong.
The length was just right … not too short, not too long.

©1989 Susan Noyes Anderson

image by Leah Hetteberg on Unsplash

What do baby brothers do?
Mine eats and sleeps and goes poo-poo.
He doesn’t play a single game,
He doesn’t even know my name
or his name, either. Not at all.
He stares right past me when I call!

©1994 Susan Noyes Anderson

Image by Alex Gallegos on Unsplash

Help, Police! I’ve lost my voice.
It’s gone away and not by choice.
It disappeared without a word,
the nicest voice you’ve ever heard.
It’s loud and soft, goes high or low,
whispers and shouts – Oh, let me know
if you have seen it. Tell, me please.
I’m left with nothing but a wheeze.
I gasp and croak. I rasp and squeak.
The thing I can’t quite do is speak.

©2011 Susan Noyes Anderson

image by Silvia Rossana Garavaglia

Dear John:
You’re gone,
Life goes on.
On and on.

©2015 Susan Noyes Anderson

Image by Velizar Ivanov on Unsplash

No ridicule allowed?
What cloud
have you been living under?
You always make me
laugh out loud –
Let no man put asunder
your penchant for
amusing me with
blunder after blunder.

©2024 Susan Noyes Anderson

My hair is falling down like rain –
disaster in the making.
These wisps and tendrils, once admired,
are borderline law-breaking.

©2024 Susan Noyes Anderson

image by reprentandseekchristjesus at Unsplash

Let’s take a trip! Sounds cool. Hurray!!
I really need some time away,
some time away from cares of home
to be me – free – and on the roam.
Can’t wait to gather up my stuff
and split. I’ll just include enough
of what it takes to have some fun.
It won’t take long; I’ll soon be done.