Pull cord blues – Poem

This is a story from my life today. I posted the following comment on FB

“Note to self:
Next time you have to repair the pull cord on the push mower…. please make sure the ants aren’t around.

PS. Next time someone borrows your push mower and the pull cord breaks, do everyone a favor…. tell them you’ll just fix it.
It will save them the $ and frustration of dealing with the repair shop
It will save your mower the boredom of sitting in said repair shop for 3 – 4 weeks
You’ll get your mower back, repaired properly and out cutting grass where it belongs

A win all the way around :D”

A friend commented “Need to express this frustration in a poem!” I replied “Ha.. duly noted”

So I’ll dedicate this one to my lawn mower and to Tram 😀

Pull cord blues

There once was a man with a lawn
Who had let it grow on far too long
He put down his glass, said it’s time to kick grass
Put his ear buds in for a song

He headed on out to the shed
Waved hello to his old neighbor Fred
No time to pass, got to go find the gas
Fred grinned and shook his head

Our friend was in a hurry you see
Pushed the primer bulb 1,2,3
He gave one strong pull and another one fast
Yanked the pull cord clear and free

He stared and gave a short shout
Figured he’d have to do without
The mower alas, was sucking down gas
So he headed to the front yard with doubt

Fred yelled, you might make it lad
But the wet grass was clogging things bad
Tried to tilt it back fast, it sputtered and  died at last
Our dear friend was so very sad

He wheeled it on back to the shed
His neighbors all thought it was dead
Feeling quite crass, said he’d fix it up fast
As a tool list formed in his head

Tools in hand he could see
He would have to take to a knee
Ants on the grass, he’d have to move fast
Or his legs would be bitten indeed

He dove into the repair
Had to fight off some despair
Shouted there, at last, thought the repair shop daft
As he pulled out a little more hair

The mower was now working fine
The sun still gave him some time
He headed at last, to go kick some grass
The repair shop would not get a dime
Stephen Kellogg – 2012

*I don’t actually have a neighbor named Fred, and while I did wave hello to my neighbor Nancy, her name wouldn’t have fit the poem and I am too tired to work around it. So, names were changed to protect the laziness of the poet. 😀