Mark Twain indeed!

I enjoyed the Ken Burns biography of Mark Twain on PBS immensely, but didn't care much for his bio of Samuel Clemens. In any event here for POETRY FRIDAY is a Mark Twain poem, complements The Poetry Foundation. And I've thrown in a few Twain quotations, many of which he actually said. Quite a brain that fella Twain!

The Warm Summer Sun

by Mark Twain

Warm summer sun,

Shine kindly here,

Warm southern wind,

Blow softly here.

Green sod above,

Lie light, lie light.

Good night, dear heart,

Good night, good night.

"I was born modest. But it didn't last.

To succeed in life you need two things: ignorance and confidence.

Giving up smoking is easy. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times.

Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.

Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

God's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.

Familiarity breeds contempt — and children."

All quotations verified by Wikiquotes and my Uncle Alex.

I, ROBOT

I don't know about you guys, but I hate to have to prove that I'm "not a robot" every time I make a comment on a blog, deciphering those Captchas of discombobulated words. So for Poetry Friday, over at Dori Reads, I've created a poem that addresses that directly. 

I, ROBOT

To speak your mind
You have to prove
You're "not a robot"
And be approved.

Before your comment
Words are said,
You have to read
What can't be read.

But here I'll tell
The Blogosphere:
I AM A ROBOT!
I'm coming out here.

As for YOU, Please prove you're not a human:

By the way, growing up, Isaac Asimov was one of my favorite authors, not just his science fiction, but his non-fiction as well. I even wore a string tie in junior high school.

Goodbye, Jose.

I was sad to hear that my Greenwillow friend Jose Aruego passed away the other day. His youthful high energy at school visits belied his age. With Ariane Dewey he illustrated more than 60 fresh, funny, and original books including the bestseller Antarctic Antics, a book of penguin poems written by the multi-talented Judy Sierra.
Here's an excerpt from the poem 

My Father's Feet

To keep myself up off the ice,
I find my father's feet are nice.
I snuggle in his belly fluff,
And that's how I stay warm enough.

Poem copyright 1998 by Judy Sierra. Art copyright 1998 by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey