Angie’s Antics again…
Poppy’s Prompts: June
Nobody’s going to rope me into Ten-Pin Bowling!
I’ve celebrated lots of birthdays in my time… been around a while
Every single game made me feel like screaming… howling!
No way! Not me! Never again!
***
Our Work Social, loomed
Let’s be clear…
Socialising fills me with delight
But Ten-Pin Bowling chills me with dread and fear!
***
We’re bees, buzzing… busily
Workdays dart by — like Lear jets
Friends are glimpsed far too fleetingly
Convivial chats coveted… prized.
***
So… I served up my excuses so prettily
Agreed they’d manage happily…
How ever did I end up joining in?
Instead of wisely choosing to flee!
***
Three lanes of intrepid souls
Rolled up their sleeves… donned colourful, clown shoes
Everyone, excepting me — raring to win…
Not expecting to lose!
***
A dad, young son and daughter
Perfect fellow players…
No stress… relax… I really oughta’
Take it easy… let one of the kids win!
***
How hard could it be, with bumpers to help?
Sadly, one gift I missed, was fine motor skill…
Instead blessed with an unerring, crooked aim…
Somehow, I always end up a dill!
***
Which fingers work best?
Hand, palm up … or facing the floor?
Like Goldilocks of old, all balls were tried for comfort and size
It was all merely grasping at straws!
***
Reluctant to try, I was last to bowl
With a graceless swing, thud and a clunk
That ball toppled those pins… one and all!
Loud screams celebrated… ringing loudly in disbelief!
***
Next round, that ball
Contrarily curled… without a care
It looked likely to miss… but surprised us all
Bizarrely, I wound up with a Spare!
***
With exuberant company, laughter and smiles
I was amazed to find it was fun!
The cheery young fella helpfully advised
Shift over in line with the last one.
***
Excellent, wise words with wonderful results
Despite an accidental arc
When that ruby red ball became airborne
The final pin fell… what a lark!
***
I tried to let the little lass win
Played loose and free, without a care
Perversely, I accidentally won
Causing the youngsters to almost despair!
***
Meanwhile, a friend, newly met
Seemed in dire need of a helpful tip
Close your eyes, it can’t hurt!
She tried it and let rip!
***
Well… then, she got Strike after Strike
Achieved a great score — pulled to the fore
As Ten-Pin Bowling Coach…
I wonder… will my Day Job be required anymore?!
***
Such was the hysterical hilarity and hype
I foolishly agreed to play another game
Against far more competent players
It just wasn’t at all, the same!
***
I tried so much harder
But… that wretched ball misbehaved… strayed
It persistently did wander
Away from the pins, it sure stayed!
***
Consistently last… dragging the chain
I gave up all hope of scoring until…
Bizarrely… Spares and Strikes showed their faces again
To gain me respectable third place.
***
However, the games’ autopsy results
Revealed me as a fraud
What a disappointment to miss
Winning that coveted Wooden Spoon award!
***
It really is true… an old dog can learn tricks that are new!
At a ripe old age of a hundred and two…
Or am I one hundred and three?
Maybe Ten Pin Bowling is really the game for me!
***
Author’s note: Everyone except me probably knows the Grand Loser is presented with the Wooden Spoon… hoping one day soon it will be mine.
***
For Poppy’s June Prompts… I was aiming for a cheerful, less murderous poem than these words seem to typically inspire!
About the Creator
Angie the Archivist 📚🪶
Addicted to reading, especially fiction and poetry.
Personality of a Labrador.
Attention span of a gnat! 😳
A Parade Of Shoes: Top Story March 2024
Painting Pandemonium Top Story February 2024
"Look Out... Sauerkraut!": Top Story December 2023
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Comments (8)
This was incredibly entertaining to read, and probably to witness. I adore your writer's voice.
This was absolutely delightful to read! Thank you for that.
I have a similar but less dramatic relationship with bowling. I am miraculously brilliant for long enough for people to think I was fibbing when I said I was bad...and then I'm genuinely bad.
This is stupendous! Love the direction you took the challenge words! Great narrative poem with so many hilarious lines! You have such a talent for writing such wonderful lighthearted pieces that prompt laughter and smiles while also doing impressive moves structurally
Clown shoes hahahahahahhahahahaha!! I love your Goldilocks reference and the way you used airborne and autopsy! Well done!
This was so fun! 🤩
I went ten pin bowling just last week. My performance is either stunning or dire, no middle ground. There is no method to it at all. Fling and hope.
Great job, I loved it! Rhyming and telling about the game😊My husband is a big bowler and when we were in Australia, which is a CONTINENT (!) he kept striking (haha) up conversations about bowling and asking the Aussies if they knew Jason Belmonte (a pro bowler from Australia). I said,”look, it’s a big place here - it is like asking someone in Seattle if they know a guy from DC!! Unless into bowling, they may not have heard of him. 🤣