Finger Gossip

Finger Gossip

The grandfather clock just struck twelve, that magic hour of night,

And there he sits drumming our fingers musing about something to write!

He's been biting our nails and running our fingers through his hair,

Scratching his head, searching for witty or apt verse to prepare!

Ah! Now he's flexing our digits and I detect in his eyes a gleam.

We think he's collecting his thoughts to concoct a masterful scheme.

Something comparable to works by Whitman or Riley, no doubt.

These fingers should get some credit, no matter how it turns out!

What will it be? A poem about religion, politics or the billowing seas,

Little children, old soldiers, love gone sour or scarlet hued trees?

Perhaps a few stanzas about cowboy lore - only the Lord can tell!

Our fingers just fly over the keyboard - that old coot types pretty well!

We're getting numb and need rest but he provides no reprieve.

He's typing at least seventy-eight words per minute, I do believe!

But never fear, we'll manage to keep ahead of his versatile mind,

And keep pounding away as thoughts from his prolific skull unwind!

Well, he has completed what he considers a masterpiece at last.

We're petered out and ready to curl up - we have typed so fast!

But all of us from our thumbs to our pinkies have had a blast!

We pray he never gets writer's cramp - that would leave us aghast!

Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired

1st Place in Linda-Marie's "Finger Frenzy" Contest - June 2010