# Poetry in Motion - Today's MMP

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Tags:** mmp\
**Created:** [July 21, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240 "2008-07-21T12:08:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/1 "2008-07-21T12:08:10Z")

</div>

I love Hindi and Urdu poetry. I don’t listen to poetry in any other language but I love my own. For some reason, it has that beauty and grace to me others are lacking.  
I have included a few poems here with translations. The translations are not perfect by any means; it is difficult to translate and keep the beauty, but I’ve done the best I could.  
I know lots of people don’t like poetry; I apologize to them and hope you can get some enjoyment out of it anyway!

_1. Koi bhi jeevan nahi apna agar  
Phir ye Jaan usike naam kyon kar hua_

1. If none of our lives belong to us  
How did my life become hers?

_2. Hum tho tinke chun rahe the ashiyana ke liye  
Tumko kisne kaha bijli girane ke liye_

1. I was just here picking flowers for my garden  
Who told you to come and drop lightning in my path?

(In Hindi a common way to depict suddent instant love is a lightning bolt – kind of like the “thunderbolt” in Italian culture.)

_3. Tanhai si chai hai dil mein  
Khamoshi hai saare sheher main  
Akele hain koi chodgaya?  
Ik koi mujhse pooch gaya  
Javab kya deti ik hi tho hai  
Dil hi udaas hai baaki sab kher hai_

1. There is a loneliness in my heart  
A silence in the village  
“Are you alone, did someone leave you?”  
A passerby asked me  
What answer could I give but one?  
Only my heart is broken…everything else is fine.

_4. Kate nahi kat the lamhe intezaar ke  
Nazre jamake bete hain raste pe yaar ke  
Dil ne kaha dekha jo hussan yaar ko  
Laya hai kaun inko falak se utaarke_

1. Tho I try I cannot pass the moments of waiting  
I sit with my eyes on the path she will take  
When I finally saw her my heart asked  
Who has plucked her from the sky and brought here here?

(I use the first couple of lines of this next one as my sig:)

_5. Bane chahe dushman zamaana hamara  
Salaamat rahe dostana hamara  
Bichde na marke bhi hum dosto  
Hume dosti ki kasam dosti  
Pata koi pooche tho kehetha hum  
Ik dooje ke dil mein rehethe hain hum  
Nahi aur koi tikana hamara  
Salaamat rahe dostana hamara_

1. Even if the world is our enemy  
Let us always remain friends  
Even if we die we will not be separated  
We swear on our friendship  
If someone asks us where we live  
We say we live in each other’s heart  
There is no other place for us  
Let us always remain friends

(And a nice little song. )

1. I am not a poet  
But, o beautiful one  
Since I saw you  
I have learned  
To write poetry

I am not a lover  
But, o beautiful one  
Since I saw you  
I have learned  
To be in love

I had heard the name of love but  
What it was I did not know  
I walked through life like an innocent  
Living amongst my friends like a stranger

I am not a stranger  
But, o beautiful girl  
Since I saw you  
I have learned  
To be a friend

I wonder if I raised my hands in prayer  
What would I ask for?  
Ever since I’ve fallen in love  
It seems I have begun to believe

I’m not an unbeliever  
But, o beautiful girl  
Since I saw you  
I have learned  
To be faithful

\*6. Main shayar tho nahin  
Magar e haseen,  
Jabse dekha  
Maine tujko mujko  
Shayari aagayi

Main aashiq tho nahin  
Magar e haseen,  
Jabse dekha  
Maine tujko mujko  
Aashiqui aagayi

Pyar ka naam manine suna tha magar  
Pyar kya hai, ye mujko nahin thi khabar  
Main tho uljha raha uljano ki taran  
Doston mein raha dushmano ki taran

Main dushman tho nahin  
Magar e hasin  
Jabse dekha  
Maine tujko mujko  
Dosti aagayi

Sochtha hoon agar main duwa mangtha  
Haath apne utaker main kya mangtha  
Main tho jabse mohobbat karne lagaa  
Tabse jaise ibaadat karne laga

Main kafir tho nahin  
Magar e hasin  
Jabse dekha  
Maine tujko mujko  
Bandagi aagayi\*

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**Author:** ![Most\_Creative\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Most\_Creative\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Most_Creative_User_Name_Ever)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/2 "2008-07-21T12:15:10Z")

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First?!?!

LOVE the poetry **Meeks**.

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**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/3 "2008-07-21T12:17:02Z")

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Lovely poetry, meeks.

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**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/4 "2008-07-21T12:29:45Z")

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Lovely. Even worth hunting all over MPSIMS for! 😛

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**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/5 "2008-07-21T12:30:56Z")

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Lovely poetry, **Meeks**! Please don’t leave!!!

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**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/6 "2008-07-21T12:31:33Z")

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Very pretty, **Meeks**.

I got the donwannas real bad this morning…

Mondays suck.

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**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/7 "2008-07-21T12:46:22Z")

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**Mika** , my eyes glaze over whenever verse is involved, but you done good anyways.

[QUOTE=Dolores Reborn]  
I got the donwannas real bad this morning…

Mondays suck.  
[/QUOTE]

I think I have you beat for sucky Mondays already, **Rebo**.

I’m tahred and cranky today. Damned dog got me up at 1 AM to go out, and I couldn’t get back to sleep. Finally laid back down around 0215, flopped around a bit, and _MAYBE_ I went back out.

0245, and there was a page for a lady with shortness of breath. I don’t know if I was back to sleep before the page, but I was wide awake after.. It went to four pages before I decided I wasn’t going to get to sleep, so I answered. Then the call went to emergency, and I still was the only one who answered.

A mile from home, and CPR was reportedly in progress. Well, finally a full crew calls in. We pick her up, and she’s v-fibbing. I shocked her once, and she flatlined. We did CPR and all the other magic all the way to Betsytown, but the doctor called it 5 minutes after we got her in the cardiac room.

Have I mentioned how much I hate it when patients die on me? Especially on a Monday, the suckiest day of the week? With 4 hours of sleep?

Something a little funnier happened on a call yesterday, but I didn’t take it. It was paged as a man attacked by an animal. The crew showed up, and after a while they cleared without transport.

Our patient was about 20 yards offshore in the Chowan River in an inflatable boat with his girlfriend when a beaver swam out to his boat and attacked. the beaver chewed up the inflatable and sank it, then went after the guy, leaving him with several bites and gouges from the claws. It was vicious enough that the beaver broke off one of it’s main fangs in the process. The guy somehow managed to hang on to the critter and drowned it, so there is something to test for rabies. The jokes, however, write themselves.

“Man finds beaver, with teeth.”

“Ward, there’s something wrong with the beaver.”

You get the idea.

I gotta finish my coffee before I fall asleep at my desk.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/8 "2008-07-21T13:15:23Z")

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It’s been an hour and it’s not early morning - I’m surprised there are so few of you! Still, good morning all.  
**Bobbio** , sorry to hear about your rough day. How horrible. But holy crap about the MAD KILLER BEAVER. \<snerk\>

I’ll tell you one of the funnier verses.

I’ve told this one before:

(In India women have to, culturally, cover their faces or at least their heads in the presence of their father-in-laws. With a veil, yanno.)

_Early in the morning  
I grind peppers  
I’ll put them in my father-in-law’s eye  
I won’t have to cover my face_

More later.

So…I wanted to talk more about the ballet on Friday night. As I said, I was woefully unimpressed. I think I would have enjoyed it better had it been a ballet play, but it was just disjointed pieces of ballet strung together. No sets, and pretty costumes, but…nothing impressive.

I prefer Shakespeare. Next time I will have to see an opera. And I have yet to see a Broadway play. Yeah, and I’m a New Yorker and everything.

Then there was the downstate thing. It just…amazes me, how much tension there is in that household. You could cut it with a knife.

Oh, can I just say, I am BORED to death of biking accessories? Look, I’m not asking for paisley with flowers on it. But I would like a handlebar bag that is a different color than _black_. I’d really like silver or gray, as that’s the color of my bike. Instead I have a poop-brown one because that’s the only one I could find that was different.

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**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/9 "2008-07-21T13:24:16Z")

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up, caffeinated, at work. Yah, work! _blinks_

Very nice OP, **Mika** ; love the verses and they translate fairly well into English. I always try to say them in the original language - in my head, of course! - but they probably don’t sound like what I think they do.

**BBBBobbio** , very strange about that beaver attacking the man!:eek: Good thing there’sa corpse, because the beaver may have been rabid. ☹ And sorry that you lost a patient.

Happy Monday all _ducks from the thrown garbage_

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**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/10 "2008-07-21T13:30:28Z")

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Yaarrrggg! Monday…

Very nice OP, **meeks**! I agree with everybody…don’t leave.

I had a nice weekend. Had lunch on Satruday with three lovely former coworkers. We went to the Cheesecake Factory. Nom, nom, nom!

Yesterday was hotter n blazes! Mr. Anachi actually did yard work for most of the afternoon and then we popped into the pool which was a sultry 86℉. Supposedly the heat index was in the triple digits. We have more of the same today with the temp already over 80℉.

That’s all I gots.

Tupug

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**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/11 "2008-07-21T13:44:53Z")

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I love the poetry–if only that one poem said, “how did my life become his?”, I’d print it out…  
I am up and it’s thunder-boomy out. We need it, but I’m sick of it. I want cool weather to return. I plan on running some errands today, baking bread and probably going to see Mamma Mia again with a GF who hasn’t seen it yet. Yay!

And then I need to get August organized. ugh.

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**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/12 "2008-07-21T13:47:19Z")

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Afternoon all. Great OP, **Meeks** - you don’t really have to go, do you?

I don’t like Mondays much either, today I have a very sore throat (had it since Firday) and I have a serious case of grrr with TK.

I have four and a half days left, and a massive pile of handover notes to write so she decides to give me some rubbish stuff to do that she could easily do herself and leave me with time to get my handover stuff in order. I think I’ll just do what I think is important and leave the other stuff for her to sort out when I’ve left.

And she’s booked Firday as a day’s holiday so she can weasel out of having to do my presentation and say nice things about me.

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**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/13 "2008-07-21T13:49:04Z")

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[QUOTE=eleanorigby]  
I love the poetry–if only that one poem said, “how did my life become his?”, I’d print it out…

[/QUOTE]

You can, that particular verse is gender-less. Just change it to his in English.

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**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/14 "2008-07-21T14:08:34Z")

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I like this one in particular:

“I was just here picking flowers for my garden  
Who told you to come and drop lightning in my path?”

'cause that’s how it is, isn’t it?

This one of my new favorites: [Persimmons](http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nap/Persimmons_Lee.htm)

dad update- it’s pneumonia. His 02 levels are fine on 2-3 litres of oxygen, no fever, decent energy but very, very junky sounding. Can’t seem to clear it. A little more confused than normal, but it could be from all the dozing and waking and getting disoriented.

Thanks for all the good wishes!

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**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/15 "2008-07-21T14:17:36Z")

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> [@Bobbio](#):
>
> ,Have I mentioned how much I hate it when patients die on me? Especially on a Monday, the suckiest day of the week?

Didn’t you get a copy of the Rules?

_ER Rules_

1. Patients die.
2. Medical staff can’t change rule #1.
3. All bleeding stops… eventually
4. Fevers eventually return to normal.. on its way to room temp.
5. Never piss off the nurse.
6. Pay attention.. (see rule 5)

(There are more, I’ll have to find them if you want them.)

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**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/16 "2008-07-21T14:39:07Z")

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That’s beautiful, **Mika**. I love poetry, and your translations are lovely.  
Okay, Mittens (new name for Aerin) pissed on some of the clean laundry while we were away. This is _enough_. Anyone want a nice fur hat?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/17 "2008-07-21T14:45:24Z")

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[QUOTE=picunurse]  
Didn’t you get a copy of the Rules?

_ER Rules_

1. Patients die.
2. Medical staff can’t change rule #1.
3. All bleeding stops… eventually
4. Fevers eventually return to normal.. on its way to room temp.
5. Never piss off the nurse.
6. Pay attention.. (see rule 5)

(There are more, I’ll have to find them if you want them.)  
[/QUOTE]

Well, I’m a fireman/EMT, so I fall into the camp of believing I’m god. Well, I’m not as bad as most surgeons I know, so maybe to be fair I think I’m a demigod.

😉  
The other point is that 25% of CPR calls have happy endings. This was my fifth, so I’m now overdue. 😉😉

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**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/18 "2008-07-21T14:47:54Z")

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Absolutely gorgeous poetry, what a lovely idea for an OP. Those poems remind me of Rumi. I adore the use of lightning as a metaphor for falling in love. I am still really in love, so I am just a big old sap about these kind of things.

In the spirit of celebrating language, I share some… translated by me, sorry if it’s shaky.

First, to celebrate love, Neruda:

Tengo hambre de tu boca, de tu voz, de tu pelo  
y por las calles voy sin nutrirme, callado,  
no me sostiene el pan, el alba me desquicia,  
busco el sonido líquido de tus pies en el día.

**I am hungry for your mouth, your voice, your hair  
And I walk through the streets without nourishment, quiet  
I search for the liquid sound of your feet in the day**

Oh my goodness **Bob** I’m sorry about your rotten day. ☹ That must be the hardest part of your job. It takes a special kind of person to be able to do it.

This is my last week of work before the move to New Jersey. I’m sick again. Doctor today. The problem is chronic. I don’t know if we’ll get it resolved before I move, but I’m empowered at least to deal with it and find a solution instead of accepting it as a given.

I have been writing again. 27 pages of fiction over the last week. It was nothing usable, but I’m happy to be writing.

At any rate, we are moving in two weeks! :eek: It takes about 13 hours to get there by car. It’s going to be a strange experience living so far away from the place I’ve known all of my life. We have been visiting friends and family and every visit feels like goodbye. I still have to find a job and we’re still waiting to hear about student loans and I’m basically just a giant bundle of nerves hoping it all works out. I don’t think I’ve gotten 8 hours of sleep in over a month.

I leave you with the Grand Master of the Spanish language, Jorge Luis Borges. My shitty English translation really can’t do it justice. Just trust me, he’s a god among men.

‘‘The Art of Poetry’’

ver en la muerte el sueño, en el ocaso  
un triste oro, tal es la poesía  
que es inmortal y pobre. La poesía  
vuelve como la aurora y el ocaso.

**To see in death a dream, in the sunset  
A golden sadness, such is poetry  
What is immortal and poor. Poetry  
Returns like the sunrise and sunset**

A veces en las tardes una cara  
nos mira desde el fondo de un espejo;  
el arte debe ser como ese espejo  
que nos revela nuestra propia cara.

**Sometimes in the evening a face  
Peers at us from the depth of a mirror  
Art must be this mirror  
That reveals to us our own face**

As a writer, I have to add that seeing your own face revealed is the most difficult thing about writing. You don’t always like, or even understand, what you see. But that is the nature of the beast.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/19 "2008-07-21T14:53:14Z")

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[QUOTE=Lissla Lissar]  
That’s beautiful, **Mika**. I love poetry, and your translations are lovely.  
Okay, Mittens (new name for Aerin) pissed on some of the clean laundry while we were away. This is _enough_. Anyone want a nice fur hat?  
[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I’m glad you like it, but I have to comment on this. Who would want a cat, if all it does is piss on everything?

This isn’t something I would say as a standard thing, but I’ll say it here in the MMP. I have never understood people’s love for the fuzzy things. Even though they are cute as anythign - and I do agree on that - they are gross!

Cats:

throw up hairballs  
throw up  
poop SMELLY  
fart SMELLY  
leave hair everywhere  
scratch  
make a mess  
drop stuff  
knock stuff over  
lay on your keyboard  
bug you all the time, except when you want love  
pee everywhere if they are mad, or sometimes just because

Dogs:

throw up  
eat poop  
throw up again  
go back and eat more poop  
pee everywhere just becase  
leave their hair everywhere  
poop and you have to clean it up  
make a mess  
drop stuff  
knock stuff over  
sometimes attack other dogs or people  
hump your leg  
jump on you

And I have had a dog. So I know there are a great deal of benefits, too, so please don’t jump on me. They can be extraordinarily sweet and adorable.. But due to all of those other reasons, I don’t have one, and people always look at me so weird. I don’t want a small furry person running around making a mess! That doesn’t mean I am weird!

**olives** , I like the poetry. I understand enough Spanish that I can read it, with some help, so i even got some of it in the original language.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poetry-in-motion-todays-mmp/457240/20 "2008-07-21T14:55:42Z")

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[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th]  
Oh my goodness **Bob** I’m sorry about your rotten day. ☹ That must be the hardest part of your job. It takes a special kind of person to be able to do it.  
[/QUOTE]

But it’s not even my bill-paying job. It’s basically a hobby… :eek:

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