Stacy and Rayned made a fabulous meal!

Peaches, tomatoes, pistachios, beets
Thai cole slaw with peanut-sauce-coconut-cream...

To Rafael, whose birthday gathering was held in Baltimore at Poe's Grave, and to Jill, inspiring a topic rhyming with "Lenore."
(With apologies to Poe and proper syllabic structure.)

The Maven
Upon reading Jill Richardson's Huffington Post piece on sewage sludge
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jill-richardson/the-sludge-hits-the-fan-i_b_488258.html

Once upon a midday dreary, wandering gard'ners feeling weary
Wound around to find the Big Blue Bucket Eco-Fair
They stood in line, not seeming frantic. Still one shouldn't be pedantic:
Lie on lie, of size Titanic: They called the sewage sludge: "organic"
   Quoth officials: "it's organic."

Blogger, Jill said: Please beware. These buckets here, those buckets there
"Class A biosolids" squalid, are not quite clear on the brochure.
That's shit, that's sludge, that's toxic goo. Your garden might be fine with poo,
But  sure as sure, it isn't pure:
  Quoth the maven: it's manure

The alpha glycocidic bond is feeling very down,
While the beta glycocidic bond is up, about the town
And bonding glucose as they do, they form disaccharides,
And fiber, glycogen, and more (with some just for the ride).

Ranch hands
Big plans
Clear streams
Big dreams
Farmland
So grand!

(Oh wouldn't it be wonderful!)

The choices are stark
All our efforts are noble
But a prize go to Marc--
That's: Mr. Marc Sobel.

I dunno if he's dances
But he's doing the Salsa!
Finding the people:
Tahoma to Tulsa
From Trenton, to Tuscan, Toledo, to Tampa
Finding each teen, each mom, dad, or Grandpa

Some sit on a beach, with strawberry guava
Some will sip tea, while others sip java
No matter cuisine, place (or wig, or toupee)
Here's to our website: dot com, USA

And the Party of Coffee: Our work is ne'er done.
But this poem reprises the fine work of one.

Tea and towels and
Bees and bowels
And whoooh, the vowels
Of wise old owls

Smiles and growls
And honks and howls 
Oh, the things that evening brings.

Water Fasting (or, Not So Fast)

Her stomach has contracted
Her malaise is long protracted
And her words have been redacted
They're not fitting for young ears.

It's a method antiquated
Just don't eat--it's been related
Why good health is surely fated
And your system surely clears.

The key is drinking water
And like anybody's daughter
She does everything she ought'er
But the water won't go down.

So air comes forth, and air goes aft
She's thinking what she's done is daft
She'd rather topple from a raft
So noted with a frown.

Well, when all is said and done
And this body battle won
She expects to have more fun
She will dance, she'll buy a bike

But while she's going through it
And she's thinking that she blew it
She wants to say, "Oh Chew It!"
And more phrases much alike.

Watermelon, watermelon
Seedless stuff—who thought of that?
Well, sure, you needn't spit out seeds
But flavor's near to wet, felt hat.

Natasha has braids
Oh my gosh - she'll amaze.
She's been fasting for days!
And she's still in good spirits.

She's a natural woman
Nature's law she obeys
Whatever the excess
Her fast will soon clear it

Oh, she of stripe-ed teeth
Doth to the dentist go this morning
She of multicolored teeth
Doth offer him this warning:
(She with holes that air blows through,
and tooth ends crumbled down)
"Oh dentist sir, my hope's astir
You'll make me a nice crown."

Not crown of sort atop the head
Of gents and ladies regal
Nor Crown, the company in town
This town of dock and seagull.
Although, like kings, I gather gold
A-glint (atop my teeth.)
And when I'm dead, to you my dear
My gold I do bequeath.

Oh dentist, sir, and oh, my dear
Now that I've writ this poem,
It's time (again) to drop the pen
And toward the dentist roam.