At the Divorce Lawyer’s


Divorce Law

At the Divorce Lawyer’s

A heavenly nymph
walked in one day
requesting to divorce
a spouse who went astray.

She had surmised,
this bad digression
when she had discovered
a seeping infection.

He was a piano player,
and often on the road.
The way she told this,
she was going to explode.

“This state doesn’t like
to award alimony,
but child support is high
if there is patrimony.”

“Oh, no that won’t work.
Our marriage was chaos.
We never had any children,”
A history filled with pathos.

I opened the icebox.
I gave her a cool drink.
She took it with zeal
and started to think.

Then she stood up
walked to the window;
starred outside,
at the lovely meadow.

When her half hour was over,
she went to the door,
smiled, stepped out
and came back no more.

It was this hindrance
that was the result
I no longer provide,
half hour free consult.

****************

This little poem is for three prompts:

I oringally wrote this poem for Monday Morning Writing Prompt “random-creativity” which said to randomly take words out of a dictionary and then make a poem out of it. Instead of using a dictionary, I used the Paivio et al  Word List, in other words, a Random Word Generator.

the words were:

nymph, alimony, piano, history, hindrance, infection, chaos, meadow, heaven, icebox Generator.

Purple Tree House “welcome” asked for something funny, so I posted it on that day.

dversepoets

They asked for “Call – Response” asked for “a call & response poem, a poem with two or more people interacting – verbal or nonverbal.” This certainly fit the bill for that.

the picture is from Family Divorce Lawyers.  I picked this picture because I’ve been doing a lot of legal research lately at UCLA law library, and it reminded me of where I go to in the stacks.

I really didn’t know where the story was going when I wrote it, but it took a twist, so I hope that redeems the silliness in this exercise. It’s a good exercise, I just don’t know how funny I am in my writing. When in doubt, there’s always rhyming, so that’s what I did here.

About zongrik

For those of you who do not know the handle "zongrik," that would be Bat-Ami Gordin. Most people call me "Tammy." Bat-Ami means "daughter of my nation" in Hebrew. It's a heavy name to carry around. I answer to either name. I also answer to "mama." Some Basic Things about me: Animal lover, mom, poet/writer, dramatic soprano, photographer, teacher/tutor, CERT/Technician and, oh yeah, aerospace engineer. I consider myself "The Astro-Poet." To learn more about the origins of the word "zongrik" see whats-a-zongrik?

Posted on August 7, 2011, in D’verse Poets Pub, Monday Morning Writing Prompt, Poetry, The Purple Treehouse and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 39 Comments.

  1. This is so fun. I didn’t know about the random word generator…that’s worth a bookmark for those stuck days. You did a great job with those seemingly disconnected words. Thanks for linking!

  2. Impressive. Now can you write a ten minute short film based on a Bible verse? 😉

  3. Didn’t know you did screenplays.

    • Oh yeah. I’m on a big one. I just finished 105 pages b4 my surgery. I wanted to “finish” (ie 120) but couldn’t get there, still 105 ws good. Now, I have to get back into i.t Just I can’t write. (Had surgery on right shoulder.)

  4. I liked the twist. But for a second when she went to the window, I thought she might fling herself out of it, but no, you didn’t go for that twist! You did a great job with those random words.

    • The twist is that the story is not about her, about the client, about her drama. It ends up being about why the lawyer made the choice, and I don’t think anyone thought the story was going there. I didn’t when I started, either.

  5. That was great..such a play on words and anyone who`s ever had to deal with an attorney can close their eyes and just put your self in her place and his!

  6. what a fun way to write a poem…some fine word play as well…nice bit of story telling and loved the twist…

  7. Wonderful story telling and yes the twist was rather interesting as well. Like how it shifted to the lawyer, like the use of rhyme too, nicely done!

  8. Fun storytelling !

  9. I like the story too… fun and light to read ~

  10. Very creative, pulling all those different words together and telling a story — and making it rhyme, too!

  11. Love the twist at the end – this made me smile – thank you

  12. what a cool one, well done.

  13. The zinger at the end was great. Never thought I’d see “seeping infection” in a poem!

  14. love your creativity.

    well plotted story with a tickle.

  15. quite curious what happens now

    • Well, in terms of storytelling, this is the end. It’s irony. You think the story is about what is going to happen to the woman, but it’s turns out to be a story about why this lawyer stopped having free consult sections. So, from a storytelling point of view, it doesn’t matter what happens to the woman.

      But to be honest, as I was writing this, I originally did not have the irony in mind (which is why the ending is so good, it’s not contrived). As I was writing this, I was thinking that she was going to forgive him and go back…just that the rhymes didn’t work that way, so I had to come up with another way, being forced to use certain words.

      Did I answer your question?

  16. I think it’s great fun, and the twist ending is indeed funny.

    Here’s my offering for Funny Bunny Friday week #1: http://charleslmashburn.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/a-fly-in-my-soup-2/

  17. Appreciate it for sharing At the Divorce Lawyer’s ZONGRIK with us keep update bro love your article about At the Divorce Lawyer’s ZONGRIK .

  18. Pulitzer prize substance there.

  19. I was right there, in that office, listening to her pour out those transgressions of her spouse ~
    seems she just needed to talk,
    as she never came back
    what a clever twist at the end *smiles*
    listening ear no more ~ money talks ~ loved it ~
    ~ Lib ~
    ty for your lovely comment and visit x

  20. Well, I can understand no more half hour free consult! This was quite a poem.

  21. I love the “seeping infection.” Glad not to have one. K.

  22. She just wants to talk, do something to feel like she’s doing something. Stepping in the lawyer’s shoes, I can’t help but feel a bit annoyed at her. I mean to just step out without conclusion. Was she shopping for lawyers perhaps? Maybe the lawyer should have a windowless office for consultation. 😉

  23. funny…because it’s an impromptu piece and put together quite well…since it was on the fly, so to speak from word generation. don’t know what I’d do in such a case, so I’m impressed here.
    The conversation is verbal & non-verbal…the turnaround at the end is very funny and changes everything. good piece.

  24. The twist was divine. Suddenly the lawyer got unsettled instead of the clients. Cleverly done! Not often we get it this way. The scheming lawyer would invariably do the client in first in most instances! Excellent!

    Hank

  25. haha – great story…think if he always does this…he will soon be unemployed…charming tale..

  26. Excellent tale with a twist. Sometimes we just need to talk to someone, anyone!

    Anna :o]

  27. thank you for the smiles ….loved the story thank you x

  28. Nice blog…Thanks for sharing.Please keep sharing more and more information

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