Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Maureen Johnson

Quote by Maureen Johnson

“Look! A riddle! Time for fun! Should we use a rope or gun? Knives are sharp and gleam so pretty Poison’s slow, which is a pity Fire is festive, drowning’s slow Hanging’s a ropy way to go A broken head, a nasty fall A car colliding with a wall Bombs make a very jolly noise Such ways to punish naughty boys! What shall we use? We can’t decide. Just like you cannot run or hide. Ha ha. Truly, Devious”

Quote by Maureen Johnson

Book:Truly, Devious
Create image

Work

Truly, Devious

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Maureen Johnson
Maureen Johnson

Maureen Johnson is an American author born on February 16, 1973. She is known for her works in young adult literature and mystery novels, which have gained her a wide readership. more

You May Also Like

“This poem is very long So long, in fact, that your attention span May be stretched to its very limits But that’s okay It’s what’s so special about poetry See, poetry takes time We live in a time Call it our culture or society It doesn’t matter to me cause neither one rhymes A time where most people don’t want to listen Our throats wait like matchsticks waiting to catch fire Waiting until we can speak No patience to listen But this poem is long It’s so long, in fact, that during the time of this poem You could’ve done any number of other wonderful things You could’ve called your father Call your father You could be writing a postcard right now Write a postcard When was the last time you wrote a postcard? You could be outside You’re probably not too far away from a sunrise or a sunset Watch the sun rise Maybe you could’ve written your own poem A better poem You could have played a tune or sung a song You could have met your neighbor And memorized their name Memorize the name of your neighbor You could’ve drawn a picture (Or, at least, colored one in) You could’ve started a book Or finished a prayer You could’ve talked to God Pray When was the last time you prayed? Really prayed? This is a long poem So long, in fact, that you’ve already spent a minute with it When was the last time you hugged a friend for a minute? Or told them that you love them? Tell your friends you love them …no, I mean it, tell them Say, I love you Say, you make life worth living Because that, is what friends do Of all of the wonderful things that you could’ve done During this very, very long poem You could have connected Maybe you are connecting Maybe we’re connecting See, I believe that the only things that really matter In the grand scheme of life are God and people And if people are made in the image of God Then when you spend your time with people It’s never wasted And in this very long poem I’m trying to let a poem do what a poem does: Make things simpler We don’t need poems to make things more complicated We have each other for that We need poems to remind ourselves of the things that really matter To take time A long time To be alive for the sake of someone else for a single moment Or for many moments Cause we need each other To hold the hands of a broken person All you have to do is meet a person Shake their hand Look in their eyes They are you We are all broken together But these shattered pieces of our existence don’t have to be a mess We just have to care enough to hold our tongues sometimes To sit and listen to a very long poem A story of a life The joy of a friend and the grief of friend To hold and be held And be quiet So, pray Write a postcard Call your parents and forgive them and then thank them Turn off the TV Create art as best as you can Share as much as possible, especially money Tell someone about a very long poem you once heard And how afterward it brought you to them”

PoemThis GirlA Very Long PoemMarty Schoenleber Iii
Book:This Girl
Create image

“The whole idea of it makes me feel like I'm coming down with something, something worse than any stomach ache or the headaches I get from reading in bad light-- a kind of measles of the spirit, a mumps of the psyche, a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul. You tell me it is too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the perfect simplicity of being one and the beautiful complexity introduced by two. But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit. At four I was an Arabian wizard. I could make myself invisible by drinking a glass of milk a certain way. At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince. But now I am mostly at the window watching the late afternoon light. Back then it never fell so solemnly against the side of my tree house, and my bicycle never leaned against the garage as it does today, all the dark blue speed drained out of it. This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself, as I walk through the universe in my sneakers. It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends, time to turn the first big number. It seems only yesterday I used to believe there was nothing under my skin but light. If you cut me I could shine. But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees. I bleed.”

PoemOn Turning Ten
Author:Billy Collins
Create image

“می تراود مهتاب می تراود مهتاب می درخشد شب تاب نیست یک دم شکند خواب به چشم کس ولیک غم این خفته ی چند خواب در چشم ترم می شکند نگران با من استاده سحر صبح می خواهد از من کز مبارک دم او آورم این قوم به جان باخته را در جگر لیکن خاری از ره این سفرم می شکند نازک آرای تن ساق گلی که به جانش کشتم و به جان دادمش آب ای دریغا به برم می شکند دست ها می سایم تا دری بگشایم بر عبث می پایم که به در کس آید در و دیوار به هم ریخته شان بر سرم می شکند *** می تراود مهتاب می درخشد شب تاب مانده پای آبله از راه دراز بر دم دهکده مردی تنها کوله بارش بر دوش دست او بر در، می گوید با خود: غم این خفته چند خواب در چشم ترم می شکند”

Poem
Author:Nima Yushij
Create image

“Larry’s such a liar--- He tells outrageous lies. He says he’s ninety-nine years old Instead of only five. He says he lives up on the moon, He says that he once flew. He says he’s really six feet four Instead of three feet two. He says he has a billion dollars ‘Stead of just a dime. He says he rode a dinosaur Back in some distant time. He says his mother is the moon Who taught him magic spells. He says his father is the wind That rings the morning bells. He says he can take stones and rocks And turn them into gold. He says he can take burnin’ fire And turn it freezin’ cold. He said he’d send me seven elves To help me with my chores. But Larry’s such a liar--- He only sent me four.”

HumorFunnyPoem
Author:Shel Silverstein
Create image

“آه … سهم من اينست سهم من اينست سهم من ، آسمانيست كه آويختن پرده اي آن را از من مي گيرد سهم من پايين رفتن ا ز يك پله ي متروكست و به چيزي در پوسيدگي و غربت واصل گشتن سهم من گردش حزن آلودي در باغ خاطره هاست و در اندوه صدايي جان دادن كه به من مي گويد : “دست هايت را دوست مي دارم ” دست هايم را در باغچه مي كارم سبز خواهم شد ،مي دانم ،مي دانم،مي دانم و پرستوها در گودي انگشتان جوهريم تخم خواهند گذاشت”

Poem
Author:Forough Farrokhzad
Create image