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Home Poetry

‘Shave Off Those Whiskers’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

July 21, 2026
in Poetry, Humor
A A
14
"Barber and Boy" by Norman Rockwell

"Barber and Boy" by Norman Rockwell

 

Shave Off Those Whiskers

_I do not understand
Why some men don’t shave their whiskers.
_A beard or a mustache
Will turn you into harried risktakers.
_You never know what’s hiding
Entombed inside a bushy beard—
_A fly or spider’s parts?
I’ve heard it’s true though it sounds weird.

_What girls would want to kiss
The scratchy faces of bearded men
_When they can’t tell for sure
Where those shadowy beards have been!
_He dipped it in the hot sauce,
Next, he fell into the mud;
_He dribbled apple strudel,
And then forgot to clean the crud.

_So be a real Prince Charming
Who wears a chiseled marble face
_And ease that is disarming—
An angel with some shiny grace.

 

And if you love to let your whiskers grow
Reply in verse in comments down below.

 

 

poems Two Funny Love Poems for Valentine's Day, by Roy E. PetersonLTC Roy E. Peterson, US Army Military Intelligence and Russian Foreign Area Officer (Retired) has published more than 7,100 poems in 100 of his 123 books. He has been an Army Attaché in Moscow, Commander of INF Portal Monitoring in Votkinsk, first US Foreign Commercial Officer in Vladivostok, Russia and Regional Manager in the Russian Far East for IBM. He holds a BA, Hardin-Simmons University (Political Science); MA, University of Arizona (Political Science); MA, University of Southern California (Int. Relations) and MBA University of Phoenix. He taught at the University of Arizona, Western New Mexico University, University of Maryland, Travel University and the University of Phoenix.

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Comments 14

  1. Russel Winick says:
    14 hours ago

    I had a beard for many years. Then my first son was born, and soon he didn’t want to kiss me, because my beard tickled him. Off went the beard, and it just stayed off. Thanks for the fun read, Roy.

    Reply
    • Roy Eugene Peterson says:
      8 hours ago

      Thank you, Russel for the precious response.

      Reply
  2. James Sale says:
    11 hours ago

    Very good Roy – and highly timely for me. My wife wanted me to grow a beard, but as the shoots grew, I did find myself feeling very itchy and noticed I was constantly stroking my face. So when my wife was out, I got a really powerful trimmer and that was that – like you, I am a real Prince Charming now – and watch that twinkle in my eyes!

    Reply
    • Roy Eugene Peterson says:
      8 hours ago

      Excellent comment. I briefly tried it but could not even blow my nose without leaks. You look great without a beard.

      Reply
  3. Brian Yapko says:
    10 hours ago

    A very fun poem, Roy. I’ve been bearded and clean-shaven and both have their pros and cons. The beard shows too much gray yet clean-shaven makes me look pudgy. A goatee has turned out to be a good compromise.

    Reply
    • Roy Eugene Peterson says:
      8 hours ago

      That makes sense to me. Thank you for recognizing the fun in this. I read about the problems in a study some time ago.

      Reply
  4. Susan Jarvis Bryant says:
    9 hours ago

    Thank you for making me smile with your fun poem, Roy. BUT as a woman married to a man with a beard — I’m standing firmly on the side of those whiskers… shampooed and combed, of course.

    Reply
    • Roy Eugene Peterson says:
      8 hours ago

      Bless you, Susan. I have seen Mike’s beard, and it looks impeccable.

      Reply
  5. Mike Bryant says:
    8 hours ago

    Roy, I spent most of my life beardless… when I married Susan, I grew my glorious beard for her! I do wonder, though, if she just wanted some of this ugly mug camouflaged!

    Reply
    • Roy Eugene Peterson says:
      8 hours ago

      As I just told Susan, your beard looks great and more importantly, impeccably clean.

      Reply
  6. Joseph S. Salemi says:
    7 hours ago

    I have been both, but I discovered that a short and well-trimmed Renaissance/Elizabethan beard suited me best.

    Some women loathe beards, but many others find it an irresistible sexual fetish that turns them on. The thing about it is that it is exclusively masculine, just as breasts are exclusively feminine and therefore a fetish for many men.

    Reply
  7. Roy Eugene Peterson says:
    7 hours ago

    Interesting response. I somehow imagined you with that type of beard. I am sure it makes you look even more distinguished.

    Reply
  8. Norma Pain says:
    5 hours ago

    Some beards look really good on certain faces. Fun poem Roy. Definitely a conversation starter or inspiration for a rhyme:

    A beard is a catchall that does not preclude,
    Gross nasal secretions or spillover food.
    It hoards every morsel and hides it quite well,
    It’s known as the Dribbles Leftover Hotel.

    Reply
  9. fred schueler says:
    2 minutes ago

    not in verse, but an established definition: “razor (n): an instrument of futility, consuming the 15 minutes per day when a person might accomplish something. The female sex used to experience accomplishment before it (she?) succumbed to advertising, and sacrificed itself (herself?) to the razor, joining the shaving male majority in the zero-sum game (this is why male authors, scholars, evolutionary biologists, and heroes generally, are so often bearded, and why female heroes wear enough clothes that their private parts are inscrutable).”

    Reply

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