| || weary, ankle, fondue, fright, knew different.
Image from the Internet.
The opening poem contains all the words (or variations of them) from today's Jumble.
Comments are welcomed!
Do not explicitly reveal any of the actual answer words until after closing time, but embedding them surreptitiously in comment sentences is encouraged.
15 comments:
A Different View
-or-
Fond o' You
The hike to the chalet took longer than planned,
and Maggie was weary and drained.
She tripped on a root & it hurt her to stand
on her right foot. Her ankle was pained,
and it gave us a fright; we thought it might be broken.
She burst into tears as we carried her through the door
and sat her by the fire. Not a word was spoken
'til Doc Rico checked her feet. "Which one's sore?"
"Is it a fracture?!" sobbed Maggie. But the doctor knew
she was hungry, but fine--and just needed fondue.
~ OMK
It had been a weary journey thru the night.
Thomas, in tatters, knew he looked a fright!
The evening had gone so different from plan.
The whole dinner party had been just a sham.
He had met this girl in an online sort of way.
She had invited him to this little soiree.
How was he to know he was driving to a trap?
A recruitment meeting for an Amway sap?
Expecting nothing worse than a cheese fondue,
He was met at the door and escorted thru.
Realizing what it was, he turned his ankle to escape,
And vowed nevermore to make that same mistake!
Ah, the perils of MLM recruitment. I know folks who made a few bucks but the key is where on the pyramid one starts.
Actually, Amway made a decent soap.
Here's Bilbo re. One of the words:
As Bilbo escaped he espied a glimmer
Of light . Smaug's anger had begun to simmer.
Bilbo saw the passageway. For which he must get through
Else when Smaug spots the theft, he'll be Hobbit fondue.
And I had to work on that and #2. fe we don't kneel but last Sunday I knealt at church. But that's an extra letter.
WC
Tales from Wilbur's 'ute
The call from the cops gave mom a fright
Billy again, second son the not so bright.
"He's at the station messed his ankle up good"
"Yes, I'll call his father, we'll be there, it's understood".
So mom ditched plans for the fondue dinner
Again, good ol' Billy'd come up a winner.
Amidst affable police and copious candy present
But can the fake tears. Mom knew different.
But it wasn't to be all candy and limes
His weary walk to school was four times
Including the lunch trek. But folks can be nice
For when he asked for water he got Pepsi, no price.
WC
I sprained that joint age seven. Wore a walking cast for several weeks trudging the half mile back and forth to school. Including lunch hour. Two miles in all.
So once I was weary and parched and went into the corner store begging for water. The proprietor snarled, "No water, here!". But as I limped out, he saw the cast and voila, a cold bottle of Pepsi.
Yes, there was an acting job involved.
As I may have said before, lol, fitting all those disparate words into a coherent poem or story is a wonder. And here we have three all at once! I congratulate you, gents.
Bit of a tough Jumble for me this morning, had trouble with one of the words and the solution, even though I loved the cartoon with those smarty-pants kids. Delightful poems, Ol'Man Keith, Owen, and Wilbur, a real treat--many thanks. Have a good day, everybody.
Thanks, Sandy ~ Your reaction is our reward. It is valued more than perhaps you know.
I don't know how my colleagues may answer, but I am fascinated by the process myself. Where we get the themes, the ideas that bless the random words with coherence is one of the great mysteries of these sapient brains. Since I started trying my hand at it, I have been at least as surprised as you how these tales unfold. I begin to type with only a general idea and just a phrase or first line to begin. For me, it is each rhyming possibility that tells me where to go, how to develop the story. To compose w/o rhyme--blank verse or free verse--is much harder.
I gain direction from the discipline.
Today's oddest word was "Fondue." But that gave me the idea for the "chalet " setting. No explanation needed after that.
The hardest part, IMHO, is the punch. There's no point, I believe, in just telling what happened next--and next etc.--unless there is some level of surprise or reversal. Some irony, or even a funny use of words. Something unforeseen.
Owen's Amway reveal is fun today, isn't it? Wilbur's free Pepsi may be based on an RL event, but also gives shape to his verse.
I am always guilty of pride when I post a poem, but am rarely satisfied. I often keep working a piece until I get rid of the worst kinks. While I'm on the subject, let me post the latest version of my entry for today. It's still shaky, but better.
The hike to the chalet took longer than planned,
and Maggie was weary and drained.
She tripped on a root & it hurt her to stand
on her right foot. Her ankle was pained.
She gave me a fright; I thought the bone broken.
She burst into tears when carried in the door
and set by the fire. Not a word spoken
'til the doc checked her feet. "Which one's sore?"
"It's a fracture!" cried Maggie. But the doctor knew
she was mad. She was hungry. She just needed fondue.
~ OMK
OMK, I agree. Praise from Sandy (and Misty) make the effort worthwhile. Ankle reminded me of that 2nd grade ordeal. I started to describe it then realized I could poetisize it instead.
I was dabbling in doggerel in the 80 and 90s and found the rhyme created the tale.
WC
Didn't mean to leave you out of my acknowledgments, Misty. You posted as I was composing my last... er, "essay."
Nice to see your comment on the cartoon. I used to enjoy your descriptions of them. We haven't seen so much of that lately, probably because of the time consumed in writing your verses.
Sorry you found today's J to be tricky.
I wonder if it wasn't because of the "smell well" problem. Maybe? I resisted committing to the solution because of misgivings about whether an adjective was as appropriate as an adverb. I came down on the Jumble side.
While I was laying out my poem I thought the solution could work more prominently in dealing with today's "oddest word" (see above). I thought it was a gift & wanted to rhyme them. I did manage to do so in my concluding couplet. But I couldn't work the entire solution in, as the adjective, the second word, just wouldn't go.
~ OMK
OMG and Wilbur. I'm sure that working in all those words is a daunting task. Which is why I don't normally attempt it and why I admire those who do.
And it is very good to have Owen back as well.
Sandy & All ~ I think I find the trickiest part is avoiding "poetic" expression. I mean those clichés where the word order is inverted in order to bring off a rhyme, or just to end a line with the meter.
I do think the beat is more important than the rhyme, because we really communicate with rhythm.
But in any case I want to keep the words conversational, like everyday speech, not in old-fashioned formal, floral phrasing. That's why I stopped using capital letters at the start of each line--to remind me to keep it like I'm "jes-talkin'."
~ OMK
Terrific explanation of the poetic writing process, Ol'Man Keith--very interesting and informative and exciting. Makes me appreciate Owen's, Wilbur's, and your poems even more!
I just learned that it's National Dog Day today! Wish I could post a picture of my sweet dachshund Dusty, and wish you could all post pictures of any dogs you have. It would be so wonderful to see them! Give them all a lot of pats and a tummy rubs and wish them a wonderful day!
Maggie, our Golden;Louie, our lil' guy--the Yorkie; and Nacho, our Chihuahua/Jack Russell mix all send fraternal caninial greetings to pen pal Dusty!
~ OMK
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