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| leave, image, levity, coddle, medallic.Image from the Internet.
The opening poem contains all the words (or variations of them) from today's Jumble.
Comments are welcomed! And couching them in Poetry is definitely NOT required.
Do not explicitly reveal any of the actual answer words until after closing time, but embedding them surreptitiously in comment sentences is encouraged.
13 comments:
"M' Lad, 'Ick'!"
"As I take my leave, I'll plant an image in your mind.
It's a little bit of levity, so please hear me out.
A cuddle will not coddle if your intention's truly kind,
--nor coddle a runny egg,
--nor be a 'cottle' or a gag,
but a cuddle-and-a-kiss will allay most any doubt."
~ OMK
Finally the big day had arrived, Chet's one year anniversary.
Oh, he'd worked so hard for this day overcoming all adversary
Lo and behold who's handing out the medal but Lois, herself.
The cherry on the cake. That charming and winsome elf.
The meeting went well full of levity and mirth
Chet was the image of delight savoring it for all it's worth
And then came the moment, Lois expressed encomiums galore
"Come and get your cake, Chuck!" Chet nearly hit the floor.
"So this is the thanks I get , no medal or anything ?
What had Chuck ever done?" The thought occurred, give Sponsor John a ring.
Too angry to pause and think Chet was about to leave
That seedy bar sounds like the perfect place to bereave
Another old timer , Neal, noticed the look on his face
"Don't say anything Neal, I've had it with this place"
"I've done everything they asked and believe me it was plenty "
Neal only said, "If you're going to get good and drunk, here's an extra twenty.
"But remember" he added "what you've heard in these halls about the disease
I don't Coddle anyone and I'm not looking to please
But before you take that long lonely walk
Why not sit down for a spell and we'll talk. "
And sure enough next week came and Chet was working harder than ever
Rome wasn't built in a day, recovery 's a lifelong endeavor
For the journey will have its ups and downs
But the rewards for sticking it out know no bounds
WC
I neglected the A when transposing the letters so I had to cheat.
What an odd word.
Yes, I was little windy today. Ironically it's similar to my own experience. What a lesson. We're not there for cake and praise but to help our fellow AAs
Why did Chet think he was going to get a medal? Is that a custom? Actually, something more permanent than a cake would be nice. A year is a long time
"Kiddy Care"
Mommy couldn't help but coddle
her tiny toddler with a bottle.
Of the kiddies in her lineage
he did have the sweetest image.
She tickled him with levity
that kept his cries to brevity.
Never alone she did him leave,
and a blanket did him weave.
With a carrier attached to the metal
on her bike she did him pedal.
Motherhood had her on a run,
but she also found it a lot of fun.
Clever, funny poem, Ol' Man Keith, and the Jumble words were all there, with the solution in the title.
Sad and moving story about Chet's disappointment, Wilbur. But, thank goodness, he was encouraged to stay the course. Only, I agree with Sandy, he deserved something more rewarding than just a cake and praise.
Wilbur ~ A very interesting development in Chet's progress. It was almost a serious setback, and it took him a week, but he pulled out of it.
I was confused by a couple of things. I guess Chuck and Chet are the same guy, yes? At the first mention of Chuck, I thought Chet was angry about some other person.
But why did he not receive a coin or special "chip" after a year? I thought that was customary in AA, and a coin could certainly be called a "medal."
Anyway, I'm happy that Chet got over his resentment.
(No word about how good--or not--the cake was.)
Misty ~ Thank you for your commentary on my toying with "coddle." The word reminded me of a play I did--The Homecoming, by Harold Pinter.
In it, the creepy old dad greets his returned-to-home grown son by calling for "a cuddle-and-a-kiss"! It sends shivers up my spine to recall it.
Yep, the duties of parenthood can keep a person hopping. You rhyme them well. The demands are only eased by the joys.
By any account, motherhood is both more demanding--and rewarding--than being a dad.
I wonder if this has changed at all in the present day when we see more stay-at-home dads and a great many more moms holding down major workplace responsibilities...?
~ OMK
Sandy, there are medallions today marking years of sobriety. In the old days it was a cake. I didn't get one year one and my sponsor said "Did you tell anyone?" Next week along with the cake came coffee duty.
But I was determined to EARN a cake. I was sure I'd get one and actually rose from my chair.
But I was setting myself up for a fall. "Chuck " was the guy who actually received the cake. I would have got a medallion this morning but I'm sick.
MEDAL was as close to medallic??? I should have said medallion.
The bit about the twenty is classic AA.
Misty ~
Your poem today really got me thinkin’
(always a better option than taking to drinkin’),
How English is such an irregular tongue.
As a ladder of language, it’s got a very loose rung.
Why is “She did him wrong” NOT reprehensible,
While “She did him pedal” is… well, questionable?!
~ OMK
Ol' Man Keith, so I looked up "pedal" and here's what I came up with: "a leverlike part worked by the foot to supply power in various mechanisms, as the bicycle".
So, you're right, it's not the toddler boy she pedaled but the lever-like bicycle part. If only I hadn't been so confined by the poem rhyme and the meter of the lines, I could have written:
"With a carrier attached to the metal
front of her bike, he could ride along while she pedaled."
Would that have been better?
Misty ~
Yes, indeed. That would have been a big improvement!
Of course it wasn't as a noun that I was questioning the use of "pedal," but as a verb. You used it as a verb in both your original and your re-write, but it works in your new version because your syntax allowed you to separate him from the direct action. The original problem was that "pedal" operated as a transitive verb, and therefore "him"--as the direct object-- should have followed . In the new version, "pedaled" is intransitive, so no object need follow.
Pardon the pedantry, please!
It always sounds clumsy trying to explain grammar. The basic issue I am focused on is that of word order. Latin word order allows great liberties, and German word order often (maybe always?) allows for verbs to end sentences.
But normal English order starts with the subject, then comes the verb, and lastly the object.
In your poem today, you reversed that order in the "pedal" line, but also with "she did him leave" and "did him weave."
Victorian and older poetry allowed you to do that--for the very reason you do it, to make it easier to rhyme.
To my eyes (and ears) it is a mark of old-fashioned artifice. Nobody talks like that. Believe me, I know how tempting it is, as I often see it as an easier way to rhyme. I have to force myself to back off and re-think how to express what want to say.
I understand that it is tougher for you because you want to place the four (or six) random clue words at the ends of your lines. I have the luxury--the freedom--to place them wherever I want.
~ OMK
BTW, do you ever consider changing your scheme, so you don't feel obliged to place the clue words at the ends of your lines?
~ OMK
No, Ol' Man Keith, I love poetry that rhymes and I love the challenge of finding words to rhyme with the Jumble words, however awkward. I'm willing to make that a higher priority than syntax, and am happy to get your comments on how it often doesn't quite work out. That adds to my interests of the day, and makes me more conscious of the complexities we're dealing with. And when the Jumbles become impossibly to rhyme, then, yes, I'll put them inside the line. So, please continue your pedantry because it's helpful and often fun and I appreciate and like it.
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