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| cycle, valet, vanity, floral, collectively.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.
"Collecting Lei (& Ditalini)"
ReplyDeleteShe cycles through themes in the rooms of her house,
this native Hawaiian con Sicilian spouse.
Her boudoir & vanity sport floral decor,
and she orders her valet to answer the door
with "Aloha"--to preserve an "Island" aura--
but to respect her orders with a tipped fedora.
~ OMK
"New Job"
ReplyDeleteThe company needed a new valet,
a job with good conditions and solid pay.
They interviewed applicants in a cycle
and awarded the job to a fellow named Michael.
They liked Mike's kindly humanity
and his lack of any obvious vanity.
They made their judgment objectively
and agreed on it quite collectively.
To celebrate his first working day
Mike's wife bought him a floral bouquet
with a note that said "To my favorite valet."
OMK, was it the LY/LEI in COLLECTIVELY that inspired your Hawaiian theme? Otherwise hard to see anything in the Jumble that might have inspired it. But very interesting, and very charming.
ReplyDeleteNot just Hawaiian, but a bicultural touch to include her Mafioso hubby...
ReplyDeleteActually, it was "floral" that kicked things off--and "cycle" that told me it had to have more than one element.
I think the poor valet got fed up with being called Michele one day and Makalolo the next & so quit to move on to a better job--with benefits-- at your company.
~ OMK
I don't particpate in poetry writing or commenting here. But I have always enjoyed poetry elsewhere. Just for the heck of it, here's my favorite short poem, by Elinor Wylie.
ReplyDeleteNow let no charitable hope
Confuse my mind with images
Of eagle and of antelope:
I am by nature none of these.
I was, being human, born alone;
I am, being woman, hard beset;
I live by squeezing from a stone
The little nourishment I get.
In masks outrageous and austere
The years go by in single file;
But none has merited my fear,
And none has quite escaped my smile.
Depressingly negative, yes, but a definite possible happy outlook at the end. She did lead a very checkered life, and died quite early.
My interpretation includes:
eagle/antelope = freedom to choose
Many frustrations and loneliness in life
In retrospect, nothing quite as bad as it seemed at the time
That's it for today!!
Sandy, what a lovely, interesting poem by Elinor Wylie--a poet whose name I have not heard before. How did you discover this? And thank you so much for posting it--I really, really enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sandy.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know of Ms. Wylie. Looked her up.
A bit of a socialite* with a fan base in the '30s.
Not so negative perhaps as middle-of-the-road**.
My main connection to her is that she was the sister-in-law of Stephen Vincent Benet!
It's good to see an occasional bit of verse from outside. Keeps us honest.
~ OMK
____________
* Funny: The auto-correct function turned this into "socialist" the first time around.
** I wonder what she'd do if she had to include random Jumble words.
Elinor Wylie died in 1928 at 43. She was very popular in her lifetime and many of her poems have been published in anthologies since her death. Another of hers that I enjoy is "Velvet Shoes", a really lyrical depiction of silence.
ReplyDeleteYes, OMK, William Rose Benet was her third husband. No one has counted her lovers, that I know of, but there were several! In her short professional career during the 20's she published not only books of poetry, but four (I think) novels. I really love the way she uses the language.
ReplyDeleteNot Jumble-related. I guess you could call it "SoCal":
ReplyDeleteAn afternoon fair and finely flecked
with strands of cirrus.
Seventy-eight degrees at five,
warmth to satisfy the soul,
Late July, when we're alive / & fearless.
~ OMK
Misty, that was one of your best poems. You're really getting the hang of it.
ReplyDeleteI'll save Chet's Story and combine the two days. Easier than four.
I recognized the name Elinor Wylie. I'll wiki her to better understand where she was going with that poem. Thank you Sandy for pasting it here.
I had a friend get in a bad car accident. After it was all over and she was out of ICU etc she related the whole experience: The shattering crash, temporary unconsciousness to awake to EMTs strapping her down and her fighting them off. Then open heart surgery and the semi-consciousness in the aftermath where she meets her Creator.
I was very moved and tried to recapture it with the following verse which may have posted before
Crash. And then the pain
Crash. And then the darkness
Crash. And now the light and now the fight
Begins
Who are these men
Where am I going
Why am I here
Who am I.
And then the struggle and then the void and then the walk
Up the winding ladder through the miasmic clime
There is no hope
There is no strength
I am alone
I am afraid
Let the fight begin.
Because I fight
Because I love
Because I care
Because I strive
Because I am
Me
Where is he
He should be here
He always came
He always gave
He said the words
But he's not here.
But I will forgive.
For alone I'm not
Unloved I'm not
And He I placed my trust upon
I trust in still.
And now I am again
Me
WC
Very evocative, Wilbur, at least for me.
ReplyDeleteSandy, her response was: That's exactly what happened"
ReplyDeleteElinor's poetic style reminded me of that 2013 poem. I liked Atavism which I just read. Also, reading her wiki I'm reminded of "The Graduate " where Dustin Hoffman and ? completely flaunt society and elope on a bus.
WC
It does look familiar, Wilbur, but nonetheless powerful!
ReplyDeleteIt has a cumulative strength that we don't usually find in our more familiar formats.
Really very moving. Thank you.
~ OMK
Wilbur, your aftermath of the car accident verse is so moving, we can almost experience what such a victim would be going through in the hours and days and weeks after such an accident. Utterly moving. Your ability to enter and relate emotional experiences is really an unusual gift. Thank you for this today.
ReplyDeleteJust read Atavism, Wilbur. Seemss more tied to real events than some of her work. Very ominous.
ReplyDelete