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| _judge, nifty, hamper, doctor, pride and joy.Image(s) 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.
"What's a soul to do," I cried!
ReplyDelete"My weight is on the bulbous side!"
Alas, it wasn't always thus.
There was a time when I was buff!
But now my doctor is dismayed
At what his scale claims I weighed!
He judges that those pounds ain't nifty,
I need to lose some, at least fifty!
While my avoirdupois abounds,
No more Almond Joy or Mounds!
Sweets would hamper my re-size,
A svelter me must be my pride!
Happy Autumn, All!
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Farmers Almanac, Fall will begin at 12:20 pm PDT today. This is when the sun will be directly above the equator at noon, making its yearly transit from north to south, with days growing shorter than nights.
FLN, Misty ~ Hope you got to see the note on your poem yesterday, and Owen, that you saw the answer to your question.
~ OMK
"Courage of Conviction"
ReplyDeleteThe prize judge said Anton's comedy was "nifty,"
but he needed his lovers to marry in the end.
"It'll hamper his chances; a production will be 'iffy,'
so if he's not up for it, I've got a play-doctor friend."
"I don't know," thought Anton. "This script's my pride & joy.
I'd like to be obliging, but don't finale weddings... cloy?"
~ OMK
Brilliant poem this morning, Owen--a real gift! I especially liked your third verse.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful conversation between Anton and the prize judge, Ol' Man Keith!
I especially liked Anton's response. But what is a "play-doctor friend"?
(I did see yesterday's comments to my verse, OMK. But I guess I thought it might be fun to let readers try to imagine what the couple's troubles were).
Misty ~ A "play doctor" is a professional writer employed by the producer to improve a script. In America, until recently, this was sometimes done during "out-of-town" tryouts before the official Broadway opening for critics.
ReplyDeleteIn today's poem, I had fun imagining Chekhov's reaction to a suggestion regarding the role of marriage in his plays.
(It also tickled me that Anton Chekhov was a real- doctor.)
~ OMK
Just checking in with you, Misty, to be sure you are OK.
ReplyDeleteAre you taking a day off?
If so, we'll miss your contribution. But I know how good it feels when I take my breaks.
~ OMK
Thank you for reminding me that I failed to post my poem this morning, Ol' Man Keith. My thirty-plus-year-old refrigerator has been acting up, and the repairman came at 10 this morning to work on it. So I had to leave the blog, after my first message. I thought I had posted my verse, but maybe not. It's not great, but here it is:
ReplyDeleteThey were married by a judge,
a decision they did not begrudge.
Their life was busy and thrifty
and their marriage was fun and nifty.
Her pregnancy did not hamper
his desire to attend and to pamper.
Their best friend was a doctor
who served as a care-giving proctor.
And they now have a little boy
who is their pride and joy.
I'm pleased you're OK and that my message prompted you to return to the fold and post!
ReplyDeleteEspecially to get your bright and cheery verse, tracking another marriage, a simple, charmed one, from its onset in the judge's chamber to their doctor friend's delivery room, and presumably just beyond.
All the bases were reliably touched.
Because my little piece dealt indirectly with nuptials, I can't help wondering what Ol' Anton would have made of yours.
My best guess is he would have cast a gentle eye on your couple's future--so long as the gent is not a pompous professor and their names are not Andrei and Natasha!
~ OMK
Well, once again, I was stumped and had to google Andrei and Natasha, who triggered no memory for me. Oh, Tolstoy's War and Peace! I tried to read through the description but Andrei and Natasha's relationship appears to be a real mess--so I agree with you, I hope my pathetic nameless couple just sticks to their simple humble life so that I don't have to worry about writing any sequels.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow! Misty, you just uncovered a literary secret!
ReplyDeleteI never thought of War and Peace, but you are right. Chekhov must have stolen--unconsciously, I trust--his names from Tolstoy's much earlier novel.
I was thinking of Andrei Prozorov, the brother of the title Three Sisters, who marries Natasha, the shy village girl. Once she gets the ring on her finger, she starts taking over the house and, with her new baby, dominates everyone and everything.
Whether Chekhov was aware of the similar names or not, he does a fine job of dismantling any notion of "romantic love" in marriage.
(BTW, he married his lead actress and seems to have been happy in the union.
But then he died young.)
~ OMK
So I looked up Chekhov's "The Three Sisters" and, as your description suggests, the relationship between Andrei and Natasha is even more depressing in this work. Two great classics I don't think I can handle reading (perhaps again, in the case of Tolstoy) at this time in my life. But a fun research journey, thanks to your comments, Ol' Man Keith.
ReplyDelete