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| _gabby, stood, wetter, infant, "bear" of bad news.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.
Well, if you sort of slur the word, it makes perfect sense.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe if you extend the end sound?
Whatever!
Here’s where I would agree with you, Sandy, if you would prefer not to let any missing parts be “assumed” or “understood.”
ReplyDeleteThe missing “er” bothers me too much to just let it go. I guess it has something to do with my early speech training as an actor, that I don’t like it when people elide or blur easy words. I would never be so rude as to correct anyone who does it in conversation, but when it is proposed in print—Aargh!
And I don’t like it when public figures do it. As much as I understand that Pres. Biden is still working to overcome his childhood stammering problem, it still grates to hear him blur words in formal speeches.
Chalk it up to my own “nit-picking” character flaw.
Misty ~FLLN!: I don’t know whether you saw my last & late posting to you on the 13th.
Please confirm if/ when you’ve seen it.
~ OMK
ReplyDelete“The Longest Limerick”
Surely, the news is bad when borne
by a gabby raven. Not the one that stood
on Pallas, to clack at Poe and warn
him. It did everything it could.
But a blacker, wetter bird,
new-hatched, an infant peep.
A descendant? Isn’t that absurd?
Yet it expected me to keep
a close ear to its baby croak
and work it out. Not “Nevermore”
but “Evermore,” up from the yolk,
through the shell it cracked, & the glair…
to tell me what I had to grasp:
that the constant poem is one’s final gasp.
~ OMK
When Lloyd was an infant terrible,
ReplyDeleteHe felt his crib quite unbearable!
At the rail he often stood,
Complaining of forced childhood!
Even tho he couldn't speak,
His gabbiness had reached a peak
When he told his Teddy all his views,
And his diaper was bearer of bad news!
New parents have to bear the mess
When infant bowels pass the test.
And change him in your favorite sweater,
You'll find it couldn't get much wetter!
'Cause Lloyd, like other baby boys
Has built-in hydro-powered toys!
"Good Friend"
ReplyDeleteGabby stood on her stair,
holding her infant with care.
Sadly, her cupboard was bare.
The weather was not getting better
and remained rainy and wetter.
Then she got some not bad news.
Her best friend would shop for her,
an offer she could not refuse,
and this saved her from the blues.
Took me a few minutes to find it, but thank you for your revision suggestion for my Jumble poem on January 15, OMK. Very clever, thank you so much.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Misty, very glad you saw it. I use that trick on myself, re-examining couplets to see if they work as well or better by alternating rhymes.
ReplyDeleteToday’s Bad News Bear clearly influenced our three poems. My apologies, friends, for my stark post. I found myself thinking Louise Gluck as I aimed at Poe. We’re never sure where we will end when we start each journey.
Owen gave us some familiar smiles by locating his “bad” in the surprises of young parenthood. Looks like his Lloyd had a layered act & kept his most playful squirts for the finale.
I thought even Misty was coming ‘round to the dark side, but then gulped and re-read line 3 of stanza 2 to appreciate the double negative! Looks like Gabby & child are dining in tonight!
~ OMK
My goodness, two totally intriguing poems this morning with off-beat unusual protagonists--though, given OMK's verse, not unheard of in classic poetry.
ReplyDeleteOwen, what inspired you to write a poem about an infant this morning? You gave him a name, Lloyd, and instead of making him a sentimental figure, you focused on the realism of an infant's crying and misery when its diaper needs to be changed. I couldn't have dreamed of ever encountering such a topic in one of your complex, serious poems.
A total delight!
And then we get an even more surprising infant in your verse, Ol' Man Keith, though this one is not a baby boy but a baby bird, one with an ancestor in a famous historical poem whose name you are quick to cite. I vaguely remembered Poe's raven, but thought I'd look it up just to remind me of its point. Wow--that Poe Poem goes on forever and ever--or should I say "evermore"--like your baby bird, OMK?
My reference to Nobel laureate Louise Glück was on two scores. One is the essential mortality & seriousness of her work, but the other has to do with her recurring theme of things returning, recycling, coming back as the same but different.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, what appears as a baby, with the hope that seems to promise, is yet another incarnation of doom.
Ah, we shouldn't be surprised, of course, as we are all only dealing with one long theme--today's last two words.
Sorry! There I go again.
But I can wish there is something pleasing in my croak.
~ OMK
New word for the day --
ReplyDeleteglair (plural glairs)
1. Egg-white, especially as used in various industrial preparations.
2. Any viscous, slimy substance.
I found your baby raven's "evermore" croak very pleasing, or did I misunderstand that, OMK?
ReplyDeleteLois continues]
ReplyDeleteMy sponsor advised patience for we saw you were an infant
In recovery, still wet behind the ears, learning what can and can't
Be said and done. Advised to share but not be too gabby
But in hindsight when you did share it wasn't too shabby.
And best of all the recipe for success we saw you'd understood
For you'd done everything asked everything that you could.
Your own sponsor was selected as bearer of bad news
"No relationships for a year, Chet, you must first pay your dues".
Gabby, Lloyd and the Pallas percher paid a visit to jumbleville
ReplyDeleteAnd lo and behold our good luck
We were graced by Lady Gluck
And evermore the gang revels and we're revelling still
WC
And of course I know Sandy was hoping to see what C&L were up to. They are reminiscing about the year gone by and Chet's hard earned lesson of patience and perseverance.
ReplyDeleteMuch like solving CC's Saturday xword
WC
Wilbur, clearly Chet made it through the year successfully.
ReplyDeleteAnd Lois waited patiently for him; god for her!
That was'good'!
ReplyDeleteWonderful to get Lois's talk to Chet on your Jumble today, Wilbur! So great to have you back with this delightful poem. I love the way you worked in all the Jumble words-- and the solution. Great job!
ReplyDeleteLois’ words of encouragement to Chet show both deep care for his feelings and an appreciation of his understanding.
ReplyDeleteWilbur, it’s your fine sensibility that covers all these points. Your verses offer models of how to give thanks.
True to form, you follow with an acknowledgment of your fellow poets.
You know it’s always good to see you here.
~ OMK