| dinky, prong, sicken, viable, being "koi".The opening poem contains all the words (or variations of them) from today's Jumble.
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18 comments:
They said the space alien was a lass worth seeing,
Tho that was hard to do, she was a coy being.
Her ship was a slender prong, pointing to the sky.
The reason for her visit? Everyone was asking why.
She wouldn't come out, said our air would sicken.
Invited our President for a meal of space chicken!
He said later, she was dinky, but spoke fluent English.
The President allowed that she was quite a dish!
She asked his advice for building a viable wall.
Her people were divided on whether to at all.
Her faction was sure it was needed, all about.
--
It was after her ship left, that the stars went out.
Now that's a cute solution.
~ OMK
Jumble first: the clues were not difficult and once the first word of the solution was clear the funny punny conclusion was too.
The poem confused me. Sorry for being dense, but although I get the topic and the allusion(s), I don't get the last line. What am I missing?
Like much postmodern poetry, it is not entirely clear. My take (and I'm straining here) is that she represents an advanced nation state, and she's visiting us, a "shithole" land. We are impressed by her beauty, although she won't deign to descend all the way into our unhealthy slums. She will allow a few of us to cross into her elevated upward-pointing state, but only temporarily.
A wall is under consideration. Perhaps some kind of barrier will protect her precious people from mass mingling in the future. As to the last line, it shows how freely her kind can come and go--while we poor desperate folk are left without light, yearning for her beautiful way of life.
(Whew!)
Anybody else?
~ OMK
I thankfully got all four Jumble items with only a little work on #4. But couldn't quite figure out the solution. I wanted SHY for the second word, but the letters weren't there for that. So I had to depend on Owen's poem, and there it was, not directly but close enough, and it was great to get it--thank you, Owen.
Sandyanon, I took Owen's last line to mean that she had been a delight and a great attraction and after she was gone it was like losing a star. But there may be better explanations.
OMK and Misty, what you've said is interesting and potentially right. I took the poem, at least in part, to be a veiled reference to our current politics. That's one reason the last line confused me. I would love to hear from Owen.
Sandy ~
We are privileged to be "present at the creation," with our Master Poet Owen so close at hand. He can offer insights we may overlook--or even revise his work to clarify his aim.
But don't sell yourself short when it comes to interpretation. As you look more closely at the work, what do you see? Maybe something others may miss?
Maybe something even Owen may miss...
~ OMK
Well, OMK, as I think I've said before, I'm pretty literal minded. So here's my take on the poem in some detail.
-- I don't know where the alien is from and don't know if that's relevant.
-- She's negative about our (Earth's?) environment; a commentary on climate change?
-- A fast food meal? Comment on the White House and the Clemson players?
-- The President focused on her attractiveness as a female!
-- The President is presumed to be familiar with a wall.
-- Her people are divided about whether a wall is necessary; parallel situation?
-- She has a faction that believes it should be; another parallel?
-- So what are the stars and why did they go out?
Forgive me if this is unnecessarily longwinded.
Not at all - nothing to "forgive."
These are all great points. They bolster your idea that the poem relates to current politics, a view that I obviously share and Misty's take would not be at odds with.
As for the stars, do you see them as another form of beauty that is present so long as the beautiful space lass is with us?
Or is my interp. (above) off base because the "President" would seem to be an American figure, one who's receiving the alien's visit?
It will be interesting to get Owen's thoughts.
He may agree or differ, but a poem--like any work of art--has a life of its own. As a theater director I was sometimes surprised by an audience's reaction to something I meant one way but they took in a completely different manner.
Happily, sometimes their reaction was richer--and I would learn something fresh about the play.
~ OMK
Man, I'm sorry I didn't get back on line earlier.
The stars went out because of the wall now surrounding Earth.
She wouldn't come out because of air pollution, which is part of global warming.
The President's comment on her appearance suggests he might have made a pass at her, which would not have been appreciated.
The space chicken dinner was just a rhyme I thought exceptionally cute.
I guess I was making some wrong assumptions about familiarity of science fiction tropes.
So, Earth people thought the wall was for her home, but it was really to shut off Earth's pollution from everyone else???
Not really sure which specific tropes you mean.
Is this maybe related to Niven's Ringworld?
I couldn't get #3 and #4 when I first looked. Finally I got #4 but had to rearrange letters a bunch to get #3 .
I finally got the first word and was left with three letters- two vowels and a K.
Misty, you had the right idea . I suspected the solution had another name for CARP.
RE. The poem . Poets don't like to explain their poem . I don't think Robert Frost explained "Woods" .
I take it the new wall separated Earth from the rest of the universe
WC
Well, not just pollution. Also lecherous men, civil strife, etc.
Not sure what the tropes would be called. Maybe something like To Serve Man.
Not Ringworld, more like Clarke's Nine Billion Names of God.
Ahh, the human brain is a marvelous thing. It seeks out meaning and patterns in everything that triggers its sense receptors--and it finds clues everywhere! The case has been made that the richest art is that which triggers the most responses, that there is no single "right" view.
Thank you for weighing in! I hope our ideas have been of interest to you too.
I am not sure what SciFi "tropes" you had in mind, Owen. I'm afraid I can't relate on that level, as I haven't read science fiction since some Bradbury & Azimov in junior high. We each bring our individual backgrounds to interpretation, including the sources (ahem) we haven't read.
Congratulations! A work of art stands on its own merit, and yours has aroused legitimate interest. Today's exercise attests to the power of a poem to stir reaction, independently of its author's intentions.
~ OMK
Ok. The lamas did a 'good' thing and that's why the stars went out, so a little different. But I see the connection.
I have no fears for the earth and stars ending, but I certainly can imagine human beings blinking out, if we make the planet uninhabitable for ourselves.
I have a baby great-grandson, and I wonder sometimes what sort of world he'll see during his lifetime.
It wasn't too hard to find. The Stars Are Going Out @ TV Tropes.
The Earth in quarantine is also a common trope.
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