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Thursday, July 1, 2021

July 1, 2021

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| | omega, taboo, soften, trudge, bottom feeders.
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.

9 comments:

Ol' Man Keith said...

rab BIT
ABB itr
BBI tra

"Sin No More"
The geneticist knew the taboo had softened,
that re-making a human was no longer off base.
Still he trudged with heavy step to the replicant lab,
knowing Project Omega was what he had to face.

He would clone his own parent, reversing life's feeder,
to go down as an historical Father Breeder!
~OMK

Wilbur Charles said...

[Chet continues]

The alpha and omega of it all, was that I'd finally hit my bottom
If I continued to feed my face with alcohol I'd become one of them.
Liquor, beer, vodka, gin they all had to be taboo, fini.
No way to soften the message, complete abstinence was key

But I saw hope in the halls, learned about rigorous honesty
And found peace and joy while trudging the road of happy destiny

WC

Misty said...

"Repentance"

Otto reached his omega and the bottom
of decency in the world of his Sodom.
In moral low-lands he would trudge,
bearing a grudge and refusing to budge.
He clearly understood and knew
that everything he did was taboo.
It was not until he envisioned his coffin
that his creepy behavior began to soften.
He found some good religious leaders
who served as his moral direction feeders.
A great deal of penance he finally performed,
and now Otto has at last reformed.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Wilbur ~
Today's clue words seem most naturally at home in Chet's world. He found himself in the "Omega"--or last (bottom)-- position with his drinking, which seems to be the necessary "entry posture" for those who join AA. He makes it clear he understands that a commitment to a tough regimen is essential to working his way to a better future.

Misty ~ The opposite seems to hold for you. These words have led you to take your Otto to an unusually dark place. Yes, we see he finds spiritual values and is repentant enough to reform in the end, but his pathway seems more benighted than that of any of your previous verses.
It is very effective in its way. Good work!
~ OMK











Misty said...

I just re-read your poem, Ol' Man Keith, and it's brilliant! Very clever formulation with a total surprise ending! "Father Breeder"! I don't think I've ever heard that expression in my life.

And Wilbur, I'm always amazed at the way you worked every one of the Jumble words and solution into your poem. And I find Chet's openness about his past and its trials in his conversation with Lois very moving and promising for a good ending. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Wilbur Charles said...

Some of the lines like "road of happy destiny " and rigorous honesty are right out of the literature.

Chet may well prove to be one who physically didn't need to be detoxed, had no great cravings but was never going to change, eg, get better unless he 1. Went abstinent, and 2. Embarked upon a program of self analysis and positive action.

Nowadays the usual route is detox, rehab then AA. Another anomaly:

AA traditionally suggests a Higher Power eg God. Some try to use God without AA with poor results.

All this should have been in Alexandrine verse

WC

Ol' Man Keith said...

Thanks, Misty
"Father Breeder" struck me as a neat oxymoronic term, one I could go with--but only after I tried and failed to make a Spoonerism out of "Bottom Feeder."
Say it aloud, and you'll see the phrase is a near rhyme.
I settled on it as my way of alluding to today's solution--w/o becoming too obvious.
~ OMK

Ol' Man Keith said...

Wilbur ~ I find your first and last lines today are alexandrines.
In between, you can make them sound out within six beats, but it takes a bit of finessing.
It took me four or five tries.
It always puzzles me--how we can write some meters perfectly, so there's only one reasonable reading.
At other times, our lines may not fall into place naturally; we have to try different spoken emphases until we can get them right--sometimes with more forcing than we want to apply.
~ OMK

Wilbur Charles said...

I mainly try to make the lines flow, better luck with some than others

I was reading first and last and saw Otto without realizing it was Misty's and note that she flows very well too. In fact extra kudos to you Misty. That was very well done.

WC