All hints are in the comments!

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Aug. 18, 2021

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| | metal, occur, camera, willow, (a) warm reception.
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.

11 comments:

Sandyanon said...

Meh.

Ol' Man Keith said...


You can blame a tree for your own problem, my friend, but on a day when the air is calm, and breezes far between, it's not those fine Salix leaves that move; indeed they...

"Seldom Swarm!"
I trained my camera on a graceful willow,
but found the tree would not stand still.
Shot after shot, shaky leaves ruined my photo,
and I wanted to yell at my weeper to "Chill!"
Finally,
I dragged my metal tripod out, only to find
I'd been the source of the shakes--all the time!
~ OMK

Misty said...

"Friendship"

Charlie looked forward to a visit from a chum
and was excited to give him a warm welcome.
His friend brought his cat and it did occur
to Charlie to pet and stroke her fur,
until they settled her on a pillow
after which they drove off to the park where a willow
made his friend take out his camera
and shoot pictures that were glamorous.
For a week the friends had a great vacation
and enjoyed this very special occasion.
When its ending began to near,
they swore they would do it again next year.

Misty said...

Ol' Man Keith, your compact poem this morning, with Jumble words worked in, is just an amazing delight this morning, with its funny focus on the mystery of the trembling willow. Made me laugh--very enjoyable.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Misty ~ Your Charlie and his pal reminded me of a friendship I had many years ago. My buddy and I would go hiking together and share a pup tent on weekend treks in No. California. He brought his camera, and we would snap nature pix.
Nobody had thought of “selfies” back then.
Too bad, as I would love to have a shot now--of the two of us, then.
But thanks for the memory!

And thank you for the comments on my verse.
Here are my thoughts:

My poem could have been couplets three,
but I wanted to avoid monotony,
so I switched the rhyming scheme
to AB-AB and, like a dream,
a dull piece was revived!

Yes, it seemed all came alive.
I needed now just one more trick
for my little piece to thrive.
How should I make the ending stick?

Aha!
By saving a couplet to the end
my reader would yearn for its inclusion.
(A solo couplet is the poet’s friend,
as it feels like a conclusion.)

That single couplet was a “kick in the pants,”
like a coda in music, or the end to a dance!
~ OMK

Ol' Man Keith said...

Wilbur, FLN: Thanks for the follow-up info--and for the acknowledgement!
~ OMK

Sandyanon said...

Actually, on second look, I enjoy the cartoon, mostly wondering what the heck prompted that couple to visit Death Valley in AUGUST! I've been there long ago, but it would never have occurred to me to go in the hot summer.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Sometimes you have no choice, Sandy.
The cartoon hikers look foolish enough...

to be trying it on a lark.
(As just an arid national park.)
But back when I was driving 'cross country
I happened upon CA-190.
Turns out that road isn't quite as friendly
as Route 66, which treats one more gently.

Still, once you reach the point of no return,
you keep on going, to escape the burn.
~ OMK

Misty said...

OMK,

Your verses today were a special gift
that just helped all of our spirits to lift.
You must have begun them right at dawn
and were able to expound them on and on.
If your readers were to take a poll
we'd all agree that you're on a roll.
So when it comes to poetry, you're the winner:
I just wish we could all take you out to dinner.

Ol' Man Keith said...

I thank you for all the good words, dear Misty,
but before we get too excited about rhyme,
let's not get our knickers all twisty,
and remember instead that it can be a sign
called "clanging," a mark sometimes seen
as a psychotic symptom. Schizophrenics chime
with rhymes, echolalia too, they're even keen
to toss "word salads." Some shrinks opine
this is how geniuses strut their stuff--
by letting their thought follow the clang.
Such offbeat tracking may be enough
to explain how NASA invented Tang!

Whew! Excuse me that last wild run.
That's called "tangential"--and I'm a son of a gun!
~ OMK

Anonymous said...


The correct answer to today's Jumble is: Warm Welcome (not reception)