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Saturday, August 21, 2021

Aug. 21, 2021

||
|| _ranch, erupt, profit, septum, "fur" sure.
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.

5 comments:

Ol' Man Keith said...


The timing moor
on a bomb of manure
built by a boor
must be for sure...

"Premature"
The ranch hand Bub was a bum. Although part Sioux
he hoped to gain favor and maybe some profit
from his white boss by planting a harassing device
on the porch of the Chief (who once ordered him off it)--
because the Naataani wouldn't pay the price.
The boss owned the land and had jacked up the rent,
but Bub heard his Chief refused to add one red cent!

That stink bomb erupted right under Bub's nose,
tearing through his septum--his right nostril too--
dribbling blood & snot all over his clothes.
So now he was marked by the signs of his crime,
appropriate stigmata for betraying his kind.
~ OMK

Misty said...

"Fun Chum"

When we spent a summer on a ranch
we found a squirrel on a branch.
We decided to call him "Neptune"
because he had a wide septum.
One evening, while we supped,
we thought we heard Neptune squealing,
but although he did erupt,
his tone was still appealing.
When we fed him, he never bit us
and that certainly did profit us.
Yes, Neptune was demure,
he let us pet his fur
and would even a bit purr--
Yes, he loved us, that's for sure.

Ol' Man Keith said...

On our honeymoon in Big Bear, Misty, we spotted a squirrel in a tree outside our cabin. He kept an eye on us as we came and went during the days.
We left bits of food for him.
I've heard of squirrels being tamed like in your poem, but is it really true? Will a wild squirrel let a human pet its fur?
On the morning of our departure, we spotted our guy on the ground. He was the Fattest squirrel we'd ever seen. We nicknamed him "Fatso" in the photo we snapped of him.
He must've been cadging snacks off all the honeymoon couples over the years!

I like your name "Neptune." But is there some reason for associating that name with a wide septum?
~ OMK

Misty said...

Enjoyed your story of "Fatso" --hope you can work him into a rhyme one of these days, Ol' Man Keith. That's how Neptune turned up in mine--the only word I could think of that rhymed with 'septum.' Did you notice, by the way, that I tried to vary my rhyme scheme: aabb cdcd ee fggf. Pretty experimental for me, don't you think?

I'm not sure wild squirrels can be tamed, but I don't know why not--if you feed them regularly and they become used to you as a friendly source. I'm pretty sure I had some squirrel/half-pets back in the day.

Enjoyed seeing you work all the Jumble words and title into your complex verse, OMK. But I kind of feel sorry for Bub who seems to have to try to abet his crummy, exploitative boss with a device that blows up in his face. Hope he can find a shelter or some place where he can get support without having to commit dangerous crimes.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Misty ~
Aha!
I didn't see the "septum" connection with "Neptune" because I pronounce them differently. In my ear "septum" rhymes with "pep gum," but I get it now.

Yes, I saw your new scheme right away. I liked the alternation but didn't quite get why you switched it when you did. I'm always looking for a rationale behind the form.

My own scheme got away from me.
I think it started out OK--with it all sounding good enough to my ear--EXCEPT for that damned dangling "A."
If you were expecting the rhyme for "Sioux," you had to wait all the way to the second line of the second stanza to settle for that (blah!) "too"--hardly worth your valuable time.

Your sympathy for Bub shows your kind heart. I can't say I feel so generous. It was his own idea, after all, to try to mess up his fellow tribesman's home. He was trying to curry favor with a boss--who had not requested any such thing. (Whether the boss might have been gratified, I have no idea.)
~ OMK