Crossword

I was doing a crossword puzzle

Yesterday, to pass the time,

The clues were all about animals

Both across, and down the line,

The wife was out in the kitchen

And I’d call the harder clues,

While she’d reply with a patient sigh

As she cooked two different stews.

 

It wasn’t as easy as I’d thought

Some clues were quite obscure,

Though each would bring up some animal

That we should have known, for sure,

But as I scribbled across the squares

I found some didn’t fit,

I’d call, ‘Lynette, have you worked it yet?’

But she’d never heard of it.

 

She’d said, ‘Two heads are better than one,’

And I thought she might be right,

The names that came out too long, I thought

Must be an oversight,

But when they clashed with the downward clues

And I crumpled up my hat,

That furry purr by the fireside there

Was just a common Dat.

 

And things that flew in the night became

Some thing they called a Rel,

They must be horrible creatures, like

Some creature based in Hell,

But as it crossed the Ordothlicon

I knew it must be right,

For on the left was a Rerr that leapt

On a dark and stormy night.

 

She said that really my spelling might

Be not quite up to scratch,

The ones that I knew as Pidgins flew

The coop in quite a batch,

And honey gathering Lees in trees

Were paired with wild Gorrils,

While Madgers seemed to be burrowing

All though the distant hills.

 

‘I’ve never heard of these animals,’

I said, in quite a stew,

Lynette called out from the kitchen that

She didn’t know them, too,

I walked around and I locked the doors

And I set each window latch,

In case that some of them wandered in

Like Carroll’s Bandersnatch.

 

I’m loth to wander the streets at night

If Rogs are on the prowl,

And keep away from the Cagpies nests

And the things that say ‘Miaowl’,

It seems that Berons are on the beach

And Peagulls in the air,

Lynette said better we stay inside

Than to get Peegull in our hair.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Woody]

what a lovely idea, David! absolutely delicious. you know I'm a sucker for humour.
of course, your prowess in poetry has nothing to prove (not sure of the expression).
there are quite a few creatures I don't like myself. take for instance those "f***s" that populate the lakes. I hate them when they quack.

[R Smith]

Haha I love that, your humour is a treat watch out for the wigs wallowing in the muck, great writing :)

[roarke]

Thanks for the smile. I used to do lots of crossword and word puzzles... now I just write. I'd say that aside from the strange animal answers, you probably never have an unfinished puzzle David. Enjoyed throughly.

[Marie]

Large Mogs that Cark are annoying, but I really hate those tiny zekes that Wap all the time...

[TL Boehm]

I think Lynette is a wise woman. This was a romp of a poem - very much like my crosswords turn out. Full of new undiscovered words...Well done.

[Penlady]

Gave me tender a moment here...watching you share the crossword with your Lynette and in such a homey situation as her calling hints as she cooked he stew...my hubby always began the Sunday morning news crossword and left some for me to fill in....you have a great sense of humor and a wonderful imagination...now I see the real you...the family man...so great! I really consider you one of the best writers on here...I have my other favorites and u continue to write as one of them....wonderful poem!

[Helen Crutchett]

Laughing my head off here David!!! What a write.....it's brilliant. So glad to be 'reading' you again.
Cheers my Friend. :)