Dyson, John P.

United States, (contemporary)

Subject: Re: gry; Ri: gry

  1. Thanks to Phalbe —Nina, too—
  2. “gry” is now confirmed for you.
  3. The only trouble I can see
  4. is when we look in OED,
  5. we cannot see if gry is “gree”
  6. or gry is “grie” like lemon pie.
  7. I’d hate to say that piggy gried
  8. and have it be confused with “cried.”
  9. But just as bad is piggy gried:
  10. it sounds too much like piggy greed.
  11. If I mention piggy’s side
  12. or piggy sighed or piggicide,
  13. I think we all will be agreed
  14. that I’m not saying piggy seed.
  15. And if my Spotted Poland’s pied,
  16. you know I don’t mean piggy peed.
  17. So what are we to do with “gry?”
  18. Will you claim “grie?”
  19. Will you swear “gree?”
  20. When I say “hi” will you say “he?”
  21. If I am shy will you be she?
  22. No matter how hard we all try,
  23. we’re still left mighty high and dry
  24. (or is that meaty he and dree
  25. up Noah Webster’s blasted tree?)
  26. with this confounded, wretched gry.
  27. I’m off; I’ve other fish to free.

Subject: Mexican Fire-Breathing Pigs: OK, OK already!
or
Ramon the Napalm Jamon

  1. A Mexican swineherd named Lucho
  2. took a fatal, last puff on his pucho.
  3. Woe! the butt arched away
  4. toward the lolly where lay
  5. his prize hog, Ramon, snoring mucho.
  6.  
  7. Fine frijoles filled dreams of Ramon,
  8. as he slept gorging habas alone.
  9. But the fancied legumes
  10. provoked all-too-real fumes…
  11. Now Ramon’s a self-basting jamon.

All poems © John P. Dyson. Used with permission.
The Wombat Poetry of John Dyson at the The Joy of Wombats page of STUMPERS-L, an email conference group where Reference Librarians and others post questions which have them stumped. With a worldwide community of librarians and other experts sharing their knowledge and resources, Stumpers-L is the world’s largest and most versatile reference desk.

About the Poet

John Payne Dyson, US poet and Professor of Portuguese Literature at Indiana University (retired 2003). Dyson has also been an avid contributor to STUMPERS-L, as well as a former editor of the Twayne’s World Authors Series in Spanish-American and Brazilian literature and was the founder & publisher (1975-1981) of The American Hispanist, a monthly literary journal and venue for Luso-Brazilian scholarship. [DES-7/06]

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