Challenging play

This puzzle of seven pieces,

All to be

Neatly used, can be

Great fun geometrically, “Even

Relaxing,”

A

Mathematician mused.

Slyly pries

Sneaking around,

Nabbing secrets

Or sweets, the  

One-eyed pirate

Prizes his treats.

Math Olympian

Guided by

Euclid’s famous Elements,

Our knowledge of

Math is downright prevalent,

Especially

The measuring of earthly

Radiuses and

Yes, all other lines, angles, and spaces.

Congratulations to all the Math Olympiad teams who participated in today’s event!

Armlet

Indentations

Narrowly

Lead to

Enclosed, more

Tranquil parts of the sea.

Poeciliidae fry

Giving birth is

Usual with these little fish; their

Progeny

Plunge deftly

Into life. With a swish they

Engage their

Surroundings.

Crop

Caught in the throat of a

Robin squirmed

An equally early

Worm.

The right label

Right angles

Establish four

Corners in

This quadrilateral

And it is totally worth

Noting that squares

Go by this name; they’re a

Little shorter with

Each side the same.

Ode to Lola

Lola was a lissome girl

In a green, four-legged way. Her

Zip and dear

Anoleness we greatly miss today,

Resting beneath the bougainvillea,

Destined there to stay.

For Emma and Bryan and their grieving menagerie.

Corrupt actions

Poisoning

Our water, air, and

Land are the

Legislators who

Untie the hands of

The industrial perpetrators – to the

Environment, they are all traitors.

Talk about fake!

Building a base

On spurious declarations, the

Good old guys are

Undoing the

Security of this nation.

Birthday verse

Piler-

Of-words-in-

Eloquent-ways, we celebrate

The Bard of Litchfield today.

Happy Birthday, dear Laura!

Rants

Tantrums

In this verbal form

Represent

A precedent – now the norm;

Does this angry tweeter

Ever get tired of telling civil

Servants they’re fired?

By-the-wind Sailor

Vast colonies of these

Exist out on the ocean; their

Little sails

Enable their

Locomotion, but

Lively winds will send them

Ashore where, on the

Sand, they sail no more.

Thank you, Chris E., for sharing with me this creature’s scientific name.

ABC

Breads

And cakes were what he

Knew; he was an

Especially

Respected fritter-maker, too. 

Happy Birthday.

Fleece

Warm, weatherproof

Overcoats are sheared

Off in spring; imagine the

Light sensation that brings.

Of the Alcidae

Pelagic seabirds fly

Underwater to

Find their lunch.

Following a hunch of safety

In numbers they

Nest in cliffs in a bunch.

Felted puffin by artist Amarama of Rochester, MN. Thank you, Rose Anderson, for this beautiful gift.

From PIE root *gno-

Knowing family and friends

Is the story of  

This word, along with ‘kin,’ I

Have both read and heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx1NwgmPanI

Aka paraskevidekatriaphobia

Fear is

Real

In the minds of those who don’t

Go out on this day; they

Get quite

Anxious about

The neighbor’s black cat or the

Risk

In not throwing

Salt that spilled. The

Kind of will this

Angst begets

Indeed might be

Demanding, but

Educating one’s

Kith

About it

Perhaps will

Help with understanding that

Obsessions

Based on one’s beliefs –

Irrational though they be –

Are personal. Proceed respectfully.

In the Year of the Dog

Practical minds

At times might

Unwind when they

Stop for fun reads; it’s an

Everyday need.

Clearing

Glows the sun in

Lovely open spaces

Among the

Densely growing

Evergreens. Oh, so serene!

It will grow on you

Linen or cotton of

A fine, carded yarn for the

Wearer has elegant,

Natural charm.

Wide valley

See how

The

River had cut

A broad swath between

The

High hills?

The visit

Staying a short time

On Orcas of the San

Juans will

Open one’s soul to

Unique

Rejuvenation. Indeed, it is a

Novel vacation.

Magical song

Chanting in rhythmic,

Hypnotic tune, the sage,

Against the backdrop of full moon,

Repeated the sign about a

Month coming soon.

Small stead

Home to

A few dozen families or

More,

Land and sea rendered 

Enough in

The way of stores.

The car alarm

From shore to shore the

Easygoing transport

Roars and

Rumbles, while in the cold breeze

You fumble for your keys.

For Maya Angelou

Resilience

Is grit, and more, to

Stand up strong,

Especially to soar.

Why do the powerful want to see fellow human beings broken, beaten down? Is it tradition? Is it out of habit? Is it genetic? Is it required? If it is a matter of control, then why? To feed an ego? Are the powerful to be pitied for their well-hidden low self-esteem? They are sad, mean creatures indeed.

Update

Mainly

Used in golf or cuisine, this old

Last name means

Little and bald; sometimes

It is in politics seen, when the Council

Gets to vote again on

An issue first thwarted by one

Non-thinking man.

H. C.'s aspiration

Impromptu storytellers

Manage with no

Preparation,

Regale their listeners

On inspiration – that

Vivid breath of

Imagination –

So that

All who hear

The tale cry

Out, “Don’t end!” They’re

Rightly

Eager for more Andersen.

Active listening

Realizing that compassion and

Equanimity were

Fundamental for the good

Of mankind, he tried to

Rewrite the thinking of that time.

May we take those basic concepts

Eagerly to heart and in

Repairing community, do our part.