I just read Arthur Plotnik's article in the August, 2007 issue of The Writer magazine, "Making it rill," and it made me think of the fun of seeing and learning new words. His article was about landscape words, so here is a poem I made up using some of his words. See if you can match the numbered words in the poem with the lettered definitions below. Beware, there are more definitions than there are words, so you have to select, not just match them. If you post your answer, I will tell you if you got them all right.
Limning Landscapes--A Game of Landscape Words
Exploring again, I climbed and scrambled, scanning the ground
The rill_1 tried its best to distract me with its riffle_2,
Instead, I searched the arroyo_3 for a kiss tank_4,
Quiet and tranquil beside the scarp_5,
Hidden and silent, as different from
Yesterday's secret guzzle_6 and last month's pingo_7
As the freeway differs from a thank-you-ma'am_8!
a. waterfall b. rapids in a tiny brook c. divided stream d. dirt road e. low place in the dunes where water drains f. gentle ridge g. river bed h. collection of noisy birds i. sharply rising cliff j. upthrust of permafrost k. valley, often dry l. bump or hollow place that jounces the car driving over it m. pool of rain water in a natural rock basin n. small brook o. deep, quiet pool
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Congratulations on your article in the Claremont Courier! I just read it today--but I can't believe they cut your last line off (that's not the first time they've done such a thing, either.)
Hi Vickey,
It was only a couple of sentences that the Claremont Courier cut off in my "Walls in the Holy Land" article July 11, but of course, the end is important! It's not up online, as far as I can tell. For CWC friends, I'll bring a copy to the next meeting.
cheers,
Laura
RILL N
RIFFLE B
ARROYO K
TANK M
SCARP I
GUZZLE A
PINGO 0
THANK YOU MAAM D
Ihad to guess at a few of them, but I resisted the temptation to look them up.
Hi Kathryn,
Well, you're off to a great start...1-5 are right on target. But 6-8, although I have to say the meanings you've selected fit better with the poem sense than the real ones, they're still up for grabs.
cheers,
Laura
Limning Landscapes--A Game of Landscape Words
Exploring again, I climbed and scrambled, scanning the ground
The rill *small brook* tried its best to distract me with its riffle *rapids in a tiny brook* ,
Instead, I searched the arroyo *valley, often dry* for a kiss tank *pool of rain water in a natural rock basin*,
Quiet and tranquil beside the scarpsharply rising cliff *upthrust of permafrost*,
Hidden and silent, as different from
Yesterday's secret guzzle *gentle ridge* and last month's pingo *upthrust of permafrost*
As the freeway differs from a thank-you-ma'am *bump or hollow place that jounces the car driving over it*!
a. waterfall b. rapids in a tiny brook c. divided stream d. dirt road e. low place in the dunes where water drains f. gentle ridge g. river bed h. collection of noisy birds i. sharply rising cliff j. upthrust of permafrost k. valley, often dry l. bump or hollow place that jounces the car driving over it m. pool of rain water in a natural rock basin n. small brook o. deep, quiet pool
Well Happy Heather! Good job! Assuming you really meant the first definition for scarp, you've got 7 of the 8. The only one still up for grabs is GUZZLE.
cheers,
Laura
and guzzle is a low place in the dunes where water drains! LH
Post a Comment