Wordbirds, 37

We’ve commenced our journey backward through Webster’s 3rd. I’m picking a word near the end of each entry for each letter—a word that interests me for some reason or a word I’d not ever known before—and surrounding it with a frayed coat of doggerel.

Words that flew into my life from Webster’s 3rd …

pythonoid adj.

like a python

Pete saw some movement … pythonoid?

He trembled with his fear of snakes.

While standing there above the void,

He wondered, “One of my mistakes

To jump? Avoid the fatal squeeze?”

He turned toward the python, and

He asked, “Oh, Mr. Python, please,

When I jump off, how will I land?”

The python (Doug) hissed, “You will learn

That jumping’s not too good a plan.

It’s better if you take your turn,

Allowing me to squeeze you, man.”

And so Pete did, and so it was

That this is how our story ends:

Our Pete survived it all because

The two became the best of friends.

Moral: Oh, if your name is Pete or Doug,

Don’t underestimate a hug.