Wordbirds, 40

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 …

myxoid adj.

like mucus [myxa = Greek for “slime”]

I called the waiter over, for

I had a dire complaint. “Some more?”

The waiter asked. “Oh, no!” I cried.

“One bite’s enough—I nearly died!”

“So what is wrong?” the waiter asked.

(He slyly kept amusement masked.)

“The gravy’s myxoid,” I complained.

And I could see the waiter feigned

His cool reply. “Oh, I assure

You,” he remarked. “It’s very pure.

No additives at all.” “I feared

As much,” I said. The waiter sneered.

“This gravy,” said I, “is no gem.

It seems, in fact, like human phlegm!”

The waiter smiled. “You passed the test!

We serve the purest here—the best!”