Wordbirds, 50

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 …

cytozoic adj.

parasitic within a cell

Poor little fellow—Billy Cell.

He didn’t really feel too well.

He went to see old Dr. Zell,

Who had a lot that he could tell.

“It’s cytozoic, Little Bill,

But I have got a wonder pill

That soon should cure your tiny ill”—

And later sent his massive bill.

And Billy thought it was a joke—

A bill that high? A comic stroke?

But Billy paid it—then went broke.

And we all knew that he would croak.

For doctors’ bills can kill you soon—

Yes, morning, evening, afternoon—

Can zap you underneath the moon.

They pierce you with a sharp harpoon.

So keep your health—it’s best for you.

Of course, there’s not much you can do

About ill health—except just rue

Mortality. But that, you knew.