As I prepared this PF post, I had to go through new steps in WordPress that annoyed me. It seems once you get a sense of comfort with a platform, someone thinks it’s a good idea to change it up. Is anyone else struggling with the new way to insert an image? What a rigamarole!
I subscribe to Merriam-Webster’s word of the day. On June 4th, the WOD was Rigmarole, not rigamarole as I had always used. My curiosity got hold as well as my inner poet. I turned to a form that my Swagger partner, poet-teacher friend, Heidi Mordhorst invented–the definito.
The rules are a free verse poem of 8-12 lines that ends in the word being defined. Heidi being Heidi usually includes word play aspects as well.
A list of verse, ragman roll
Margaret Simon, definito draft
persisted
to mean foolish roll of tongue,
rattling-on-confusing set of directions,
steps here
then there
rambling forward to a destination,
required mouse-trap of a rat-race
ending in the achievement of a goal–
Rigmarole.
Challenge: Today’s word is poignant. Want to try a definito? Post in the comments.
Reflections on the Teche 
Rigmarole has such a wonderful ring to it! But… What a bunch of rigmarole from WordPress, though you penned a clever poem from their debris of flotsam and jetsam, and I love your whirligig-like signage too. Fun post Margaret, thanks!
Love the words in your comment. Another poem brewing?
Oh, I love that it seems to me Ragman has taken on a persona, stepping here and there, rambling, etc.
Fun playfulness here too: “mouse-trap of a rat-race”
It seems you have succeeded in your definito as well as the rigmarole involved in getting the photo posted.
I just saw your challenge…
Poignant
Her high school
Graduation came and went
Her father, on his deployment,
didn’t run out of the shadows
after her speech, though.
His photograph stayed in his spot
By her suffering mother,
Yet earlier she had felt clairvoyant
He will be here, I know it, she thought
Now she wished her feelings were joyful
Instead of poignant
You created a story in your definito, an added dimension.
Margaret, your words were just the inspiration that I needed to bring a smile to my face. I sit here on my porch on this rainy morning, enveloped in gloom, and was reminded of your kinship in the way of words. Thank you for your commitment to the discipline writing.
Shari, I’m glad you stopped by. Next time let’s have tea on your porch and talk about poetry.
Could so identify with struggling with a changed platform! Yesterday, I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to use Inlinkz, although I used it last time I hosted Poetry Friday. Finally, after an hour of fighting with the computer, I gave up and decided to run Poetry Friday the old-fashioned way, even though it takes way, way, longer!
I love your definito! Rigmarole is such a fun word! Might return with a poignant definito after I finish the old-fashioned roundup!
I thought it was ‘rigamarole’, too, Margaret. I’m glad you shared Heidi’s definition again. I’d forgotten about it. You connected the word change & WordPress challenges just fine. I like the description of “rattling-on-confusing”. Blogger made changes this year, too, & finally, I’m used to them!
So sorry they made it more complicated! I love your poem! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
Thanks for the definito — always fun to see a new form. Great job with rigamarole!
I hear you on the WP woes. Block editor? It now takes at least 4-5 clicks to insert a single image — and some of my posts have as many as 30 images. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Also, my particular theme has had font size issues since February. The font in the visual editor is tiny. I now have to compose everything in a google doc, then copy and paste to avoid undue eyestrain. They say it’s a bug, but haven’t fixed it yet.
Bug, smug! I hope they are listening…I was struggling to find the caption feature and how to link the image to the PF Roundup. I can’t quite figure out how the changes are improvements when it takes so much longer to get the image the way you want it to be. Ugh!
Ha! I love how your life is Poetry Friday. I’ve had similar frustrations with blogger lately. I do love a good definition and a poetry challenge. Let’s see if I can wrangle something here…composing in the comments is a bit daring
Poignant
If you feel the prick of
sadness
reaching farther
than you like
into the very center
of yourself
and it’s the measure
of depth and width
and height of
the context
of the moment
You understand the meaning of poignant.
Well played, Linda. I love the description of how the prick reaches deeper “into the very center of yourself.”
Well done, Margaret! “Rattling-on-confusing set of directions” is exactly right! I don’t like the WordPress changes, either, but I do seem to have handle on inserting photos. Now if I could only figure out how to indent…
First of all, thanks for the inspiration to sign up for the word of the day! Here’s to a richer lexicon!
It makes me sad to hear that WordPress is messing with you. I’m just about ready to start our blog over again at WordPress because I CANNOT solve the slow loading problem. But now, maybe not…
Mary Lee, for the most part I do like the platform. I just hate when they change the way to do something that you’ve done a million times. It’s like getting a new phone.