[Carl Copeland]

I also like the new draft and “cut a pact.” It passes as an idiom even if it isn’t. It first sounded too informal, but then it got me thinking the N may cut down some sycamores and they’ll be hard under his axe in contrast to the rotten trees he’s leaving behind. I like that.

I’d still suggest “My flock has taught me to walk slow” to prevent the many proponents of natural reading from getting a trimeter: “For my FLOCK │ TAUGHT me │ to walk SLOW.” The new S2L1 can also be read naturally as a trimeter: “Was my STRENGTH │ spent in VAIN? │ The BLUNder.” That could be made more “relentlessly iambic” with something like “Was all my strength in vain?” It’s an interesting question, though, to what extent readers can be relied on to shift back and forth between natural and meter-driven readings.