[FOsen]

Since I met you, I’m mildly undepressed—
I noticed this while dancing in the rain—
some malady (a strange, new avian strain?)
has got me trading birdsong with a nest
of robins, sneezing, just to hear I’m blest,
then blessing others, in a viral chain
that’s caused a deliquescence in my brain.

The doctor’s right, I ought to get some rest
or go and dose myself a chilling blast
of headline news, to make this fever wilt.
He says I’ll be contagious for a day.
But his “professional opinion’s" built
on words, so, quick—before this present’s past—
come see me, for I think I'll need a lay.

—Frank

[Zita Zenda]

What is this Bout?

What is this word we’re using, ‘undepressed’?
As if such mental states should pass like rain,
or by un-naming them we drain the strain
of wallowing in full –or empty– nest.
If not for les mots justes we’d be ‘unblest’,
as if all thoughts were nothing but a chain
of nameless clouds that float within a brain.
They’d wander dense and lifeless, without rest.

What words can do, and cannot undo... Blast
the vague and imprecise! That they should wilt
and wither into nothingness! The day
that words were formed, and ages since, we’ve built
a means to move us farther from a past
where panic, ignorance and chaos lay.

[Martin Elster]

Does Rover Know?

Does Rover know that he is undepressed
while flying after foxes through the rain?
Look self-absorbed when hacking from a strain
of kennel cough? Or, lacking a warm nest
to curl up in, feel sad? Why, no! He’s blest
by taking all in stride. What if a chain
restrained him from his fun? His canine brain
would not compare that state to house arrest.

Contrast him with yourself. A tiny blast
of flack can bring you down. Harsh comments wilt
your self-esteem, making you brood all day.
Were you to yell at Rover, though, he’s built
to gladly put such cruelty in the past
(especially if you gave him some filet).

[Roger Slater]

WHO NEEDS HAPPY?

Who need happy? I'll take undepressed.
A drizzzle's fine with me. I don't need rain.
Don't make me rich! I couldn't take the strain
of managing a mansion. One snug nest
on one firm branch would leave me feeling blest
to be the merest link on being's chain.
To those who have enough and half a brain,
there is no need to hanker for the rest.

I used to think I'd love to feel the blast
of thrusters underneath me and the wilt-
ing borders of revolving night and day.
I'd had it with the things that humans built.
But now these urges that I felt are past.
I'm in the last row, but I love the play.

[Martin Elster]

This is excellent, Roger. I like the philosophy in it.

But I'm wondering if "play" (last word) is allowed (since it has that "p" in it). This is something I really want to know, since that would open up so many more possibilities and approaches to this bout-rime. John, do you have an answer to this?

[Jayne Osborn]

Hi Martin, I'm a new member and this is my very first reply!
I know John and he told me about this site. I'm not sure if he'd agree with this or not but here goes:

I'd say don't mess around with the given words; I wouldn't chance it.
I've won first prize with bouts-rimes twice in The Oldie (Nov 02 and Aug 05). I'm working on this current one - trying for a 'hat trick' but not holding my breath, since I've seen the standard here!!

[John Whitworth]

Jayne is right. Rules are rules. I've tried bending them but it never works.

[Jayne Osborn]

I've just discovered how to do an 'e acute', in order to write 'bouts-rimés properly:

All you do is control/alt/e

You live and learn.

[Roger Slater]

You may be right. But I've seen boute-rime done this way before. I do end with "lay" after all, just not as part of a single word. I guess maybe delay would be more acceptable, as it involves only a prefex and not who new word (like filet). I'll think some more.

Maybe something like

The symphony dissolves into this lay.

[Martin Elster]

Thanks, Jayne, John, and Roger for your thought about this. Jayne, you might be right about not messing with the given words. And even though "play" is technically p plus lay, I'm not sure if they'll go for that sort of tampering. I also don't know if "filet" would be allowed either.