Two versions of story, nicely told

For anyone who loves non-human friends:

The Bell of Justice

I just noticed -- after I finished writing them -- that the lines:

"Two versions of a story, nicely told
for anyone who loves non-human friends"

is iambic pentameter -- the same rhythm in which I wrote my story.

So what is there to say, but:

And damn! these last few days have left their mark
I think I'll speak in meter for a week!
Pentameter (iambic) is a curse,
That sticks inside your head just like a tune.
If I can't stop it, then I fear the worst:
My friends will call me "Bampot" or "a loon"!

(talk about putting your feet in your mouth!)

Oh, and I heard back from the editor -- for a while there, I was afraid my emails weren't getting through... Turns out, I just forgot to put my real name in the subject line, so she didn't see my submission.

She likes it. :-) and she likes that I wrote it in "feet"... heh, heh...

The mad genius of Woodpeckers

A little natural history:

Pileated woodpeckers, aiui, announce the scope of their territory by "drumming" on trees... and I assume whichever male woodpecker can drum the loudest is considered most attractive to the females (a bit like human males driving around in a silver Lexus).

And one pileated male has discovered that the steel chimney cap on top of my house is the "Tree" that resonates louder than all the others...

So every few minutes, I've been hearing a metalic
TTTTHHHHHHHRRRRRMMMMM.

Took me a while before I realized the neighbor behind me wasn't disturbing the peace with a rented jackhammer (the fact that the sound was coming from my own fireplace was the strongest clue). ;-)