SCRABBLE POEM

SCRABBLE BABBLE

There's a wordy little game of crisscrossing lines
A unique test of wits between two probing minds…
An assortment of tiles with letters are placed
Gaining points on a grid when they're carefully laced…
Each player is guided by the luck of the draw
As they ponder each move that will add to their score…
But sometimes these letters that sit on a rack
Are hardly worth playing and need to go back…
So after passing your turn in trading some tiles
You suddenly realize you're nothing but smiles…
Except you must hold that silly smirk from your face
And quick find an opening that might afford you a place…
Now an opponent who's clever and knows you too well
May sense there's a big one you're looking to spell…
So in making their move and being a schnook
The board is closed off and you're missing a hook…
You desperately scramble through the layers of lingo
Looking harder and harder where to place your poor bingo…
Your eyes dance about as they constantly roam
Only soon do you realize your word has no home…
The clock, it moves swiftly as you're feeling the strain
But those gears in your head keep churning your brain…
Then in shuffling your tiles you come across a new word
Though you're not quite so sure as it looks slightly absurd…
It might be a mineral or a weird kind of thing
It looks awfully familiar - has a bit of a ring…
Now it fits in just right and looks pretty cool
Only you know your opponent who is hardly a fool…
Jeez, it's worth nice points and it's late in the game
So you play it with confidence and the least bit of shame…
Your opponent may gasp or be possibly floored
As you fit in this strange word on this very tight board…
Then in hitting the clock as the score it is told
You hear a faint utter of the dreaded word "hold"…
An eternity will pass in less than a blink
While your opponent takes pause in trying to think…
If the word should be good on a challenge of play
Then their turn will be lost and the letters will stay…
But if the word is a phony and there's a call on your bluff
Then your turn will be wasted and that will be tough…
So such is this creation by the late Mr. Butts
With so many players just a little bit nuts…
It's certainly more than a pastime of dabble
This interest we keep in this game called Scrabble.

by Bernie McMahon…….. 2/8/04