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Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The Joy of Writing Rhymed Verse OR Did T. Rex have elbows? By Andrea Perry

All I needed was a little information to write a poem about dinosaur table manners.  How hard could it be? Did T. Rex have elbows? Could his arms reach his mouth?  Who did this carnivore chew on? Are there any words that rhyme with etiquette? With Tyrannosaurus? With carnivore?
What I ended up with was a treasure trove of hilarious information that distracted me from the task at hand and made me almost want to be an archeologist.
Yes, T. Tex had elbows, but they could not bend beyond 90 degrees. His arms could not reach his mouth, nor each other.  Though not used for feeding, those tiny two-fingered armlets could be used to hold down prey to chomp with his powerful jaws and blade-like teeth.  His meals of choice were smaller dinosaurs such as Triceratops, Edmontosaurus, Anatosaurus, and even other Tyrannosauri as it appears these tyrant lizards were cannibilistic as well. 
If he fell down (though not likely with such muscular thighs and that huge tail), the arms could not help get him back up.  But he could curl up to 430 pounds with each little arm, thank you, scientificamerican.com.  It is conjectured the arms might also have helped Mr. Rex hold on to Mrs. Rex for certain connubial activities.  And all this was gleaned from dusting off dinosaur bones?  Was there a copy of 50 Million B.C. Shades of Grey there as well?
Now, on to rhymezone.com to find out what rhymes with etiquette.  Only Connecticut.  Nevertheless, rhymezone.com's menu not only offers us rhymes and near-rhymes, but synonyms, related words, and even a section called "Find Poetry Verses."  If you seek something to rhyme with "Tyrannosaurus," you will find Horace, Taurus and Morris.  A rhyme for carnivore? Bargainer.  Seriously? In fairness, 'bargainer ' is listed as a near-rhyme.  However,  if you are curious about what poetic fare you might find using the word carnivore, they offer  "Dead in Ditches" by Hollywood Undead.
Who else provides poetry verses for various and sundry rhyming words at rhymezone.com?  Shakespeare, Eminem , Billy Joel, LL Cool J, Turk, Mother Goose, Bob Dylan, Joyce Kilmer, Atomic Kitten, and Luke Bryan. What, no Dr. Seuss?
I am still not done writing my little poem about T. Rex at the dinner table, but what I can tell you is  before each meal, they prey.

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