Dearest Hope

[dukealien]

Hey duke-

Good short one, and short ones are usually my favorites since they require precise wording.

Dearest Hope

When I’m eighty-one
dare I even hope for such
uncritical leman?  Six, instead of five syllables, but who's counting?  Especially OK since I learned a new word- 'leman'.  I love when that happens.  My leman is something that I may be lucky enough to celebrate should I make it another dozen years.  My wife thought I was calling her a lemon until I explained the spelling and definition. Then she wondered who my mistress/lover was. Fortunately I quickly answered, "you, of course."   

Thanks for adding to my vocabulary with such an interesting word,
Mark

Yeah, I could chop out a syllable from L2, but the poem has (as it were) aged poorly.

"Leman" was recalled from one version of an old English ballad (The Three Ravens) where a slain knight is praised for having "[S]uch hawks, such hounds, and such leman" as his beasts and lover gather over his corpse.