Speaking in Riddles

Author Sharon Chmielarz, best known for her wry and subtle poems, here turns her attention in a slightly different direction, to word-puzzles that actually have a solution--often more than one. The language is as pleasant and evocative as always, but the challenge is perhaps greater. Answers are provided in the back.

Here's one to try out:

I can be dark and sombre.

I can be bright as sequins,

many sequins, sewn on.

I can host a moon, a cat, or a snout.

Or even your embroidered name.

My trouble, I muffle.

My mantra, semper fidelis.

My motto, do or die.

Here's amother one:

The head, for all its genius, is limited

to nodding and shaking, but these

nimble creatures switch easily from

giving direction to talking without a mouth.

Just one of them, pushed into your chest

ain't a sign of love, Bub. A Je t'accuse! can

precede a firing squad and is sweatily close

to a tongue's lashing or the preacher's wagging.

Still these bony ones can make a cashmere Come here.

Or discretely wipe a tear

or guide a nub across a paper.