“The Spelling Bee at Angels,” by Bret Harte
O little kids, my pretty kids, in me you see the only gent who lived to tell about the Spellin’ Bee.
I spent the first part of the week away from the Feed with my 11-year-old. We were up in Fergus Falls, MN, for the state spelling bee. She didn’t win, falling after a few rounds on trepak, a word we had studied but that she didn’t recognize when it was pronounced. (If only we had thought to read The Nutcracker liner notes!) She was composed and beautiful, though, and we had a great time.
All this was easier, of course, because no one at “The Spelling Bee at Bigwood Event Center” was shot, knifed, or burned, let alone wore a weapon or threatened to hang anyone over a silent G.
I read Bret Harte’s “The Spelling Bee at Angels” from CowboyPoetry.com. You can find it in print in The Poetical Works of Bret Harte (Adamant, 2001).
Belly up, it's A Poetry Feed. 
I’m relieved that the recent state spelling bee was safer than ‘The Spelling Bee at Angels”!
I’d have burned out way before trepak!
Every little letter becomes paramount!
Oh, my heart!!
“Bad spellers of the world untie.”