Cryptographiku Revisited

Yesterday, Bob Grumman sent this request to the Spidertangle list:

I'd be grateful for any kind of feedback on these two gadgets. The
coding is supposed to be metaphorically meaningful. I've done maybe ten
such poems. Over more than ten years. No one's ever commented on them.

--Bob

. #####

. 1 .#.9.#.#

. 1 .#.15.5.#

. a .2.i.18.4

. a .16.o.e.13

. a i

. a o e

. a

. all around the path

. o.18.1.ng.5, 25.5.l.12.15.w, 18.e.4 and b.18.own

. 12.5.1.21.5.19 in slow descent

My reply follows here (with minor edits):

F...