Okay, you're getting a lot of harsh criticism in the commentary over Grammer and expression.

Your flow was a little disconcordant and jumbled.

Your grammer wasn't horrible. I've seen and done worse. I don't always check behind my autocorrect as I should and it appears to be schizophrenic.

You did misfire on the "poking the stick" expression. I think you meant one of two possible phrases. The poking is done with an implied stick, you don't poke a stick as that would be silly.

Here's one of the possible expressions: poking a bear. You'll usually hear it said as a command warning like, "Don't poke the bear" to mean a person or a disagreement is hibernating or at rest and you don't want to disturb that because if you wake that person or issue up it will erupt in a gnarly fashion. Like a bear is super grouchy and most dangerous when it emerges from hibernation. The phrase is also used in a jocular or general way in response to someone telling of having fumbled themselves into a situation with a provoked person or problem they didn't mean to disturb or rouse in such a fashion. People will laugh along and say something like, "phew, poked that bear there, didn't ya? Still got all yer fingers?" or "I reckon if you don't poke the bear, it won't/can't bite ya."

Okay. The next expression is pretty much the same verbages but the animal referenced is a possum, not a bear. "Don't poke the possum" as a command warning and "If you don't poke the possum it won't 'git' ya."

Here's the nuance between the two. As discussed, bears are dangerous and grumpy when poked or roused from hibernation. Only an idiot would do so deliberately, so this situation is mostly likely purely accidental or from being negligently unaware. Understand? When you use a bear in the phrase you're talking about being or feeling attacked for being accidentally out of bounds.

Opossums, on the other hand will play dead as a defense mechanism. So, it's not unheard of to find one out on your property somewhere, particularly if you have a persimmon tree keeled over 'dead'. In reality, you've startled it so it's 'playing possum' but you didn't notice it so you think it's maybe dead for real. So you pick up a stick and you poke it to make sure so you can dispose of the body or send it on it merry way. Funny thing is, opossums, when poked, will make this God awful, loud, screechy noise that without fail will startle you EVEN THOUGH everyone knows opossums play dead and it's likely coming. Without fail, the reaction is a horrified over-the-top gasp and withdrawal to. It's universally one of the funniest things you possibly could see. It's absolutely cartoonishness in the real world and happens nearly every time.

So when possum is used in the expression, they're talking about being humorously startled after intentionally "poking at" a person, disagreement, or situation to see if it is settled or over, knowing there's a good chance it is not.

Obviously, these expressions developed in areas where opossums and bear occur as part of the local fauna and were plentiful enough that interactions with them were common. You don't hear them much any more. A lot of people have never even seen a bear or a possum so they've lost that relatability. That's kind of sad, because they really are both great expressions. They paint a picture.

... if....those were the ones you meant.