Welcome to Day 1 of the August Open Write. If you have written with us before, welcome back. If you are joining us for the first time, you are in the kind, capable hands of today’s host, so just read the prompt below and then, when you are ready, write in the comment section below. We do ask that if you write, in the spirit of reciprocity, you respond to three or more writers. To learn more about the Open Write, click here.
Gayle Sands lives in Taneytown Maryland, just over the state line from Gettysburg, PA. She taught middle school ELA/Reading Resource for 27 years, regretfully retired two years ago and has supervised student teachers for McDaniel College since that time. In July, she un-retired and began a second (third?) career as McDaniel’s liaison/coordinator for secondary practicum teachers in Carroll County Public Schools. In her free time (which is NOT as plentiful as it used to be), she deals with two small, spoiled, inelegant rescue dogs, three cats (two obese, one not), and an antisocial husband whom she loves anyway. She is besotted with her new six-month old granddaughter, Maya, who lives a couple of hours away in Fairfax, VA. Gayle’s GPS is well trained in the route south. (Maya’s parents live there, too, but they barely count now).
Inspiration
Welcome back! The return to the classroom after summer break brings a sense of ending, of the loss of freedom. If we are lucky, it also brings anticipation and hope. Maybe there is an obscure word that will explain the feeling…. As a word junkie, I have always loved finding new words to add to my vocabulary. Merriam-Webster has a wonderful selection of unusual words. Let’s play around with them.
Process
- Go to https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/surprising-uncommon-words and wander down the rabbit-hole this site provides.
- Choose an interesting word from the many lists in the website (scroll down and select “all”) or select a favorite word from elsewhere.
- Working from that word/concept, develop a list of synonyms and antonyms. Wordhippo, (https://www.wordhippo.com) is a powerful resource that I recommend to anyone who writes. Wordhippo offers an abundance of synonyms, antonyms, rhymes, definitions and more.
- Enjoy the play of sounds and meanings. Have fun with this. Write with abandon…
Gayle’s Poem
An August-Thesaurus-Poem for Teachers (with a nod to Helen Reddy)
“Forplaint: Definition:“wearied with complaining” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed.)
It is August.
I am wholeheartedly, unambiguously,
unreservedly and unequivocally,
beyond the shadow of a doubt,
forplaint.
I fret. I brood, I stew. I pout..
I glower and glout, snivel and sulk.
I wallow in a mud pit of pessimism.
I am downtrodden and browbeaten,
hag-ridden, hangdog, heartsick,
down in the mouth,
at the end of my tether.
The handwriting is
on the classroom wall.
It is August.
The jig is up
Soon, the bell will ring,
and I must transform,
a butterfly emerging
from my chrysalis of foreboding
to benefit the bairns before me.
I shall become
audacious, unflinching,
fire-eating, unflagging,
stouthearted.
I will swashbuckle, swagger,
strut, show my stuff.
I will galvanize my group.
I may even showboat a bit
as I edify and enlighten.
I will don rose-colored glasses,
I am undaunted, invincible.
unflinching.
I am teacher…
Hear me roar
GJSands
August 2022
Your Turn
Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe.
I am late. I enjoyed searching through the words and playing with Wordhippo. Thank you for this fun prompt.
evagation – the wandering of the mind
Every morning,
I must capture,
hijack, and subjugate
my wandering mind.
It evagates
through social media,
on the fickle weather forecast,
about the bazillion things to do, and
into the feeling and worries of my heart.
I pull, I tempt, I push, I beg
it to focus and direct itself
to one thing, to just stop and focus.
But, it’s slippery and sly
because just when I think I’ve won-
It’s gone!
And the mindhunt begins-
again.
Yup. I’m late. But I’m here! I am in love with all of these words. Rabbit hole is an understatement, Gayle – ! Thank you for this lovely prompt, the resources, and your humorous bio!
Opsimath: a person who begins to learn late in life
In the future
we will live to be
two hundred years old
so that
by the time we are eighty
we will have overcome
all of our foolishness
& will actually
be wizened enough
to appreciate
all those years remaining
Amen! Most of us needed 80 years to goof off and play – – before we got to the serious business of learning and adulting. I love this new word!
So glad you made it, Denise. I love this daydream today! To “overcome all of our foolishness” would be a well-lived life.
Denise, I’m glad you shared your poem —late or not. And how fun the word you found!
Thank you for sharing.
Denise, let it happen, let it happen! I need this!
Great word, fun poem, hopeful future!
?
Opsimath! What a great word! And I love your take on it! At 62, I’m ready to ebrace this word. <3
Oh, you are so wise, Denise! I don’t know if I’ll be ready at 80 to overcome all of my foolishness.
I love the word you chose, and I wish for the future you propose. I am still learning who and what I want to be.
Thank you for such an engaging prompt to begin the poetry writing days, Gayle! Loved your mentor poem and many other amazing poems. I am a bit late to the game tonight, but wanted to write something.
August Octothorpes
It’s August
#backtoschool, #workishere
#endofsummer
Long lines at children’s
Drop-off and pick-up places
#morning, #coffee
#cafeteriaduty, #class
Reading, writing,
Learning, talking
#numbers, #signs,
#sentences, #essays
Connecting, relating
Wondering, creating
#teaching, #caring,
#youcandoit, #Icanhelp
Almost forgot
#tic-tac-toe ?
The best part is the very last line!
I love the hash tags!!!
OMG! Of course I did NOT know this word – ! Think we can get the world to switch over from hashtag? And what a great poem – I like the blend of some hashtag some narrative. Absolutely sets the “fall scene” ahead (next week for me). I also appreciate the shift from the teacher/caring/youcandoit/Icanhelp, which focuses on the areas where our kids need help and where there may be concerns, back to close on the fun and uplifiting.
I love your take on this important symbol–pound sign, hashtag and now octothorpe! The hashtags are fun and add to the meaning of the previous couplet.
Hi Leilya,
I love every single line! This made my heart happy…
I need to read those lines every morning.
#youcandoit and so can I!
?
Hi, Stacey! You are too kind! ♥
I saw this word in my wanderings through the website. I love what you did with it. This is a great back to school poem.
Gayle, thank you for this prompt. Your poem is wonderful.
I plan to revisit the link to the words at play — I’m getting a late start tonight but the very first word from your link struck a chord in me as a reader and school librarian. My poem needs some work, but I wanted to share something today, so here goes.
Biblioklept
Beware the Biblioklept!
They’ve made their list,
Others add more.
Have you seen the list?
Books for kids
Books for teens
Let families make the choice
That’s right for them.
Book challenges, book bans —
The Biblioklepts steal books,
Steal the freedom to read
From all of us.
©JenniferKowaczek August 2023
And we rage against the machinery of blblioklept ignorance, don’t we!? I pity the librarians who must tread so carefully these days. Crazy times…
Delightful rhythm and powerful message.
I am sorry that Biblioklepts are rising in existence. Your poem makes me more aware of that threats that librarians are facing. Thanks.
I almost chose this word for my poem. Your poem should be everywhere!
Thank you for the opportunity to dive into word play today, Gayle! There is so much that I like about your poem, but the stanza that stuck with me today is: “The handwriting is / on the classroom wall. / It is August.” I can visualize it.
Get in the Groove:
Philtrum is the groove above your lip
Steam shooting out of a nose rocket ship
A snot landing strip
A little pucker in your facial fabric
Highway between sneezer and kisser
Banks along a salty, sweaty river
Chops suspenders
Smile stretcher
Snout decor
Wavy contour
A featured notch I once got teased about,
but now the premise of a poetic shout-out.
Oh, my goodness, Rachelle! So cute. However did you come up with all those descriptions and (are they) synonyms for the humble philtrum? Yes, it did deserve a poetic shout-out. Well done!
Amazing! But my favorite is “ highway between sneezer and kisser”. And then there is “snout decor”… my philtrum is smiling!
Rachelle,
Excellent!! Love your many synonyms for Philtrum!! My fave is nose rocket ship.
Rachelle, this was a lot of fun! Your details are so vivid. I’m really drawn to the line “A little pucker in your facial fabric.” Thanks for writing and sharing this!
Rachelle,
This is so cool! Though I had heard philtrim before, it’s not like you can drop it in conversation casually, it really needs context–and you gave it some fun perspectives. My favorite is “A little pucker in your facial fabric.”
I just learned the space between your eyebrows is called the glabella. So many fun names for body parts! 🙂
I was today years old when I learned the word philtrum. LOL, love your poem!!
Gayle, what fun! I love ‘forplaint’ and how you related it to teaching with such power and strength – not to mention borrowing from Reddy. Love the truths and magnificent phrasing, emerging from the ‘chrysalis of foreboding’ to become ‘audacious, unflinching, fire-eating, unflagging, stouthearted’…yes, that’s pretty much exactly it!! Every day and again. Thank you for this absolute delight of a poem and for hosting today.
I swam for a while in the fantastic word lists and landed here…found this word irresistible. It offered a light way to relate a bit of an excruciating experience… ahem…
The Snickersnee
Woe to the olden blades
rusty, dull, disobliging—fie!
Off with thee, useless utensils
—begone!
Behold the Snickersnee:
So fine a blade
German-made
slicing mine vegetables
as if they were but a dream
or merely air…
I forgetteth this
exceptional sharpness
during the washing-up
whereupon the Snickersnee
indiscriminately
took a chunk
o’ me.
(Just a thin slice o’ thumb.
A profusion of blood,
nevertheless.
Alas.)
Oh, Fran, great word (I’ve gotta be using this one!) but OUCH! That sharp blade…so witty the
that was dandy! Doctor that up! I ended up in the ER years ago, thanks to a kerfuffle with a snickersnee in my kitchen! Cut my thumb right to the bone as I dropped the thing and grabbed to catch it before it hit my dog in the head! Geez…what a fumble-bumble!
Susie
Fran, I love the tone you set (archaic, heroic) and how it contrasts with a silly word like snickersnee and using it to.. chop vegetables. Well done!
Fran, nice job with your playful olde language. Fun! Snickersnee is a great word to say aloud.
Your trip into ye olde English is delightful. Loved the last aside— nobly rising above the pain! Snickersee— great word!
DONNYBROOK or SATYAGRAHI?
Way too often
I trip over my own blather,
caught in a donnybrook,
a rhubarb, a row,
imbroglio when really, who knows,
an argle-bargle, dust-up,
melee or affray,
but it’s clear we don’t agree,
so we must quarrel, clash, and wrangle
in a stooshie over sushi,
unagi or uramaki,
out of nowhere
we find we’re heated,
in a brannigan,
but then again,
we are not hooligans,
just look at me,
who needs tracasserie?
So,
let me be a satyagrahi,
like Mahatma Gandhi —
sit for truth,
stand for something.
by Susie Morice© August 20, 2022
Ah, Susie – word-player extraordinaire! Is ‘tracasserie’ not a delicious word for annoyance?! You do sit and stand for truth and the glorious power of words. This was an absolute delight to read, which I’ve done several times now, for the wonderful flavor.
Wow! Susie! I bow down. There’s so much to applaud here. This line will live in my head every time I get sushi: “in a stooshie over sushi”. Thank you for this!
Oh, Susie, I love your two words. I love the lines about Gandhi: “Sit for truth / stand for something” Yes, indeed, I’d rather be a satyagrahi, too. Your magical words woven in are amazing. I love that 16th century “argle-bargle.” I’ve learned a lot from your poem, and besides it is fun to read!
Susie— you danced through the thesaurus with abandon here! Really, who does need tracasserie!? I need to look that one up! Loved this romp!
Susie,
I feel seen in your poem. Maybe it’s just us fiesta show me types, but I, too, get embroiled in these verbal dust-ups, and I blame my family whose favorite topics at family dinners were politics and religion!
Susie, what a wonderfully fun poem. The rhythm is delightful and I adore how the poem ends on a more serious note. Outstanding! Are you sure you’re not a hooligan:)
Susie, “in a stooshie over sushi” might just be my favorite in this poem filled with many favored lines! Love all the word play throughout. And so many new words to tantalize! Such fun, Susie.
Susie, Susie, Susie! I am late responding due to unexpected bad news last night but thankful to read the expert of word players poem! Wow, you have such a gift. Your poem reminded me of when my sister and I would send a random Wednesday morning text to start our day with a laugh (all using nonsensical words). But yours makes perfect sense and shows off your word-play skills!
Let us all strive to be a satyagrahi!
Love you and this poem!
Gayle, what fun to read your bio today. I have a two month old grandson, and I totally agree with you. I’m going to Seattle in September to see Milo. His “parents live there, too, but they barely count now.” Congratulations on your new job this year. I hope it is a blessing. Your August I am teacher hear me roar poem is perfect. I love your example of this wordplay poem. Really fun! Thanks for the challenge.
Leucocholy – “a state of feeling that accompanies preoccupation with trivial and insipid diversions.”
Doom scrolling, gaming, searching,
YouTubing, posting on social media
Time spent dabbling in drivel,
Nonsense, insignificance, trivial
Pursuits and amusements.
Distractions, beguilement,
Frivolity, levity, jejune whoopee
Busyness with characterless
Banality, the bland, ho-hum ordinariness
Of tired and vapid diversions.
Oh, the mind-numbing, eye-blurring,
Wasteful feeling of leucocholy.
Denise — This is a dandy word!! And boy oh boy, does it capture the truth of time blown on baloney! Ha! The “dabbling”…too real. I also love the word “vapid.” Eye-blurring indeed. Love it! Susie
Wow, Denise! What an incredible, encompassing illustration of ‘leucocholy’. I can relate to every single line ( and despair of it). ‘Jejeune whoopee’ really blows my mind – fabulous poem!
Denise–this is the word I didn’t know I needed. Sometimes, I feel like I need this mindlessness after a long day of teaching even if it makes me feel like a zombie, haha! Thank you for teaching me “leucocholy”
Denise— you have exhausted me with your leucocholy! Amazing— dabbling in drivel is such a great description of the time I waste on social media! Well said, my friend!
Denise,
You nailed it, girl. Excellent verbiage characterizing those social media distractions. Still, I’d miss Randy Rainbow and John Fetterman’s trolling of Memet Oz if I were to find less trivial pursuits.
(Thank you for this prompt, Gayle.)
Obelus
I was taught to think of the Obelus,
the division sign, as a fraction.
A dot divided by a dot
If the dots were numbers, the Obelus would
represent unity. For a dot divided by itself
equals one.
But set this symbol between two
different numbers and inequality surfaces.
The first number becomes a numerator.
The second, a denominator, their values
set in opposition, in division.
In translations of ancient texts, the Obelus
represents passages that can’t be simply
understood – like the number 22 divided
by the number 7.
My teacher told me not to use the Obelus,
to always express the divide between two numbers
as a fraction. To make their disunity apparent
as a ratio.
It makes a complex expression easier to simplify.
My non-mathematical brain has read this three times now. Love the concept and your words!
Jeff, what a fantastic poem on the mysterious obelus! I love the thinking around contrasts, unity/disunity, simple/complex, and the weaving of story into your poem. Having said that … I am still lingering on your last line and saying, does it really??!!
I would begin the school year’s first Math lesson to fifth-graders with this poem, Jeff. Such a clear explanation!
Jeff,
This is quite clever; however, my mind on math spins and goes “wut?” Still, I do love when the worlds of language and numbers collide!
What a wonderful surprise to be back at this again! I had forgotten that our Open Write was coming up. So glad to be refreshed by Gayle’s wonderful prompt and writing tools. Thanks.
Dusk
At the end of a hot August day
It’s my favorite time
to sit in the dimness
and listen to the crespucular sounds
of mosquitos buzzing, lizards scrambling
and sprinklers arising on the neighbor’s lawn.
It’s time for my vespers,
a thoughtful period of thanks
in the ending hours of light.
Opossoms awake and a few skunks poke about
in the soft glow of semi-darkness.
A bunny nibbles on the grass
getting a meal before the pack of coyotes
howl when the moon rises
after the sun’s final act of the day.
__________
My word is crespucular meaning “of relating or resembling twilight.” It an also be used to describe creatures that are active during twilight.
What a clear picture you paint with your words a perfect crespucular scene, Susie.
I’m reading this at exactly the right time, Susan. “a thoughtful period of thanks
in the ending hours of light.”–exactly what is going on for me thanks to your imagery and your words…
Susan,
I love crespucular! It is a new word to me and I will be finding devious ways to work it into conversation immediately. This bit at the beginning of your poem spoke to me:
Thank you for sharing!
Susan — I always love images related to twilight …a very special time of day/night…the images carry a sort of softness…like the word “vespers” feels like a whisper. The mosquitoes do indeed have that slight buzz and critters poke around in the leaves and trees. I sit and listen to that in the evenings up in the far corner of my yard next to the pine trees…lovely! I really enjoyed this poem! And CRESPUCULAR! Susie
Susan, this is gorgeous. I can see all those creatures out and about at dusk. I love the time for vespers–“a thoughtful period of thanks / in the ending hours of light” and that last line is superb: “the sun’s final act of the day” Powerful.
By the way, the word is crepuscular. (a little easier to say than the way you wrote it). I know that word from E.B. White’s Trumpet of the Swan.
Thank you, Denise. I guess it’s easy to make a mistake with a new word that is hard to pronounce. Seems I need to add the S.
Thank you Gayle for your inspiration and the fun way to think about words. I took a few minutes out of a weekend away to pen this – not my finest
Pesky irritating drip
That hangs…
lingering
on the tip
Like a little pendant
Hanging from the nostril
Growing larger
As the air grows
Colder
Trickling and tickling
Until finally
Gathering enough
Mass
To drop
Annoyingly
On the laces
Of your ice skates.
Oh meldrop!
I love this description of slow motion movement. Fun!
YES!! This word is so perfect, and your slow-moving words create the perfect meldrop!
I am laughing out loud at this! Growing up, I remember my mother always keeping a tissue up her sleeve (yes, like a magician!) because she had that little drip. And now, I realize it’s hereditary! I was thinking it was just us, but you have so perfectly captured that little annoyance so well here. “Gathering enough / mass” is so hilarious because it’s really so tiny, yet – SO ANNOYING! Thanks for the laugh!
*Acnestis
I’ve found the place where
Booth and ‘blatt get along
with Freire and Billings in
Weaver’s context and
Elbow’s mind movie.
I tucked this jewel where
the gentle edges I’ve shaped
in love & patience across
years of tears & failure
cannot be scratched
by clawed Censors or
dagger-wielding admins
cutting hope from hearts.
It’s here, in the backbone
of this Body, between
strong blades of shoulders
that have carried us
alongside one another
giving strength to persist.
*The part of the back (or backbone) between the shoulder blades and the loins which an animal cannot reach to scratch
Oh, Sarah, how I wish our colleagues could be protected from the angst of your lines
cannot be scratched
by clawed Censors or
dagger-wielding admins
cutting hope from hearts.
Thankfully, we have Open Write to help us process, grump, complain, and get up and go at it again.
“It’s here, in the backbone
of this Body, between
strong blades of shoulders
that have carried us
alongside one another
giving strength to persist.”
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we didn’t have to be so strong? And isn’t it wonderful that we are so strong!
Sarah,
I really enjoyed how I wasn’t completely sure what you were writing about until near the end of your poem–the puzzle was intriguing and pulled me through. Like Gayle, your final stanza spoke to my soul. Thank you!
Beautifully crafted, Sarah! I could see you with “strong blades of shoulders” and wanted to lessen your burden.
When asked,
I prefer
my cacklefarts
scrambled
and, perhaps,
even cut
with a bit
of cheese.
__________________________________
Gayle, thank you for the links, your prompt, and your mentor poem! “[A] mud pit of pessimism” is such a delightful and clever turn of phrase that I’m sure I will return to it again and again. My “word” was pulled from following @susie_dent and her Word of the Day on Twitter.
Cacklefarts–the best word ever!! Deep gratitude here!!
Bwaaaaaahhhhhwk Bwaaaaaaaaahhhhhwk…Bwaaaahahahhahahahahahahaha, Scott! I love this. The cheese cutting pun, the word, the cacklefart word, scrambled to order. Oh. My. Goodness! Such stirring fun today, like breakfast for supper here in the east coast time zone. I ate this one up. Thanks for the laughter!
Scott, I LOVE Susie Dent! She is my hero. I stole my word from her, too.
Now I need to find Susie Dent–two poets I admire have mentioned her!
Scott,
Cracklefarts, wow, now there is a word. It made me giggle. Thank you for sharing today.
Oh my goodness! Such a wonderful word! I can’t stop laughing at the images in my brain of cacklefarts and a bit of cheese.
Scott — What a FUN word…wha-haaaa! I didn’t know about susie_dent…must check on that! The “cut…[the] cheese” had me laughing out loud. So funny…you witty dude you! Susie
This is a hoot!
Gayle, I absolutely LOVE your poem! Thank you so much for this wonderful prompt.
Sesquipedalian – Definition: “given to using long words”
Why call myself a word nerd
when I can be a philologist?
Never have I ever chosen to say something
as simply as I can where there is a choice,
when the option is there to express it
elegantly, felicitously, sublimely, or bewitchingly.
Communication should be
articulate, mellifluous, and propaedeutic,
not unremarkable, quotidian, and flavorless.
Once I went on a date with a man who said he’d
need to get a dictionary to understand me–
he was not of my ilk,
not the caliber I need to enkindle my mind.
In the classroom, I proffer delectable words
for my students to savor, to test their efficacy
on their own tongues, to feel the salience
of using the most propitious utterance to
convey a precise and unambiguous connotation.
When the right words aren’t forthcoming,
perhaps it is best to leave them as tacenda
rather than obfuscate what you really mean.
I bow down to you, oh queen of multi syllables! Love this, but need to
look up a couple of words now!
Cara, I love the anecdote about the date, and “not the caliber I need to enkindle my mind” is such a clever and lovely phrase to say.
Oh Cara,
This prompt was right up your alley. I enjoy all the fun new words I learn when I listen to you teach. You are my word need hero!!
Delicious, Cara! “I proffer delectable words / for my students to savor, / to test their efficacy / on their own tongues”. I love the image here–it makes me think about when I try new words out. It takes a few tries to get it just right!
Wow, Cara, it sounds like you picked the right word for you. You made magic with all those big words! Like, Gail said, I too salute the queen of Sesquipedalia!
IMPIGORATE
In August in the YOU ES AYE
Educators impignorate
They check their calendars for the exact date
Most can hardly wait
Impignorate means to pledge or pawn
For teachers this means time
Less time for gardening and cutting the lawn
But, preserving an hour to meet here and rhyme
Educators Impignorate
Standing at the window
Watching students rush through the gate
Seeing their curious faces and glow
Ready and willing to help them grow
Hoping they too Impignorate
Ready to learn, can hardly wait
Trusting their teachers’ intellect and passion
Unconcerned at this time about latest fashion
Come friends, let’s Impignorate
Supporting our colleagues over food we just ate
No Impignorate does not mean overeating
It’s pawning our time and pledging our fate
To what happens when our students get through the gate
The gate of resistance and wonder
Knowing we’ll help when they blunder.
Anna, I’m a big fan of rhyme in verse, and I loved yours! And the message of your poem was so uplifting that it made me eager for school to start (I know, crazy, right?). After all of the negativity from teachers that I’ve been encountering online about the start of the school year, this was great to read. Nice job with this!
I always admire your rhyming, Anna, but I really love what you have done with impignorate— the pawning and the pledge we give. The essence of being a teacher…
Anna, this is perfect! You’ve captured the ups and downs, smiles and frowns, and all the in betweens!
????
Anna, this line had me lingering and unpacking a bit in reflection: “It’s pawning our time and pledging our fate.” I do think “pawning” captures something quite profound about teaching in the way we are navigating so many purposes and negotiating how and when to deposit our time. And then there is the “pledging” and “fate.” Indeed, we do put so much into a profession that so many others seem to be controlling. Our experiences have always been bound up with students, with the school, but now so many others are wanting to control our practice. Thanks for the invitation to ponder.
Do you think the periwinkle
Cares that it is not a primary color?
It is perfectly happy being a mixture
Of white and blue and a little red.
Just right, it is a symbol of
Friendship, love, purity, and womanhood.
Did you know that?
Did you know the bloom
is called the flower of death,
Wound into crowns to adorn
Dead children in days past
And the condemned?
A shade of the night sky,
Somewhere between blue and violet.
Katrina, this was lovely! I love the turn that it took in the third stanza — made me exclaim aloud. Loved your rich exploration of this flower and word.
Periwinkle is one of my favorite colors. It should be happy with that mix of colors, shouldn’t it? I admire the way you paired the stanzas–1 and 2 so light; 3 and 4 much darker…
Whoa, Katrina. I did not see that shift coming in the stanza with “called the flower of death” and “dead children in days past.” And the repetition of “did you know” is a call to sit up and pay attention. Powerful.
Sarah
Yes, and I just “ahhhed” out loud at the end of it. What a lovely turn it takes, seemingly melancholy, but simply saying what was and what is. How can such simple statements of fact carry so much emotional impact? It does seem contradictory to its fun-sounding name to have such a heavy role. I also like the question, Did you know that? Drawing the reader into your own joy of discovery. Beautifully rendered here, Katrina.
Lalochezia
By Mo Daley 8/20/22
I was up late last night, drinking wine
and reminiscing with my friend of forty-eight years
We woke up when we wanted today, then chatted on the patio
as the kingfishers performed aerial dive bombs for our viewing pleasure
while we wait for the third amiga to arrive
We cooked, played with the dogs, even tackled a project or two
(who knew installing a door could be so complicated?)
The mid-day midwestern haze and a visit from a Baltimore oriole
have me thinking, “This is the life!”
Until I remember that I go back to work on Monday.
And it’s Open House.
And I’m not ready.
I feel the stress mounting, the fears of inadequacy surging
I swear the clouds hovering above my head are visible to everyone
I’m a powder keg ready to explode
until that effing fabulous feeling of swearing like a sailor
overpowers me and I curse like a crone at a cauldron
The expletives exiting my mouth excite me—
truck drivers praise my precise use of profanity
And there you have it:
Lalochezia: (n) the use of vulgar or foul language to relive stress or pain
Now I can go back to watching
the naughty nuthatches
and titilating titmice
in my yard
Mo, I was struck by the prepositions at first because of the simultaneous experiences happening in “as” and “while” and “until” and them the compounding of conjunctions in “and”. Such a building of experiences that beg relief in lalochezia. All the bird activities also seem to mimic the frenzy of “expletives exiting.”
Mo, I always look forward to what you write. You chose a word just for the feeling none of us ever wants to admit –
I’m a powder keg ready to explode
until that effing fabulous feeling of swearing like a sailor
overpowers me and I curse like a crone at a cauldron
The expletives exiting my mouth excite me—
truck drivers praise my precise use of profanity
Lalochezia. A diagnosis for teachers in August. The cure for which is late night wine and morning nature shows.
This IS the life!
Mo, not only do I love this word and its definition, I loved this whole poem and its building to a climax and then its deflating denouement. I also loved the lines:
“until that effing fabulous feeling of swearing like a sailor
overpowers me and I curse like a crone at a cauldron”
Artful structure and beautiful job!
“until that effing fabulous feeling of swearing like a sailor
overpowers me and I curse like a crone at a cauldron
The expletives exiting my mouth excite me—
truck drivers praise my precise use of profanity”
I HEAR you in these lines! Lalochezia–another word I will use (both in action and in polite conversation…) And then the storm subsides… Love this so much!
Oh my gosh, this is a wonderful word! One that I TOTALLY get: Lalochezia…it is a real thing…and I practice it entirely too much! LOL! I must be over-stressed and I don’t even have to go back to school! Whew! I’m hear watching the titmice…well, in my mind I am.
🙂 I loved the casual narrative at the beginning and then the mounting of stress…that momentum is so real…it revs up to the image of the “crone at the cauldron.” And the truck driver praise…well, that’s priceless! LOL!
Love it! Susie
Mo, this built up in intensity just like your mounting stress. Isn’t that just how it works? Everything’s going along fine (great even) and then bam! school thoughts creep in. And I love the cursing like a crone at a cauldron image.
Gayle,
Thank you for this prompt and for welcoming us into a new school year (already).
octothorpe = hashtag #really?
pound-number sign, telephoning
shift + 3, confusing
X’s and O’s, tic-tac-toeing
social media’s algo-rhyming
8 points, 9 boxes, silly?
So I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks! Thanks for sending me to the dictionary, Stefani. I had no idea what an octothorpe is! Love this approach!
Stefani, what a clever take on the old hashtag “octothorpe.” Cool, I am going to remember this!
Nice! I loved the playfulness of this (and you sent me to the dictionary, too).
So much to unbox here, in so few (precise) words! You have laid out every bit of octothorpe trivia we will ever need to know!!
Wow, Stefani. I am so happy to know this word and so appreciate how you used the symbol only once alongside so many others, which add such an important visual component to the poem, like a code of letters, numbers, marks. And the ending is clever, made me smile.
Sarah
Stefani, love this word choice! I was tempted to play with this one too, but you created such a fun poem here that I’m glad I left it alone. This is a clever way to jump into the octothorpe.
Gayle, I love this prompt and fell down the Word-Hippo rabbit hole. Sharing this afternoon w/ a former student who will be a first year teacher this fall. Your poem is a spectacular mentor text. Thank you!
Bumbling Biblioklept
“Even dictionaries aren’t safe from the Sarasota Schools book freeze.” —Herald-Tribune, August 19, 2022
lexicons languish
their lines listless,
languorous,
lethargic
longing for lookers
their spines inert
their ink immovable
inanimate,
idle
insulated & incarcerated
they remain banned by
a bumbling biblioklept;
his botched,
boorish, bungling
book barring
vanquished vade mecum
via his crack-handed
malversation.
this manifestly malicious
maladroit man-baby
whose malfeasance &
ham-fisted fascist
floriduh fear-mongering
warehouses
Webster’s words;
he seized
shut in
remanded into custody
enchiridion,
intending
injurious injunction
into interior
ideologies.
with his cortege of
incurious cultists
this logomachist
longs &
lusts for
political power;
sans nous
sans sagacity
sans sapience,
but…
Satan DeSantis
discounted dictionaries
delivered into
pupils’ palms via
pocketed pixels on
backlit paper screens.
—Glenda Funk
August 20, 2022
Glenda, this one deserves a huge blue ribbon and a spot on the front of every newspaper and news website. Oh, how I am cheering your truths here in these words. I agree with you fully – fearmongering is at the root of book banning. Somewhere in Malala’s book, her father courageously responds to the question about his Muslim religion – says that he has enough faith in his own religion that he doesn’t fear threats from others. Those who ban books choose fear over faith. I like Malala’s quote in a speech: “There is no better way to explain the importance of books than to say that even God chose the medium of a book to send His message to His people.”
And yet, here we are, banning the very conduit of meaning and change. Your poem speaks to this today. I’m so sad for our children.
Kim — I totally agree with you…this ought to be in “every newspaper and new website.” Susie
So amazing, Glenda! You realy ran with the wordplay prompt. Your alliteration begs to be read aloud.
You had a raucous rolling fun time with wordplay here, Glenda! I, too, am incensed at the (too-frequent) news of biblioklepts – and I love how you take them on here. I’m delighted with the idea of lexicons “longing for lookers” – such a fun turn of phrase. Awesome alliteration!!
Wow, Glenda, this is chockfull of powerful words. The anger simmering beneath this poem radiates. I love so many of your phrases and need to look up one of your words. I especially enjoyed “this manifestly malicious
maladroit man-baby”. I have to ask what in the world is going on with all of the censorship going on in the states? Your poem is a great reminder that even dictionaries need to be protected. Thank you!
Wow, wow, wow. The wordplay AND the message here are fantastic…and so impassioned!! I loved this, Glenda!
I love this Glenda. Maybe it’s because the topic is dictionaries, but the alliteration gave the poem the feeling of a vocabulary word list — a perfect form for your content. I enjoyed this very much.
Take. A. Bow. I have a feeling that the this “manifestly malicious
maladroit man-baby” would not understand much of what you said here, but would definitely declare it off-limits!! Your alliteration was perfection, and bounced me along as I admired your power over words!! Hurrah!!!
Glenda,
This was a glorious fest of alliteration and word love. Fabulous! I will come back to this again and again–and seriously, how can you ban the dictionary?!?! Ah, the foibles of ignorance strike again.
Oh Glenda — You are cooking on all burners with this baby. I LOVE this poem! LOVELOVELOVE it! Excoriating that limp-lizard DeSantis and his book banning BS…dang! I just LOVE IT! What a powerhouse of cool words you’ve cobbled into this rant! You are a hot tamale on this Saturday write! Whoohoo! Susie
Pure genius, Glenda. You work alliteration beautifully and there is such power in your ideas.
Glenda, wow! What a powerful use of the word biblioklept here in this poem. I’m echoing Kim and Susie, can this be published, please? The alliteration is powerful, by the way.
Gayle, I love word play! Your poem captured my entire existence last weekend. I was caught between sadness and exhilaration. My favorite lines (I love alliteration with “s”):
I need to remember to do ALL of this next week as I am totally depleted of joy after week one whipped my whole entire body and soul. Hence, my aim is to regain my sophrosyne (self-control, prudence, temperance). This was a word I saved back in January.
Sophrosyne
One child
plus 23
enough energy
to syphon
my sophrosyne
One PD
at three
focused absurdly
on how to sustain
one’s sophrosyne
Stacey L. Joy, 08-20-22
Stacey, I love this word choice and what you’ve done with it. The sound of the word makes me think of Neosynephrine, a nasal spray my mother used to use when she got congested. And it makes me wish that we could go to the pharmacy and buy a bottle of sophrosyne and squirt a little spray up each nostril and walk out with our sanity, prudence, self-control back again. A PD at 3 focused on sustaining sophrosyne? Well, that’s…..that’s…..an oxymoron, right? You brought me a needed laugh in that second stanza.
Stacey,
I feel this in my bones. I always reminded myself one child for one period—I can do this, but to have that one child all day, boy howdy, that’s tough. And then the PD, all seemingly designed to steal sophrosyne. It’s like every admin forgets what it was like to live through the weeds of PD. I hope you have a joy-filled year. You deserve that. You’ve earned it. ❤️ you,
Stacey, I love the sound of the word “sophrosyne.” I had never heard it before. I like the irony of the last stanza and can relate to the dual nature of PD’s.
This is a great word and totally new to me (this wordplay prompt is seriously expanding my vocabulary). That second stanza!! Oh my. What is it with beginning of the year PDs, completely missing the mark on what teachers truly need? Love how this poem has so many “s’s”; it begs to be read aloud.
Oh, Stacey, this had me laughing! I can feel the energy at that 3 PM PD. Your words concisely deliver a tremendous punch! Witty and relevant poem!
LOL. Stacey, this made me laugh aloud. Irony at its best. 🙂
Sophrosyne. Say it three times, slowly. Breathe in. Breathe out. Feel better now? I certainly do! I love the sound of the word, and the irony of the 3:00 how-to-keep the-sophrosyne- going meeting…
my sophrosyne
such a great phrase.
Gayle, I love your poem! It really captures that exquisite dichotomy between wanting to hold onto summer and anticipation of being back with “our kids”!
So, the word that struck me this morning was “wrest-pin”: a pin in a stringed musical instrument around which the ends of the strings are coiled and by which the instrument is tuned.
I’ve been reading A Gentleman in Moscow…I’m a latecomer to this book. What a beauty! He ponders the idea of a chain of events leading to certain outcomes, which is where my mind went today.
Chain of Events
The tuner (Tuner?)
twists the wrest-pin
and changes the sound
ever so slightly
The sound travels through
the air at an imperceptibly
different velocity,
arriving at the listener’s
ear, then making its
mysterious journey from
the outer ear to the inner
core of memory, evoking
a highly detailed image–
a squdgy babe in a gauzy
cradle, arms raised in
exquisite pandiculation.
Oh, the perfect glory of such
a moment, so fleeting
and ephemeral!
Another pin is turned,
and the heart is whisked away
once again.
Julie, I absolutely loved A Gentleman in Moscow. I started Rules of Civility and The Lincoln Highway but didn’t finish either one. I need to go back and finish them. Your poem is lovely – whisked away, ephemeral, fleeting – gives the impression of the importance of each moment, how we move from second to second, never to repeat the ones before. Beautiful!
Julie, thank you for sharing today. The imagery of “squdgy babe in a gauzy/cradle” is lovely and my favorite line.
Julie. I so enjoyed being in this poem and feel the speaker whisking the reader into and away from these moments. That line “a study babe in gauzy/cradle” is so fun to say and imagine.
I think I need to read “A Gentleman in Moscow, if it inspired this! The close of the poem beautifully echoes the opening. …”and the heart is whisked away once again.” Sigh.
Julie, this poem reflects life and start and stop. It struck home so much today because we lost a nephew just hours after they removed him for life support. The closing lines of your poem
Another pin is turned
and the heart is whisked away
once again.
But thank the Lord, we have family and friends like those here in OPEN WRITE who help us articulate our feelings and losses, and it seems once we read or write about them, some of the pain dissipates. Thanks for helping to dissipate mine today.
Gayle, this wordplay is great fun. Loved your ode to teachers and the ritual of August “forplaint” (and I love how today’s prompt is expanding my vocabulary). I also got a big kick out of your humorous ‘bio’ – congrats on little Maya!
agelast
agelast
the perfect word for
a person who never laughs
peevish crotchety embittered sort
humorless gloomy dour sour
gratitude suction machine
hiding in plain sight
family
neighborhood
the staff lounge
all is wrong, nothing right
tight-lipped frowny face a flare
warning
avoid avoid avoid
or batten down the hatches
prepare to endure
time alongside
lasts ages
agelast
Maurine –
How fun you made this poem about unfun people. I particularly love the phrases “gratitude suction machine” and “prepare to endure.” I will remember these words the next time I am enduring these people, or catch myself carrying this attitude;)
Maureen, hiding in plain sight finds me enthusiastically nodding in firm agreement….like Elf in the movie talking about Santa, only me thinking of the agelasts I know…..”I know him! I KNOW HIM!” Yes, you nailed this one. I love this word – like a skunk scent setting in that even a ketchup bath won’t fix. You have every image, every feeling struck just perfectly.
Maureen— I taught with that teacher!, This line—tight-lipped frowny face a flare
warning— is perfect! Loved the play on words at the end!
Maurine, a person who never laughs? How is this possible? There is no way a teacher could ever be an agelast and survive;) Thank you for bringing this word to us today.
Maureen,
Very clever, especially the pun at the end:
lasts ages
agelast
No one wants to hang w/ Debbie Downer!
Maureen — This is so true…I love how you give light to need to avoid that nay-saying/never smiling person. Bummer people make for bummer days. It’s weird how every school I’ve ever taught in or worked with has had that “agelast” individual…so odd that it’s so real! I couldn’t get through a day without laughing and “agelast” folk always baffle me. You chose a doozie word. Susie
Whoa! You have nailed this, Maureen! So many powerful lines about the person who thinks “all is wrong, nothing right” Brava!
Forgive its length but I just had to tell the entire story. So surrendipitous. At the end, click on the link for a related video.
Scratching an Itch
A chance encounter with a kid
I’ve read a lot about.
I notice his Ole Miss hat
and Ole Miss drawstring bag.
I am fresh off dropping our
youngest off there for his first
year of college.
I just have to make contact.
I end up sitting on the ground
next to his wheelchair.
We are enjoying a Third Thing . . .
a football game.
We are supporting opposing teams.
Sort of.
I feel invested in a few of the guys
on his team.
While he is mainly locked in
on the Third Thing,
I am locked in on him.
Numerous people come up,
“Hey, Sammy”
“What’s new, Sammy”
“Got the Castle score, Sambo?”
We grab some time between the visitors.
We talk of the game,
people we know in common,
his plans for the future,
and his disease.
He shares openly
with intelligence
insight,
grace
wisdom,
and bravery.
He’s beaded with sweat,
covered with gauze and sores,
dwarfed in the wheelchair,
not much to him for being 18.
I notice he is trying to scratch his shoulder.
“I bet you itch a lot”
“Yep. And it doesn’t help that I don’t have fingernails.”
“Would you like me to scratch for you?”
“Oh, would you?”
With skin as fragile as a butterfly’s wings
and covered with open wounds,
he lives in constant pain.
It’s called Epidermolysis bullosa,
EB for short.
His body doesn’t produce collagen.
As I scratch, I ask
“Am I hitting it? Not too much pressure?”
“It feels great, Ma’am”
My husband looks at me with caution
as the young man’s dad has filled him
in on the disease.
He’s worried I will hurt him.
So am I.
But I just want to give him relief.
“If I lean forward, will you scratch my back?
I can’t reach it”
“Of course, I will. Let me know where to go
and how much pressure to give.
I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It’s okay . . . I’ve got lots of padding.”
After an occasional,
“Up, please.
Toward you, please.
A little more pressure, please”
he starts to lean back and says
“Thank you so much.”
I feel honored that he allowed me
to help him.
My husband asks if I am ready to leave.
I am not.
I want to stay with this kid forever.
I want to ease his pain, listen to his stories,
look in his bright eyes.
I want to help his parents who have two kids with EB
and two other very active kids.
But, I stand up and tell Sam goodbye.
“We’ll connect on social media and
meet up in The Grove” I say
weighed down by wanting to stay.
“Yep. It was so nice meeting you
and thanks for the scratches.”
I walk to the car.
Heavy but light.
God knew I needed this.
The first empty nest sporting event.
The first event in 20 years without a child participating.
Big whoop.
Dropping a kid off at college
is a privilege and a blessing.
Watching your kids use their body
to play a game is a privilege and a blessing.
Sam reinforced that for me.
This morning I wake up
eager to get to work on
our Open Write poem.
It’s featuring wonderful, unfamiliar words.
My heart wants to write about Sam,
but I play along and click on the link.
The second word on the list takes my breath away . . .
ACNESTIS: “the part of the back between
the shoulders that one cannot reach to scratch.”
I can write playing by the rules.
Sam,
I’ll scratch your itch anytime.
20 August 2022
Meet Sam
Susan, I was drawn in by your story. I, too, was drawn to that unusual word, acnestis. But your story has so much emotion. I feel how you feel, drawn to this young boy who is brave in his struggles. Thanks for sharing your story.
Susan–I am blinking away tears. As soon as I met Sam, I thought I knew what the word would be. But then I entered Sam’s world, thanks to you. You played by the rules so beautifully, my friend. Thank you for making me grateful again!
Oh, Susan…what a beautiful moment! Thank you so much for sharing this!
I never knew that spot on our backs had a name, but I tell my husband that this is why people get married–so they have someone to scratch their acnestis!
Exquisite story poem, Susan. I adore how you captured the precious synchronicity of this moment – sending your kid off to college, meeting this youth on the sidelines of the game…and then the sheer beauty of coincidence with “acnestis.” You have me thinking about all I take for granted. Thank you for this poem!
Susan –
I work with a lot of kids like Sam(in different ways). The appreciation of the little milestones and capabilities that we all take for granted have always struck me. Thank you for capturing this feeling in this poem. It really resonated with me.
Susan, thank you for the touching tears of gratefulness and a reminder that health and well being is a blessing that most of us take for granted. I’m a firm believer in the power of words and the power of choice. Sometimes, we set out to choose words. Sometimes, they choose us. Yours chose you today – to tell this story that we needed to hear. You are brave and courageous, and you did what most of us would not have done. You took a risk to make a difference, and it worked!
Such a beautiful story, Susan. I’m amazed at how you were able to work it into today’s prompt. You are a true wordsmith!
Susan, this brought tears to my eyes: your pacing and choice of detail, dialogue: this was just so beautifully done!
Susan, thank you for “playing by the rules” today and introducing us to Sam! I love two things (especially) about your poem: the use of the “Third Thing” allusion and your craft decision to bold Sam’s dialogue. Thank you! (And thank you for the video link, too!)
Gayle, what a great prompt. The links are fantastic. Loved your rose-colored glasses line and Congratulations on your new position. I do not have any internet and am having issues editing with my phone so I’m wanting to make some changes but it is going to post as is.
Gelastic Uproar
Let it bubble over
Frolic and flow
Gurgle uncontrollably
eXplode
Rise unexpectedly
Brilliantly buoyant
Uncontainable belly-aching
Wails
Til hysterical tears stream;
I’m rendered unconscious
Lightheaded; dizzy
Free
Barb Edler
20 August 2022
Barb, what a ride! I think that Gelastic uproar is reminiscent of our shared internet woes today. There seems no relief in sight. It cycles and spins, and then after a momentary relief begins again. The gurgles and bubbles gave me giggles. Even though I am, like you, about to lose my mind over this internet. I love your poem today!
Fabulous word play! I have been known to laugh uncontrollably after 9 PM. Punchy! Gelastic!
Gelastic–another word to weave in to casual conversation!!! Your poem bubbles with laughter from beginning to end! Favorite lines–gurgle uncontrollably (been there) and rise unexpectedly (the same). A joyous start to our day!
Barb, this is merry and fun! Love the large X in the midst of eXplode – I am reminded of how people jump up arms wide in celebratory laughter. Great word – “gelastic.”
Oh, Barb, I feel this one as it reminds me of a student who is on the spectrum and one of his uncontrollable responses to just about every stimuli is laughter. It was a rough week back. Thank you for this word and your poem. I hope you get your internet up soon.
?
Barb,
I love a good geladtic uproar, but what is going on w/ your internet and Kim’s? I see nothing in your poem that needs changing. It’s a fun, alliterative word-ride.
I’m in! I love this
What a cool term, Barb! That is, indeed, and uproar[ing] kind of explosion of emotion. I think the most intriguing part of the term is that it comes “unexpectedly”…those jolts that take us by surprise and what ensues is so peculiar…”hysterical” and ultimately “free[ing]”… Neat poem! Hugs, Susie
Gayle, what a fun invitation you have brought us today! Your model poem shows us exactly how to craft our own wordplay poems! Forplaint is an apt word for August for sure! Thank you for hosting us today. I think this would make a fun vocabulary lesson for students, each taking a word and sharing it in verse. My word today was ullage – the half-full glass that is actually the not-there part. The part of the gas tank that has space….and I chose to write a half-abecedarian in honor of the ullage of missing letters, but I mixed them up like a wine swirl for the letters that are there.
Half-Here Abecedarian Ullage
ever-eulogistic
pessimists pick
half-here
spaces, swirlless ~
where wine once was:
unseen ullage
receding receptacles
becoming-less-barrels
dwindling drums
vanishing vessels
tapering tanks
fading flasks
consumed carafes
I need desperately to find a way to insert ullage into my next conversation!! What a great word!! “Half-here spaces, swirlless” (love swirlless!)–every single alliterative line is a new definition!!
Kim, what a fun way to use both the Abecedarian, synonyms, and the meaning of ullage. Clever. And I LOVE the idea of mixing like a wine swirl – it’s evocative of what we do as writers (take the good stuff and stir it around, releasing sensory details).
Kim, what a fun wine swirl! Loved your final lines.
How creative to offer a “half abecedarian” for ullage!! Ullage is a totally new word for me and I think your poem will help me remember it. I love your many images of partial /empty space – and your added poetic touch of alliteration.
Kim, I adore your poem on many levels. It reminds me of ME and how I feel today as a “vanishing vessel, tapering tank…” Then I held on to the visuals of “half-here, spaces, swirlless…” So much to behold and ponder.
Brilliant!
? Cheers, a little early!
Kim, I read this poem this morning, and the images stuck with me all day. Your words were just so beautiful and loved your insights and images that complicated a seemingly simple subject. Lovely.
Love it! It cracks me up that there is a name for that space. This poem has legs!
Kim, it’s fascinating what you do here with what is not there! Your alliteration, so perfect in such spareness of verse, is a wonder.
Gayle, this was such an inspiration! Not only did it get me wondering and wandering, it’s perfect for 7th graders and totally up my alley! You’ve captured the forplaint (who knew there was a word?) so beautifully in your poem (all the same feels here as we head back). Loved, loved your poem today. I could have kept on delving during my write today, but all poems must come to an end.
Rabbit Holes
The year is 1938
the year of
Bermuda shorts
cattle prods
conga lines
hunter-gatherers
postage stamps
Rabbit Holes
safari jackets and
spymasters.
All used for the first time
that year
(according to Merriam-Webster)
Which makes me wonder
how Alice fell down one
in 1865
And where is Alice?
Mad Hatter in response to the Red Queen:
I’ve been considering words that are similar:
Bind
Box
Jam
Mire
Pickle
Quagmire
Rattrap
sticky wicket
swamp
Red Queen’s response:
We’re looking for Alice now
Our word sits between
Rabbit-foot grass
and
Rabbit-hunting
(Elmer Fudd style)
which brings me to our rescue dog
who hunts rabbits
(or wants to as she stalks them
from the minute she leaves the house
creeping forward
ears erect
alerted to motion
peering around corners)
If you go chasing rabbits
You know you’re going to fall…
**much borrowing from Alice in Wonderland (trying to be muchier without losing the muchness) and Jefferson Airplane
1938–and all those phrases!! This poem led me down YOUR rabbit hole!! I followed with delight from reference to reference! (You could have kept going–I was SO with you!)
Wow, Jennifer, what an amazing poem. I absolutely love this and your use of asides in this one. The list of words works perfectly and I love how you incorporated your dog. Kudos!
I love the blend of literature and lyrics here, Jennifer. That rabbit hole has always held me captive in imagination. I used to dream that the mall was underground with a secret passageway that only I knew about, and I could go shopping for free in this place. It was all because of Alice and the rabbit hole. Surely there are worlds like this that exist, places not known except to those who can dream them. The little hobbit world is a lot like that, too. Thank you for taking me back to a place I had forgotten!
Jennifer, I love the playfulness of this poem and I always enjoy the word “quagmire.” Fun fact: I used an extended metaphor of Alice in Wonderland to write up my entire dissertation. Thank you for sharing today.
LOL! How did she fall down something that wasn’t named yet?! What a great bunch of questions and Lewis Carroll-like thoughts. Hooray for the Red Queen! I love that character.
Jennifer — This is so interesting to read. I love the historical timing at first. The “cattle prods” jolted me at first, not sure how it fit till it was clear that all those were 1938. I then was caught by the rabbit hole you created here…so darned clever! I’m eventually loping along with the dog, chasing rabbits. A journey indeed! You are so witty! Susie
Gayle, Your poem is amazing and fits so well with how I feel in August. Every year I wonder when it will end, this forplaint feeling. It takes a few weeks. I love how you played with words here to build a poem full of emotional impact.
I grabbed a word from the list of unused words and rode the waves. It was fun to play. Thanks for the prompt.
Acnestis
In a moment of tenderness,
he touched my acnestis,
sending me into analysis
of what this actually is–
A space between shoulders,
skin-canyon between boulders.
I shivered like smolders,
not so bad getting older.
As time takes is in,
I’ve found that my skin’s
more sensitive and thin.
I feel sexy again.
Margaret,
“skin-canyon between boulders” is beautifully phrased and positioned in both rhythm and rhyme. I have word phrasing envy. Somehow you’ve managed to make the scientific (acnestis) lyrical – a skill from the best of poets.
Margaret–I loved that word when I read it–and “skin-canyon between boulders”–what a wonderful interpretation. “Shivered like smolders”–wow. Sexual science! Kudos!
Margaret, beautiful and clever way to define your word. Your end is sensational!
Margaret, such a fabulous word choice! I read it like a spoken word poem, with a bit of rap, and then I got to the end and saw a head tossed back over a shoulder with a sexy grin. OOOH……sexy you! Getting older isn’t half bad, is it? I love what you’ve done here.
Margaret, I love the beat of your poem. It is “rappable.” Funny that until now I couldn’t name the spot I can’t touch.
Margaret, sometimes I wonder why certain words even exist. When would you need to use a word like acnestis? You have perfectly explained why we need this word.
“skin-canyon between boulders.” WOW! What a great line….and of course that ending is a ta DA!
Margaret, this is great! Your “skin-canyon” image is wonderful, and I love that this “moment of tenderness” can make your speaker “feel sexy again.” So good!
Gayle – What a Jim dandy poem you’ve offered this morning! The wordplay is, indeed, perfect for this new season! The schools are lucky to have you back in the game!
Gayle, thanks for the fun start to our August time together! I found the word murmuration and loved the sound of it.
Murmurs
Pipers poke holes in warm sand,
daily, by the second. This act
is their world. Foraging for food,
they scurry on thin spindle legs,
to and fro, an earthly murmuration.
Their hunger is satisfied by slight
vibrations in the sand, or by taste:
The tiniest sensation provokes hope.
My husband trails behind me, or ahead,
or out to the side. I catch up – flick out
a pinkie and grab his, as we forge forward
on our spindle legs, searching for a taste,
the vibration of a heart.
what started as a nature poem morphed into a love poem! I have always loved the word “murmur”. “They scurry and thin spindle legs”— what a visual. Then the hook of your pinkie fingers, and the repetition of the phrase. What a metaphor!
I love how you took the pipers’ actions and made it an earthly murmuration. Then that pinky touch, how sweet and loving.
Wendy, murmuration is a favorite word (and image). You’ve taken the ethereal image and made it earthly with the spindle legs and the foraging in sand. And your shift from birds to humans is just so beautifully done. Heart sighs here.
Oh, I adore the tenderness of this poem. The action is clear and exquisite. Your final line is completely moving! Lovely!
Wendy, oh my gosh! There is so much going on here to adore….the internal rhyme in this poem is supremely crafted…..satisfied by slight, thin spindle, earthy murmuration, provokes hope, forage forward…..it’s divine to read aloud. And then the pinkie grab. It’s the reflection of birds in human form, seeking life. You two. The only thing this poem needs is framing, along with a photograph of a pinkie hold on the beach, pipers and surf in the background. Go you!!!
I like the juxtaposition of earthly and murmuration…lovely ending too…that vibration of a heart.
Gayle, thank you for this fabulous prompt! I love how fun and funny your bio is…and the resource of word hippo! I didn’t know that one before. Your word nerdiness definteley shows up in your poem that also rings true for me. I wish I was giddy to go back to school. I’m OK but definitely not clapping and jumping. But, “I must transform” so I am.
I also enjoyed Merriam Webster’s weird words. That’s a least an hour visit…similar to wikipedia! Peristeronic means, “pigeonlike.” This is a prompt I’ll return to! Thank you.
a nodding amble
quizzical sideways gambol
breadcrumb to breadcrumb
or any edible gift
positively peristeronic
Linda,
I loved the playful image of the “nodding amble” — I could so picture a pigeon with it. 🙂
I love clever and unexpected rhymes: “amble” with “gambol”! <3
Loved the wrap-up with “peristeronic”!
So fun to read. <3
Quizzical sideways gambol is perfection! A wonderful word-picture of our peristeronic bird-friend!
Such fun to dig in to the meanings of weird words like peristeronic. You described it well.
Linda, that “quizzical sideways gambol” perfectly captures the peristeronic actions of a pigeon. Your words are positively peristeronic today!
Linda, Gayle’s word-nerdiness is a sheer delight to us all, and it’s contagious! Your peristeronic pigeon, with its quizzical sideways gambol, breadcrumb to breadcrumb, is such on-point imagery that it made me laugh when I saw it in my moviereel reading head. I like how your middle line is like that pause where they wait, kind of even keeled like a line in the sidewalk – it is that balanced line right in the middle that helps us pause and take in the next lines as fully as those first laughter-packed ones.
Linda, your poetry is pure music here! Love breadcrumb to breadcrumb!
Gayle,
This is such a great inspiration and I love being introduced to new things. The sites you share are fantastic and I am certain they will become regulars for me.
Your poem captures the start of the year so perfectly. Your word choice is so strong. I especially love