Language | pictured words

American English is clearly a rebel,
against which I must rebel!
And while we’re on the subject,
why do we subject ourselves
to such madness as homographs?
Just for laughs?
And who invented them?
(Eye roll) What a gem!

Well, I think not.
And through all this thorough thought,
I’m fraught with not knowing
Who thought up homophones.
Dim watt!

And silent letters, and
those that change the sounds of others, too.
I have no clue. Do you?
Shrew!

And rules? Hardly more than flukes!
Like the whole “i before e” thing,
albeit cutely rhyming,
is the height of forfeiting
the rule books.
Kooks!

Now let’s talk contranyms.
For instance, weather means to withstand,
but also to wear away?
Well may I just say
only a contrary soul would assign
opposing meanings to the same word.
Turd.

I could go on, but you would just yawn,
and the point would be forgone.
So for now, just know
English brings me woe.
Whoa …
It’s plain to see why. *sigh*

2 Comments

March 24, 2019

CONVERSATIONAL ENGLISH CLASS (a Naani)

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Countless countries,
make-ups, cultures, and creeds
learning the language
through laughter and love.

February 13, 2019

UNSPOKEN

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PHOTO BY KEITH R. GOOD

She fights to connect.
Even her thoughts are wordless,
she says. And I nod

as if I can grasp
telepathically , and
put music to it –

noting nuances
in tune with fluent fretting –
non-verbal vetting

of elusive words
she only needs for we who
don’t speak her spirit.

3 Comments

April 13, 2017

ANDREA

12381964

A people-person and poet,
she learned to write
in a language not her own.

Alone, and on a small Danish island,
she yearned to connect.
To greet poetic kin.

In time, she braved the barriers
of language and space,
embraced globe and all therein.

Within her lay a yearning.
A burning desire to know You.
To believe in Your existence.

But the distance seemed too far,
and far-flung stars, more personal
than the God who hung them.

How often did she ask to unmask
the key to faith in a God who hears.
Loves. Draws. Speaks.

Yet I believe. I believe You
who knew her heart from the start
ran to greet her.

“Mit barn! My child!”
I believe she recognized You at once,
whispered tenderly, “Min far. My Father.”

Never again will language be labored,
and never again faith
a far-flung star.

Sadly, our Poetic Asides family lost our Danish friend, Andrea Heiberg. She died of cancer Monday. Andrea never let language get in the way of relationship, clear across the globe. Her presence will be missed by so very many.

Next Stop: Sejer Island.
By Andrea Heiberg

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12381964-next-stop

12 Comments

January 15, 2017

LOVE SPEAKS

Photo by Keith R. Good

When love speaks,

It speaks softly.

When love listens,

It listens intently.

But when love sings,

It ascends to the heavens,

And enchants its very Creator.

Originally posted at “Across the Lake, Eerily”

3 Comments

April 25, 2015

LANGUAGE AFAR

She used to speak with longing
Of faraway lands,
Of engaging the charmingly unique folks,
Of getting a first-hand sense of their lives abroad.
“But I don’t speak the language”
Always kept her stateside.

She used to speak effortlessly
Of shores she knew only through books.
Slowly, nearly imperceptibly at first,
She noticed words were not
Readily available.
“What’s the word I’m looking for? Oh, yes …”

She began speaking less,
As words needed time to percolate to the surface,
And that took time folks didn’t seem to have.

She eventually quit speaking.
She didn’t know the language.

4 Comments

pictured words

Tag: Language

July 15, 2019

AMERICAN ENGLISH