Friday, January 14, 2011

Today's post has been brought to you by the Letter 'M'

Mystical, magical 'M'. 

Big Tent Poetry left instructions for its minions to choose a letter from the alphabet, make a short list of words starting with one's letter of choice, mull it over for a few moments (or days, as the case may be), choose one word which moves the mind (and creative spirit) and then write a mini-manuscript with it.  (Like the alliteration, eh?)

Naturally, my muse said, "Hey there - why don't you mosey on over to Worthless Word for the Day.  They have many marvelous morsels to choose from."  My muse was, of course, right.  I meandered over there and found myriad words (I would also say a 'plethora' but that's a 'P' word and therefore, just not apropos here) just waiting to be molded into a poem by me.

Anyway, being the type of person who will always use several (of anything) where merely one will do, I penned a couple of poems which I'm now posting here in addition to the 'M' poem 'Misodoctakleidist' which I posted earlier this week. The first poem is a Nasher trying desperately to be a Sonnet.  The second is a Terza Rima.

I. 

Mountweazel *

There is a word that is not terribly complimentary
since it describes work which contains a sly fictitious entry.
What that means is, it’s something which is placed in reference material, like an encyclopedia or a map
and is often considered nothing short of a copyright trap.
How it got started is often categorized as a bit of a fluke
with the intention of giving the user a rebuke.
It was named for the character of Lillian Virginia Mountweazel, a ‘fountain designer turned photographer who never existed’ and therefore, is spurious,
and when publishers and editors find such things inserted into manuscripts, the results (career-wise, at least, for authors and researchers) can be injurious.
Sometimes called Nihilartikels, these Mountweazels can be used as April Fools’ pranks,
but if you’re the one committing these falsehoods, don’t expect any thanks.
Examples abound, like…a professor at the University of Heidelberg who wrote about an entirely fictitious mammalian order called Rhinogradentia,
and if you check Wikipedia, you can see that it is merely made-up, false scientia.
In closing, you might want to consider this a warning if you decide to write a tome of work including a Mountweazel or Nihilartikel,
because you might find yourself ending up on the losing side of a literary pickle.

(* The word, Mountweazel, per Worthless Word for the Day, means ‘after Lillian Virginia Mountweazel, a fountain designer turned photographer who never existed, a bogus entry purposely inserted into a reference work: a copyright trap’ – also, Scientia, per Wordnik and other dictionaries (Mountweazels not withstanding) is Latin for knowledge, science and skill, will deal with lifestyle and transactional data, analysis and research.)

II.

Matutolypea *

Does the AM put you in a mòód?
Do you wake up feeling fractious?
Should the early hours be eschewed?

Is awakening detractious:
one side more than the other side,
or is that just being factious?

There are those who say, “Woe, betide
folks who roll to the other side.”
Cranky might be the term applied.

On getting up, you must decide:
Will you be Jekyll…or be Hyde?

(* The word, Matutolypea, per Worthless Word for the Day, means ‘waking up on the wrong side of the bed.’)

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23 comments:

  1. RJ~ You have such a way with words... I thoroughly enjoy reading your poetry!

    The first piece was educational for me... I had no idea what that word was.

    The second poem was fun! I especially like the ending.

    `Laurie

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  2. Enjoyed your creativity in both, although I think, being a pianist, my favorite of all was "Misodoctakleidist" from the other day. :)

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  3. You have made my day: these poems made me laugh in delight at the wordplay. I've added two words to my vocabulary, but still don't know what is a Nasher.

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  4. EJ - thanks!

    Viv - thanks for the nice words.

    A Nasher is so named for one of my poetic heroes, Ogden Nash:

    à la O.N.'s frequent style of writing poetry, a Nasher is sets couplets - usually a lot of them which tell a story or make a point - and which pay no mind to metrics or length whatsoever, but do have an end rhyme,

    Since my poem was 14 lines long (if you don't take into consideration that some of the lines were really long, and therefore, had to be continued on the next line) it was a Nasher that was also technically a Couplet Sonnet, too.

    Although.,,I realize that that's stretching things a bit...so to speak. ☼

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  5. RJ, Both are wonderful. The first being educational and a fine little tale. The second was just pure fun.
    Pamela

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  6. Pamela - thanks so much for your nice words! ☼

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  7. Well crafted and creative! The second is my favorite, at this moment. :)

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  8. Tumblewords - thank you!

    (And btw.,.who is your 1st favorite? Not that I'm competitive or anything...) Just kidding! ☼

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  9. I happen to like pickles, but not the literary kind.

    Really enjoyed that first one...

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  10. Same here, Mark! lol - and thanks!

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  11. I *love* your educational & fun (!) poems. And that you ended the first poem with such a powerful p-word! Ha!

    Welcome to the Tent and thanks for bringing it to us!

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  12. Love your poem on Matutolypea! Now I have the perfect explanation-- an excuse, even, for my notoriously hideous bad morning moods! Thank you for the education ;D

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  13. Matutolypea gave me a good chuckle. You have a great way of saying "waking up on the wrong side of the bed" in this poem. Love this!

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  14. And I thought I loved language. You got me beat by a mile, maybe more. These are just plain fun. Thanks,

    Elizabeth

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  15. Thanks for the kind words, Elizabeth, but I am quite sure I don't have you beat! I do love language, however, and am I huge fan of wordplay. ☼

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