POEMS ABOUT THE ODDITY OF LANGUAGE
Ah! THE SIMPLICITY OF LANGUAGE
I am just content with the content of my abstract abstract as written down by me.
How do I know that it will be by a bee that she may well be bitten on her bum?
Will he leave the leaves he is leafing through, with all the rest left to rest on the left,
Will he be present for his present presently after he has well read his red book?
He could not express what he thought about the express train that expressed a cloud of steam.
But his bicycle made him lean and fit so he could lean steeply into the corners.
Not mean to her he let her try a tri-cycle the mean of a bike and quadbike.
Is there an answer to why there is a ‘w’ in “please reply to my question”?
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The heir to the throne combed his hair as he breathed in the palace air.
He then used his arms to give alms to the poor as he read a red book
Which he had to read more often since it was our book that was read every hour.
He then picked up a lead pencil and was led out of the room.”
The Polish polish would entrance the entrance to the room.
Inside he wrote an abstract abstract of his book.
In the sty he asked the sow with the sty in her eye to sow him some seeds.
He made a spectacle of himself putting on his spectacles.
Jacb July 2020
ANOTHER LANGUAGE
What new country is this I have found?
My grasp of the language is rather weak.
I get from A to B and order food,
The locals are friendly and pleasant,
But I do not understand their replies.
And I am not sure enough in my mood.
A country with different social mores,
Acceptance depends on their politeness.
I will try hard their language to learn.
But will I get the nuance of family
And of school, with references implied
And hidden in any conversation.
Will I know the subtleties of a homophone?
Will the light be lite enough to carry me home?
Will I know to leaf through the leaves and leave them there,
Or will I have to say that I don’t understand
And get them to say it to me differently
With that disparaging look they have for foreigners.
Trying is the thing, make an effort when you speak.
Tis better to try and fail than appear to them weak.
English may be the Lingua Franca, which annoys
The French intensely; But it is not our own English.
It is simple and uses many foreign words
And if it doesn’t use them it sounds like it does.
Jacb July 2020
After The Army Went Camping
The officer’d required the men to strike camp,
When a falling tent pole struck a soldier.
It struck the officer the struck man might strike
And then the camp would never be struck.
The man was struck dumb by the strike he received,
Then he looked at the watch on his wrist
And he realised that he had to strike-on
Or the camp would never be struck.
So he struck a match to light a lamp,
Since the torch had been struck by lightning.
And then he struck a deal to strike camp,
That he was never to be struck again.
Camp struck, they all went bowling.
All of the men got a ten pin strike.
Then they felt they had all struck gold,
So for a photo they all struck a pose.
Strike me pink the officer said
You have all struck it lucky to-day.
I’ll strike you off the campers list
And we’ll strike up the band to play.
Words
Words Words Words Words
Without them it is one of two ways
Either it is taciturn’s turn
Or the wild signalman’s waves
A Double Fair
At the end of the shooting season we went to the Hare Fair.
I travelled with a good farmer friend of mine who has fair hair.
We got there taking the local helicopter for an air fare.
Which meant that all of us who went there enjoyed a fairly good day.
How Do You Faire With Language
They all went off to the fun fair.
The driver a man with fair hair.
Who charged a regular bus fare.
At a price that was more than fair.
How Does My Brain Work?
Is it Age?
Are words in the brain organised like a
Crossword or is it a dictionary?
A dictionary lists all the words and
The definition is given for each.
A crossword clue is a definition
That a single word itself can carry.
I have many words in my brain I have learned over the years.
When I interpret what I see and I speak it out loud,
I pick the right words to communicate into your ears
Trains of thought fill my mind with many stories and ideas
Which I verbalise with the right words from my memory
To nuance, explain and give life to what I’m trying to say.
I have come to hate crosswords,
That get harder as my brain turns to pap?
I understand the answer,
But I argue the clue was far too weak.
The big tussle for me is
Not to use the phone’s ‘crossword solver’ app.
Perhaps I know so much that I can’t choose
between a myriad of possible solutions?
Or my solution is so obvious that
I can’t be bothered to think of an alternative.
My chosen word is too long or too short!
But life’s far too short to get all wound up about this.
Jacb 24th August 2020