Saturday, January 11, 2014

Home Home

The words are changing
with each crashing wave
Redefining the moment
the chosen words lose their intentions
as speakers reinvent them
to represent anew
things we've seen and heard
they merge into shifting vowels
and hard consonants 
I pick up my pen and pout
missing home home

I've been listening to a new Audible lecture series on the Secret Life of Words.  There was a chapter on creating new words and originally I wanted to write a poem where I invented all these new words using the methods described... I didn't do that.  I find making up words hard so it seems.  So I decided to end today's piece with a reduplication instead.

When I was growing up, I don't think anyone really promoted being a linguist as a viable vocation.  It's a shame because I find words so interesting.  For example, the thought that the meaning of words shift with time and with usage makes me wonder if anything I write will be read totally differently in the future.  Or the thought that accepted pronunciation may change with time... I hate change.  Don't even get me going about how interesting I find the Northern Cities Vowel Shift phenomenon.  Peace out.

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