MAY (2021), submitted palindromes #17

 

Healing Political Divisiveness: The ANAGRAM SISTER-CITY INITIATIVE

CREATIVE CARTOGRAPHY and WORDPLAY, 
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, March 2016, revised February, 2017.


EXPLANATORY NOTE: The initial concept for this piece, developed during the buildup to the election of November 2016, highlighted the nonsense of anagrams as a mechanism to defuse the intense partisan animosity that became manifest during that tumultuous period. Unfortunately, following the election, the animosity has continued and even intensified further. Different media sources, viewpoints and responses to developments characterize the 2 populations, which now live in 'alternate realities', and it has become more difficult to sit on the fence (a frequent pose taken by the author). 
  Consequently, we now propose a mechanism for reintegrating our divided society, and returning to a more balanced equilibrium. Communities might be easily located where the predominant viewpoint reflects one of the '2 solitudes'. Even within these towns, more open-minded citizens could be persuaded to become involved in exchanges with sister-cities that otherwise share some demographic similarities, but who presently seemed to be uncompromisingly devoted to the opposite point-of-view. Here are some initial proposals for pairs of communities which might benefit by such an exchange of viewpoints.

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To resume the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 until December 2024. 

As of December 2024, there are 1800 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. Most of their key elements are also presented here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections, such as this one. The "Daily" format also has the advantage of including some song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

CANADIANA, part #1 (verse, photos, Scrabble-boards, and misc. nonsense)

CURRENT CONTENTS:

Canadian spelling

Speech borrowings

Canadian moose

Canadian weather

Toronto / Buffalonian

Compassionate use

Overwintering waterfowl

Seniors hockey

(for continuation, check the link below)

 

Authors' Note:

centre: word-form used for 'population hubs' in the majority of English-speaking countries, exactly equivalent to the American center

traveller: ditto (American = traveler)

   The American visitors were not quite correct. We Canucks, if we were so motivated, would "practise pre-empting dissenters". But, as Canadians are inherently mannerly, few among us would ever consider such a response, eh? 

Authors' Note: The metaphorical use of 'borrowing' in the context of speech and ideas continues, often without payback/return, in the examples of 'borrow a word/phrase', 'borrow a page', 'borrow an idea', etc.

  

 Characteristic differences in speech between Canada and adjacent regions of the United States involve words such as eh, out, borrow and sorry. Exposure to a flood of American-based media has eroded some of these differences; but as our national anthem says, "We stand on guard for thee."

  

 Readers may note that, as an intentional measure of international friendliness, the above verse maintains its rhymes when read with either a Canadian or American accent.

Authors' Note: This verse was inspired by a character in a verse by OEDILF chief editor, Chris J. Strolin, who railed against the use of the incorrect term 'Canadian goose'.

In fact, when our protagonist Bruce was insightfully contemplating the introduction of moose into suitable environment in Newfoundland (NEW-found-land), the island was a separate British colony. As railway building had recently opened the island's interior, it was hoped that hunters would be attracted in search of a species in decline in the US and parts of Canada. 

In 1904, four eastern moose from New Brunswick (that subspecies is known as Alces alces americana) had been set loose on the island. Ultimately Newfoundland, including its burgeoning population of moose, joined the Canadian confederation in 1949. 

The rest is history, eh? Newfoundland now (2023) has the densest population of moose in North America, accounting for 150,000 of the continent's million remaining large ungulates.

Authors' Note: 

hinterland: a geographic term for 'interior', derived from the German adverb hinder = 'behind'.

The author contends that the summary he received overemphasized the adverse climatic conditions faced by Canadians, the majority of whom live in the more temperate southern portions of the country.

mid-November in Toronto

Authors' Note: 

Buffalonian: a native of Buffalo, New York, in the northern tier of American cities, located 90 miles (150 km) from Toronto, Canada

northern cities vowel shift: linguistic term for the key element in a regional accent whose use peaked in a band across the northeastern portion of the United States. Its use there is apparently now declining, but it has never been used in adjacent parts of Canada; the dialect is known as the Great Lakes dialect, Inland North dialect, or Inland Northern American English.

Buffalo Bisons: a class AAA minor league baseball team (Toronto Blue Jays affiliate). 

Authors' Note (originally written in 2016):  

   Growing marijuana seems to be a major activity on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, centred in the city of Nanaimo (nuh-NAHY-moh). Exemptions from restrictions on the substance are given for certain medical conditions, termed compassionate use; however, the criteria appear loosely applied, and overlapping recreational and medicinal use of the substance underlies the region's laid-back attitude.

   It is unlikely that Nanaimo will successfully challenge the dominance in limericks currently held by Nantucket. The island of Nantucket has been the setting for a number of limericks; the most famous clean one deals with a crotchety old man whose daughter rips off his poorly hidden cash.

Authors' Note: Ron, the anthropomorphic trumpeter swan, first appeared on this site in the verse 'trumpeter swan' in a blogpost dealing with waterfowl.

Authors' Note: In ice hockey, a hat trick denotes the scoring of three goals in one game by a single player. 

  The second verse is a spoof on the iconic Nanaimo limerick (the whole collection of these intriguing parodies can be found HERE).

  Hockey has a unique role, said to function as a foundation of national identity, as well as Canada's national sport. Beyond cheering the professional league players and national teams, there has been major growth in recreational hockey, both amateur leagues and informal games. The wide demographic now includes seniors and women. Reserved time at local ice-rinks, even in the wee hours, is a highly cherished commodity.

To view eight more poems dealing with Canadiana, check out this later post (part #2) by clicking HERE.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 until December 2024. 

As of December 2024, there are 1800 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. Most of their key elements are also presented here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections, such as this one. The "Daily" format also has the advantage of including some song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

Immersible Bird-Verse: WATERFOWL #4 (P to S)

PARODY COMPOSED: Dr. G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio (registered pseudonym), 2019/2020, a continuation of prior blogposts about waterfowl. 

  Readers who enjoy poetry describing the natural world around them with illustrative images and informative text, might also enjoy these previous  blog-offerings, each a collection of eight poems on the wider topic...

Verses about Waterfowl, June '19
Verses about Waterfowl (part #2), July '19

Verses about Waterfowl (part #3), Apr '20

CURRENT CONTENTS:

The pelicatessen

Pescatarians

Roseate spoonbills

Ruddy turnstones

Sea-bird feeders

Snow Geese

Snowy Egrets

Swan spp

Authors' Note:

fress is a loanword verb from either German or Yiddish implying eating heartily or snacking frequently.

delicatessen has been applied to both high-end retail food stores selling unusual and imported prepared foods, and to restaurants preparing German, Jewish or other ethnic cuisine (frequently, the two functions are combined). It may also refer to the products purchased in these outlets.

Sushi is not among the expected foods in such an establishment, so the analogy to a pelicatessen for waterfowl has been unexplored until now. At least in Canadian official documents, for the sake of gender-neutrality, fishermen are referred to as fishers.

After initially using this neologism (word-creation) as a descriptor on the blog "Edifying Nonsense", and misconstruing it as his personal invention, the author became aware, via the internet, that there is a restaurant located at a resort on Bald Head Island, North Carolina with that name. Although that fact is of interest, it is of limited relevance. Seabirds are apparently not served at the establishment, either as customers, or as menu-fare.

Bird-watchers, academic ornithologists, wordplay enthusiasts, wildlife photographers, Giorgio's relatives, and just everyday folks have united in their demand for still more illustrated doggerel on this topic!

So, please follow this link! 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR WEB-EXPLORERS: 

To resume the sequence of daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings at the bottom of the page, and check the daily offerings for any month from the start of 2020 until December 2024. 

As of December 2024, there are 1800 unique entries available on the daily blog, displaying individual poems (often illustrated) and wordplay, but also with some photo-collages and parody song-lyrics. Most of their key elements are also presented here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections, such as this one. The "Daily" format also has the advantage of including some song-lyrics, videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

Progress in Poetry: LIMERICK VARIATIONS

CURRENT CONTENTS:
Epitomy of boredom

Lengthy limericks (including "run-on limericks")

The multi-verse universe

Singable limericks

Illustrated verse

"Limerrhoids" (C-rhyme extension)

Dual rhyme-schemes

Terminal exclamation

Identity rhymes (homophonous revelries)

Authors' Note:  Although a limerick is traditionally conceived as a 5-line concoction, once a sixth line ('L6') is developed, it may become an inherent part of the poem. The rule of the majority being what it is, on the OEDILF site for creating well-honed limericks, the L6 is often demeaned as being only an addendum. The reader may detect that the editors of this blog (Dr. G. H. and his registered pseudonym G. C.) are supporters of efforts to avoid the crashing boredom of a universe of traditional 5-liners.

  

On this daily blog, 6-line verses, otherwise adhering to limerick form, can be found on about 150 blogposts for the interval January 2020 to March 2024; generally these involve a single final "extra" line following the A-rhyme pattern used in lines 1,2, and 5. On occasion, in another 2-3 dozen poems, second or third appended lines have also been added; we have named these verses of 7 or more lines "run-on limericks"; these have been collected for you HERE. 

Authors' Note:  The authors can box themselves into writing single defining limericks in the standard format used at OEDILF, the online humor dictionary, and have done so several hundred times. However, they delight in multi-verse limericks which provide a richer space for development of plot lines, contrasts and examples. Currently (March 2024), Giorgio’s Author's Showcase at the OEDILF website displays a hundred multi-verse entries. You can also find limerick-style poems with three or more verses by searching on our companion blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense" under the heading "a brief saga".

 For the curious reader's convenience, we have gathered our treasury of 'brief sagas' by the year of publication on this blog. Altogether, you will find more than 40 or so whimsical poems, that cover about 800 lines of verse. 

Click below, and enjoy!
2020
2021
2022
2023.

                      Thanks to MMH for providing the photo, taken in Honolulu.

Authors' Note: 

pic: informal abbreviation for picture

   The authors have the experience of posting on their blogs (as here), hundreds of their OEDILF limericks that are initially framed as Power-Point slides with embedded pictures (fabric art, paintings including portraits, cell-phone-camera and web-photos) and computer-generated graphics. If the illustrations are abundant, additional slides may be used for elucidation, and are a good vehicle for displaying the Author's Notes. Poetic submissions that seem particularly appropriate for this type of enhancement include verses about biography, wildlife, tourist locations, food, visual arts and recreational activities.

LIMERRHOIDS

Author's Note:  Well, yes. This verse does go on at length (including a D-rhyme extension), but in a highly regulated fashion that would have been applauded by the famed lyrical seer. He obtained initial support by a cadre of Irish disciples, but to O'Malley's bitter disappointment, his efforts were unsustained globally. In recent writings, we have honored O'Malley's concept by the concoction of a score of poems of the type he would have approved. To view this specialized material that provides further explanation and copious examples, click HERE !

DUAL RHYME-SCHEMES

Authors' Note: This introductory verse relates to a posted collection (10 verses or so) devoted to limericks with dual rhyme schemes, as posted HERE ...

TERMINAL (poetic) EXCLAMATION

Authors' Note: This verse is the lead-in to a collection of limerick verses that emphasize a terminal exclamation, sometimes suggested earlier in the verse.

 Ka-pow! (variant kerpow!): comic-book type interjection for a noise emitted when a blow is landed in a fight (often involving a super-hero).

The limericks written by Edward Lear and his contemporaries a century ago often included repetition of the poem's key word at the end of the final line.

IDENTITY RHYMES (homophonous verse)

Authors' Note: This verse is the lead-in to a collection of limerick-like verses that have an unusual rhyming scheme. Instead of the usual A1,A2,B1,B2,A3 pattern, these verses have lines ending in identity rhymes, as in the above verse: A1,A1,B1,B1,A1. Some critics would say that identity rhymes, e.g. perVERSEely / conVERSEly, are not rhymes at all. But when bunched up they have a definite musicality, and can be entertainingly sung at open-mike at a bar. 

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To resume daily titillations on our related blog 'Daily Illustrated Nonsense', click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of September 2023, there are over 1200 unique entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on 'Edifying Nonsense' in topic-based collections.) The 'Daily' format also has the advantage of including some videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.