I cannot write in praise of feet,
Though they are worthy of acclaim
For the service they perform.
Though there are those
Who would praise their beauty,
I cannot see their loveliness
Whether carved in limestone and perched high
Above an Egyptian desert scene, or
In the marble pediments of Grecian temples,
The mosaics of ancient Rome—
None can woo me to their cause.
Feet by El Greco fail to stir my heart.
Steadfast it remains before the bronzes of Rodin
And the so excellent etchings of Durer.
The fact is, I cannot find the foot pretty.
It is awkward at best or like some mistake,
Something borrowed from a form
Unlike our human frame,
Perhaps an extraterrestrial joke?
My apologies to feet.
I cannot find you beautiful,
But I thank you greatly
For your sturdy service.
May you continue long and strong.
#PoetryandtheHumanFoot #TheFootandArt #Humor
Author’s Notes
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
“RIVER NIGHT LULLABY” was found among the author’s papers and may well reflect her memories of the Ohio River of her youth.
KALEIDOSCOPE— by Kathleen Roxby
“GH WORDS, HOMONYMS” continues the author’s discussion of the oddities of the English language.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby
“PACIFIC SARABANDE” describes a specific day as the author drove southward along the Pacific Coast Highway that parallels the coast of California.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.
Guidelines for submission:
SPLINTERS FOR JULY 2021
AN APOLOGY TO FEET, A NON-ODE
I cannot write in praise of feet,
Though they are worthy of acclaim
For the service they perform.
Though there are those
Who would praise their beauty,
I cannot see their loveliness
Whether carved in limestone and perched high
Above an Egyptian desert scene, or
In the marble pediments of Grecian temples,
The mosaics of ancient Rome—
None can woo me to their cause.
Feet by El Greco fail to stir my heart.
Steadfast it remains before the bronzes of Rodin
And the so excellent etchings of Durer.
The fact is, I cannot find the foot pretty.
It is awkward at best or like some mistake,
Something borrowed from a form
Unlike our human frame,
Perhaps an extraterrestrial joke?
My apologies to feet.
I cannot find you beautiful,
But I thank you greatly
For your sturdy service.
May you continue long and strong.
#PoetryandtheHumanFoot #TheFootandArt #Humor
MOOLIGHT SONATA
Trees bend to wind’s will
and clouds sail
racing the night’s full moon.
Leaf forms float on sea grass
a silent ballet
of shadow and light.
#PoetryandMoon
“GH” WORDS – WHY?
English words containing the pair “gh” tend to be not only spelling problems, but pronunciation puzzles. First, why the “gh” spelling?
These words almost all entered early into English which was at the time a mishmash of leftover Latin kept alive mainly by the church, remnants of Celtic language, incursions from the European continent (French Normans, Danish Jutes, German Saxons and Angles. and Scandinavians (mostly Norsemen) with a smattering of Dutch.
In the Middle Ages you could hear the guttural almost gargling sound of the “gh” when these two letters were in a word. When printing presses began to appear as the Renaissance slowly spread, this guttural sound still existed and was thus preserved in print.
The printers are largely responsible for whether a word is spelled “ough” or “augh” based on the printer’s locality and education.
The pronunciation of all such words changed over time adjusting to accommodate ease of speech. For example, through (sounds like thru) probably originally sounded more like its near look-alikes “though” (tho) and thought (thawt). And all of them dropped the “gh” gargle. It was just too much trouble for those who called themselves English or British. There may well be some Scots who continue to pronounce the “gh” when it occurs.
So, thanks basically to careless or slovenly speakers, we end up with “aught” rhyming with “ought” and words which vary in sound from “off” (cough) to “ooh” (through), “aff” (laugh), “aw” (caught) and “oh” (though).
And (oh, joy!) because this is English, some of these words have homonyms spelled without the “gh”, like rough versus ruff. It’s enough to make you want to gag (or is that gargle?).
#EnglishLanguage #ESL
Author’s Notes
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
“MOONLIGHT SONATA” was found among the author’s papers.
KALEIDOSCOPE— by Kathleen Roxby
“GH WORDS, WHY?” continues the author’s discussion of the oddities of the English language.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby
“AN APOLOGY TO FEET, A NON-ODE” is a recent poem for this author, but expresses her long-held views concerning the aesthetics of the human foot.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.
Guidelines for submission:
SPLINTERS FOR JULY 2021
SKATES
With a flickety splick
Slap splickety flickety
Skittering
On concrete squares
Old-fashioned
Clamp-on
Steel-wheeled skates
Slap slickety slishhh
Into a turn
Splack
On the run again
Clack
Splickety flickety
Freeeeeeeeee
#RollerSkates #SkatingandPoetry