In December, you may have “decked the halls” (as in a season carol) for one or another celebration, including New Year’s Eve. Now that it is January, we begin to put all that away as our minds begin to focus on the needs of the new year. A big seller in January is storage supply. We take the past year and sort it to save and store, give to others, chuck it out.
Chuck is the word for today. Yes, it means to throw out, to discard. My childhood friends used to talk about “up chucking” meaning to vomit or throw up. Another word for throwing up or out is a synonym, spewing. With this, we are still on track. Chuck it up can also mean to “spit it out” implying blurts of information rather than a flow. That seems to fit my childhood friends’ idea.
But there is also the expression to chuck under someone’s chin which is a gentle touch meant to show friendliness. Where does that fit in with tossing out?
Then, too, we must not forget that a nickname for Charles is Chuck. So, if someone says, “chuck it up (or out)”, are you picturing some person with that name? And how is Charles but called Chuck somehow involved in this? If you have a cartoon mind, you might see a man flying through the air and holding your trash. Or maybe you see a garbage team wearing tee shirts reading “Chuck”. A true cartoonist has probably better images than these.
Wandering into other languages, for English is notorious for borrowing words, we discover woodchuck. A woodchuck is a groundhog and does not chuck wood. North American natives, for example the Algonquin tribe, had a word that sounded like “woodchuck” and the early foreign settlers adopted it for their own though its spelling created an English word which made no sense to the reality of the animal.
The long relationship of the British with India brought the game of polo to England with its terminology, including “chukker”. Sounds like it should be related, right? Watching the game and seeing the players hit the ball down the field, you might be tempted believe it is a movement like kicking out or getting rid of (chucking), but you would be wrong. Chukker is the name given to a time segment in the game, and of course, it comes from Sanskrit.
Finally, for this piece, we have the chukka, a form of boot. Again, we need to thank the British for this as these boots originally resembled those worn by polo players. WWII British soldiers were outfitted with these in the desert campaigns, and it is their name for this style of boot.
Do hope this put you in the mood to start in on your new year sorting, so that you are ready to start chucking items and your thoughts to clear space, including this blog.
#EnglishLanguage
THE GREAT FREEZE AND THE THAW
The Great Freeze began slowly
With icy sleet filling the days
Stilling blood flow with stress
A swift break in weather
Led me into the unexplored
The waiting wilderness of chaos
There I trudged along
While sleet shifted into snow,
Snow into blizzard
The years passed
With a numbing silence
In which the glacier grew
Now and then, a crack sounded
A groan from within the glacial wall
Every Summer, but still no thaw
Ten frozen years
The only flowering, frost crystals
Quickly melting from my window
Then the time of fever rose
To add its heat to Spring’s warming
And the glacier calved into avalanche
Long-frozen water bled
Out over ice-sheet fields
Tumbled over cliffs
Growing wider, deeper
Flowing unconfined
Toward serenity in lake and sea
Words, freed from the ice
Of stolen time, spill from my fingers
I have begun to write again with joy
WINTER MORN
The city at dawn
with every crevice white…
and still the snow falls
#SnowandPoetry #WinterandPoetry
Author’s Notes
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
“WINTER MORN” is a syllable haiku (5 – 7 – 5).
REFRACTIONS
“WINTER TREASURE” by Robert Roxby. This poem is a memory from 1935 when the author was only two years out of high school. It may have been in his hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia, or it may have been in a CCC camp somewhere in Tennessee.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby
“THE GREAT FREEZE AND THE THAW” was written after the first month and one-half of isolation dictated by the COVID19 virus. The freeze began while the author was still working and continued into her retirement where she sorted the “chaos” of years of accumulated family history. During that time she found herself unable to write creatively. Then suddenly in May of 2020, the words began to flow. This particular poem was created in response to a prompt in a online workshop, “Writing Through the Apocalypse” hosted by Marcia Meier.
Another Story for You to Write
No submissions for this month, so here is another of my story dreams to spark your writing, especially for those favoring historical subjects.
PREMISE:
This is a love story, possibly saga, set against the background of the large migrations that arrived in North America from Ireland.
Time story begins: Probably in the 1800s or possibly early 19th century.
MAIN CHARACTERS: Claire and Liam.
CLAIRE’S BACKSTORY:
Claire was born to a fisherman’s family. She had few siblings, only one surviving at start of the story. Her mother died when Claire was young. Her father was lost in a recent storm and Claire finds it difficult without his support to keep the family home. She decides to emigrate. Does she take her younger sibling, does the youngster survive?
LIAM’S BACKSTORY:
Liam was born to a farmer. Due to changing weather conditions and other causes, the family is in dire trouble.
CLAIRE AND LIAM IN AMERICA.
PROBLEM:
Though Claire received her US citizenship papers, her citizenship has been revoked when it is discovered she lied about her married status. At sometime prior to submitting her application, she married Liam who entered illegally via Canada. When he applies for US citizenship, his illegal status is discovered.
Will they both be deported? If so, will they return? The problem is yours to solve.
NOTE: the detail about Claire’s status comes from the life story of an actual Irish immigrant.
If you do choose to use this story idea, please let me know what you choose to do with it. Feel free to change any of the details I provided. Good luck.
Splinters for January 2021
A DREAM OF SUMMER RAIN
Pain
Freezing blood
To crystals
Gouging deep fiords
Through icicled muscle—
Yet, one toe
Dares to move—
A pallid sun
In an Arctic night
Proves hope
Beyond this pain
Tomorrow
May come
Summer rain
#PainandPoetry #WinterPoetry
PRAYER IN THE NIGHT
We could have given something real,
Something tender,
In the black sleep of our time,
But we left them alone with their dreams,
Cruel dreams,
Shadows burning the street.
God forgive us ALL our crime.
#Compassion #Regret #RacialViolence #CivilRightsRiots
CLEARING THE DECKS
In December, you may have “decked the halls” (as in a season carol) for one or another celebration, including New Year’s Eve. Now that it is January, we begin to put all that away as our minds begin to focus on the needs of the new year. A big seller in January is storage supply. We take the past year and sort it to save and store, give to others, chuck it out.
Chuck is the word for today. Yes, it means to throw out, to discard. My childhood friends used to talk about “up chucking” meaning to vomit or throw up. Another word for throwing up or out is a synonym, spewing. With this, we are still on track. Chuck it up can also mean to “spit it out” implying blurts of information rather than a flow. That seems to fit my childhood friends’ idea.
But there is also the expression to chuck under someone’s chin which is a gentle touch meant to show friendliness. Where does that fit in with tossing out?
Then, too, we must not forget that a nickname for Charles is Chuck. So, if someone says, “chuck it up (or out)”, are you picturing some person with that name? And how is Charles but called Chuck somehow involved in this? If you have a cartoon mind, you might see a man flying through the air and holding your trash. Or maybe you see a garbage team wearing tee shirts reading “Chuck”. A true cartoonist has probably better images than these.
Wandering into other languages, for English is notorious for borrowing words, we discover woodchuck. A woodchuck is a groundhog and does not chuck wood. North American natives, for example the Algonquin tribe, had a word that sounded like “woodchuck” and the early foreign settlers adopted it for their own though its spelling created an English word which made no sense to the reality of the animal.
The long relationship of the British with India brought the game of polo to England with its terminology, including “chukker”. Sounds like it should be related, right? Watching the game and seeing the players hit the ball down the field, you might be tempted believe it is a movement like kicking out or getting rid of (chucking), but you would be wrong. Chukker is the name given to a time segment in the game, and of course, it comes from Sanskrit.
Finally, for this piece, we have the chukka, a form of boot. Again, we need to thank the British for this as these boots originally resembled those worn by polo players. WWII British soldiers were outfitted with these in the desert campaigns, and it is their name for this style of boot.
Do hope this put you in the mood to start in on your new year sorting, so that you are ready to start chucking items and your thoughts to clear space, including this blog.
#EnglishLanguage
Author’s Notes
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
“PRAYER IN THE NIGHT”. This poem was written during the unrest that arose during the Civil Rights Movement.
KALEIDOSCOPE—a series by Kathleen Roxby
“CLEARING THE DECKS”. The author was inspired by the numerous storage boxes which are purchased in January as one year is packed away or scrapped.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby
“DREAM OF SUMMER RAIN” was once titled “Dysmenorrhea” (menstrual cramps) which is what inspired the images. The author suffered rather severe cramps from the time she was thirteen through to the pre-menopausal years when the occurrences and strength eased, until one severe attack in her forties which prompted this poem. A poetry workshop suggested she change the title and drop the reference to “toe”. They felt the poem otherwise was “poetic”. For a while the author capitulated as she acknowledged that most of the poem was too pretty for what it described. She also knew, from living through the experience, the importance of being able to move one toe without increasing pain. Thus, here it is as originally written. Comments are welcome.
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: