Drôle de guerre

The Caledon Baths Hotel, where the author was born, sometime in the 1930s

This lovely September weekend,

With such great plans to go outdoors,

Let us not forget the perfect spring and summer

Of 1940—what they called "the Phoney War.”

On my birthday, the USSR invaded Finland,

Poor Poland already divvied up with Hitler.

What did I care—at only 1!—

Who enjoyed the autumn sun?

Grown-ups playing at good manners,

Clad in the Thirties' cool attire,

Oblivious of dismal Death’s impending feast,

The Luftwaffe revving up, the Spitfires freshly greased,

Alas, our pleasant, pink-shaded empire

Had but scant concept of the beast!

Sunday, September 14, 2025

Toe Story: A Meditation

What's the ugliest part of your body?

Some say your nose.

Some say your toes.

But I think it's your mind.

—Frank Zappa, We're Only in It for the Money (1968)

Meditating on my right foot today

(although the left would likewise fit the bill),

when Big Toe plays at "helicopter mom,"

the diminished lesser ones dissent.

None can ever into a Great Toe grow,

but insofar as reaching, forward bent,

for fractals left in the Serengeti,

long aeons ago, don't think them petty!

So, did those feet in ancient time (I ask

like Blake) walk upon Afric's mountains green?

And were I a Civil War amputee,

might those coagulating toes be mine?

Did I just see Dōgen Zenji * frown?

(Yes, foolish mind! Please keep it down!)

*Dōgen Zenji = Zen Master Dōgen (Kyoto, Japan, 1200–1253)

Friday, September 12, 2025

Convince, persuade

Latin convincere to refute, convict, prove, from com- + vincere to conquer —cognate “victor.”

Latin persuadēre, from per- thoroughly + suadēre to advise, urge — cognate, “sweet.” 

Convince, persuade, those words marched

In tandem for long years, but in our time

They've separated. (When did you last use

persuade??) Ever since Dubya 1's regime,

It's been convince, convince, convince

All the livelong day: prove, refute, convict!

No more sweet urging's gentle groove;

Our ways became the victor's: zero-sum.

Try to employ persuade more often, then,

And deflect convince from its fateful run!

Note: Etymologies from Merriam Webster, which observes, inter alia: “the live in livelong derives from lef, a Middle English word meaning ‘dear or beloved.’” Word trajectories from Google's Ngram Viewer, https://ngrams.org/ngram-viewer.html.

Tuesday, September 9, 2025