A Literary Squirrel

By luigi_pagano

Tue, 05 May 2020
  • 3161 reads
14 comments
 

Like the wise squirrel gathering nuts
so he'll have food to last thru winter,
I too collect the sustenance I require
to see me through the lean days ahead.

I hoard words, adverbs and adjectives
plus all the punctuation marks I can get
so that I can replenish the blank pages
left barren by the dreaded writer's block.

I make a note of quirky terminologies,
build a personal lexicon of epithets.
I find the term eukaryote and I wonder
if that was what Archimedes had said,

then realise that it was in fact “eureka”,
a word that he exclaimed with euphoria
while the previous noun refers to a cell
of the sub class that is called haptoria

If I misspell trigonometry, I certainly will
tear my hair out with Trichotillomania.
I hope, as a writer, to cultivate eunoia,
a rapport between me and my readers.

I must beware not be overbearing,
that my vocabulary isn't extravagant,
because I relish the crowd's plaudit;
I'm gregarious and not a solivagant.
 

 

© Luigi Pagano 2020

Certificate U
Poem
Mutevoli pensieri
Surreal
Humour

Comments

Submitted by littleditty on

Luigi poem! Simple may be best nearly always indeed. Wonderful words about wonderful words. Like.

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

A bit of "mental" exercise to brighten my day. wink

Cheerio Nicky, thanks for stopping by.

Luigi x

 

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

I do like this metaphor :0)

Also, it is always worth reading your poems as I learn something every time! Solivagant is a beautiful word. I have imagined these words you use not as nuts though, more as rare creatures living in dusty cages in the cellar of the internet, and you put one in a poem, and then people like me dash off to google, which sends Meriam Webster off into the cellar, the creaky cage door opens and the wonderful word shakes off the cobwebs so it can spread its wings and fly off to enrich another vocabulary, I will cherish solivagant :0)

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hello Di, I was emphasising the similarity between a philomath who accumulates words for later use and the squirrel who does the same with food but I like your interpretation which is very imaginative. There were other words I wanted to use but I left out. One that  you might also have googled is epistemophilia but perhaps you know it. I may still fit it in if the Muse returns.
As you have accompanied me in this poetic ramble I don't feel a solivagant any longer. Thank you.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

well, epistle is letter, because of St Paul's epistles to the Romans? And Philia is love, because of bibliophile. Not sure of the em bit in the middle? A love of letters. Will go look it up...

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hi Di. This is the dictionary's definition: "an excessive love or reverence for knowledge".
You were on the right track breaking down the word into its components. The origin of each section is Greek. The first as you rightly say refers to letters, more precisely it means sending a message, and the third you have correctly identified as to do with love. As the definition states that it is an excessive love, I believe that the middle section 'emo' is short for emotional but it is only a guess on my part. At this rate we shall all become expert in linguistics. smiley

Luigi x
 

 

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Love all the word play Luigi. Plenty here for me to look up! Rachel x

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

I have to come clean, Rachel, and reveal that it was something you said in one of your comments that gave me the idea for this circumlocutory piece . I am not only like a squirrel but also as a thieving magpie: I tend to borrow or steal from wherever and whoever I can.

Cheers. Luigi x

 

Submitted by onemorething on

Nothing wrong with magpies. We are all magpies one way or another! I think it should be encouraged. Rachel x

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

yes

Luigi x

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

covagants :0) Or is that mixing root languages?

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

I have found ONE definition:
www.vocabulary.com › dictionary › vagant - noun - a wanderer who has no established residence or visible means of support 
so co-vagant should be acceptable but another search tells me that "Vagant" is not a word in modern English and is not a valid Scrabble word.. The English word you are thinking of is "vagrant" with an "r" in the middle of it (a wanderer; a person who roams from place to place) 
It surprises me that the English language that has absorbed so many Italian and French words is sniffy about 'vagant'.  Never mind, let's call ourselves fellow travellers.

Luigi x

 

 

Submitted by Tom Brown on

I have meant complimenting you on your profile photo Luigi. So Italian! After sunday lunch conversation I hope it will one day be like that.again.

This is a very nice little poem of yours, clever, playful! Tom Brown

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Hi Tom, it was taken during a lunch celebration on my fiftieth wedding anniversary in 2016. Lots of people and merriment. I am sure we'll be able to enjoy conviviality once again soon.

Best wishes, Luigi.