JUN 30, sleek Greek prefixes: AN-

Clicking HERE will introduce you to our entire collection of verses about the Greek prefixes!

 

JUN 29, mammalian wildlife: raccoons in the city

urban resident,
visiting Toronto's  Allan Garden Conservatory

Authors' Note: In the last century, raccoons have readapted themselves as urban denizens, often relatively unnoticed, but sometimes disturbing their neighbours. And be sure to review our subsequent illustrated poem with respect to their role as nest robbers. 

 

You can review the whole collection of illustrated verses about mammals (both domestic and exotic) by checking out the more extensive post on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE !

JUN 28, anagram swarm: A-VERY-STABLE-GENIUS, #8

Bonus wordplay concoction:

You can review an amazing number of anagrams based on this book title on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. There are two posts to view:  ’A Very Stable Genius': Theme and Variations (97 anagrams), and 

'A Very Stable Genius': additional funky anagrams

JUN 27, bi-lyrical limerick: 'E.M.S.'

The original classic limerick:

Be sure to check out the whole collection of 'bi-lyrical limericks' by proceeding to "Edifying Nonsense." CLICK HERE ! (Or, if you prefer, you could look over this stuff on Giorgio's Facebook photo-albums.) 

JUN 26, political palindromes, EEE

What you had all been waiting for: the king of palindromes.

From this point, you can proceed either forwards or backwards.

For FORWARD, proceed to the next set of 'POLITICAL PALINDROMES' on July 2.
For BACKWARD, return to the previous set on June 28.

OR, return to the ORIGINAL POST on this topic on May 17.

JUN 25, poets' corner: satirical doggerel

 

You can find lots of other verses on this blog under the listing "Poets' Corner".  Click HERE.

 You can find lots of other verses on this blog under the listing "Poets' Corner".  Click HERE.

JUN 24, classic palindrome: 'flee to me, remote elf'

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, wear a mask in public, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!

Authors' Note: 

pelf: wealth, especially if dishonestly acquired

The verse honours, in neologistic fashion, two palindromes from the classic repertoire...

Flee to me, remote elf;

Ma is as selfless as I am;

and one which the author appears to have concocted...

Tip-top pot pit.

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Reversing Verse: Limericks About Classic Palindromes' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. 

JUN 23, trees: red mulberry

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Uprooted Verse: 'Poems about Trees' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". 

JUN 22, photo-collage: great blue herons at Toronto ravines

  

;

Both of the above views were obtained by Giorgio Coniglio in Toronto's Don Valley ravine using his i-phone 7 cell-phone.

You can review illustrated verses about waterfowl in a wider context by proceeding to 'Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". 


If you are interested in winding your way through an encyclopedic collection of four blogposts stuffed with photo-collages on Toronto ravines, click HERE.

JUN 21, political palindromes, DDD

Any collection of palindromes, such as the above assemblage, is likely to present a mix of the various structural formats discussed so far. 

From this point, you can proceed either forwards or backwards.

For FORWARD, proceed to the next set of 'POLITICAL PALINDROMES' on June 30.
For BACKWARD, return to the previous set on June 21.

OR, return to the ORIGINAL POST on this topic on May 17.

JUN 20, singable satire: the Beegees sing "PAIRS"

 PARODY SONG-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "Words", Bee Gees, 1968.

PARODY COMPOSED: Dr. G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2015, updated 2018 and 2020. This song is the first in a series of nine parodies dealing with Word-Pairs. The links at the bottom of this post will take you to the lyrics for the other songs in this series.

FURTHER EXPLANATION: For an illustrated slide-presentation on binomials (irreversible word pairs), and a compendium of alliterative pairs go to this post. For a more didactic take on this topic, check out the Wikipedia article HERE.

UKULELE and GUITAR-FRIENDLY LINK: Our whole series of songs can be found in a friendly format for ukulele (and guitar)-players on our sister blog  "SILLY SONGS and SATIRE". Click HERE to proceed to this site. 

 

PAIRS

(to the tune of "Words") 

Pairs -  binomial phrases. There's  (bi-NOAM-yuhl)

(Compared to single entities)

Flair, as seen in "wear and tear",

Where pairs submerge identities. 

Two nouns joined with conjunction --

AND serves that "form and function", sometimes OR.

Verb-pairs and adjectives unite;

And "fish" and "fowl" with NEITHER/NOR. 

"Shouts and murmurs": such a phrase

Explains the "ins and outs" to me.

With "back to front" I'm in a daze,

Enhancing "fears and doubts" to me. 

I cringe at "one and only" words,

No single words I voice ...
So "near and dear",

Word-pairs are what can make all "guys and dolls" rejoice. 

And, for those interested, here's how you find the lyrics-only-version

of the nine songs that make up this cycle. 

1. PAIRS, to the tune of "Words" in the style of the Beegees

...  the following songs in the style of "The Elements" by Tom Lehrer

2. ALLITERATIVE BINOMIALS, part#1

3. ALLITERATIVE BINOMIALS, part#2

4. RHYMING BINOMIALS, part#1

5. RHYMING BINOMIALS, part#2

6. A LESSON ABOUT REDUPLICATIONS

7. REDUPLICATIONS, part#1

8. REDUPLICATIONS, part#2

9. LEGALISTIC DOUBLETS, in the style of "Supercalifragilistic..." from  the musical "Mary Poppins".

If you would like to  accompany yourself on ukulele or guitar, find relevant chord charts by following the links that will take you to the versions in our blog "Silly Songs and Satire". 

JUN 19, geysers: British geysers

Authors' Note: In 1894, the wealthy British distiller, James Craig of Ulster, later Lord Craigavon, purchased from a local Icelandic farmer the land around the iconic geyser, Geysir (or the great Geysir). Fences were erected, and admission charged for a brief period. Several changes in ownership were in fact required, but eventually the site was donated in perpetuity to the Government of Iceland. Lord Craigavon, subsequent to his Icelandic adventures, became the first prime minister of Northern Ireland.

 The geyser spout itself, apart from a single event in the 1930s, has remained dormant since 1916, although adjacent spouts have taken over the fanfare.

   

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Poetry that Spurts: Verses about Geysers' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

 

JUN 18, poetic non-sequitur: having the audacity

 

Our collection of 'Non-Sequiturs' on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense", contains an admittedly bizarre assortment of nonsensical odds-and-ends, that don't quite fit into other topic-based offerings. But should you want to review the entire collection, click HERE.

JUN 17, OEDILFian Verse: limericks on 'haiku' poetry

 

JUN 16, boating: g-nu (canoe) trip

You can check out another illustrated verse about the gnu or wildebeest by clicking HERE.

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Reverse Strokes: 'Verses About Canoeing' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

JUN 15, wordplay maps: American Scramble-towns 7,8

Same old introduction ...

Who would ever have guessed? It turns out that an unparalleled word in generating anagrams (letter scrambles) is P-A-L-I-N-D-R-O-M-E-S. We have taken advantage of that property to create this unique series of wordplay maps of imaginary American (and Canadian) locales, each one completed by its official two-letter state (or provincial) abbreviation. 

LINKS: 

Forward to U.S.A. map #9

Back to U.S.A. map #5

Let's skip all this stuff and get on to the Canadian version, eh? (stay tuned!)

JUN 14, political palindromes, CCC

In a third format for palindromic phrases, the dividing point between the two symmetric wings is a space between repeated letters in the middle of a word. This format is shown above with a vertical line for obses|ses and op|position; as with the hingepoint single letter in the middle of a word (like the 'v' in uneven), there is considerable puzzlement in understanding how these phrases can be constructed. Remember, that in any case, you will do best to ignore any punctuation.


From this point, you can proceed either forwards or backwards.

For FORWARD, proceed to the next set of 'POLITICAL PALINDROMES' on June 28.
For BACKWARD, return to the previous set on June 14.

OR, return to the ORIGINAL POST on this topic on May 17.

JUN 13, pandemic poetry: cetacean advice (conversation at Shem Creek)

Authors' Note:

cetacean: pertaining to whales, dolphins or porpoises

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Pandemic Poetry' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

JUN 12, boating: J-stroke (canoeing)

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Reverse Strokes: 'Verses About Canoeing' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

JUN 11, birdlore: toucans

Authors' Note:   This is a true story. I very recently received from friends vacationing in Costa Rica an e-mail with a marvellous attached video closeup of toucans shot with a cellphone camera. I felt compelled to pass the photo on to others.

  In fact, no toucans make a sound that would be described as a 'tweet'. With respect to sound production, members of the more than forty species comprising the family are divided into 'yelpers' and 'croakers'. The social networking entity, Twitter, on the other hand, highlights in words and with their logo the tweetiness of short, chirping birdsong communication.

You can view an encyclopedic collection of illustrated poems on this topic by proceeding to the post 'Poems about BIRDLORE' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. 

JUN 10, a brief saga (waterfowl): life as a loon

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!

 

You can review a collection of illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to "Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl" on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

For the purpose of this blog, a 'brief saga' is defined as a poem, usually narrative, but occasionally expository, that tell its story in at least 15 lines. Most commonly, the format involves three stanzas in limerick form. Your blogging team has been presenting these concoctions at the rate of one per month, mixed in with shorter poems, wordplay and other offerings.   

 

To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog (July 2020), proceed to 'Broken Arrows (nuclear weapon accidents)'.

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga' (May 2020), back up to 'Fluoridation'.  

To access all of our 'brief sagas' by the year of their creation, click on your selection below.

2020
2021
2022

2023. 

JUN 9, Ontario nostalgia: Algonquin Provincial Park

You can review the entire series of illustrated poems about the good old days in Ontario by checking the post 'Ontario Nostalgia' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. 

JUN 8, garden intruders: glossy privet

Readers, you are fortunate to have available all our poetic comments on creatures (animal and vegetable), devoted to subverting your gardening plans. To view this collection our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense", click HERE!

You can also review illustrated verses about orderly garden inhabitants by proceeding to 'Poetry Praising the Charleston Garden' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

JUN 7, wordplay map: r-i-c anagrams (R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N-S in Canada) #1+#2

You can view the entire collection of 18 wordplay maps of 'R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N-S in Canada' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE.

JUN 6, wordplay maps: new world palindromes (#23,#24)

a) reprise

       

You can view the entire collection of these 50 wordplay maps, by accessing the collection 'Tourists Palindromic Guides: The Americas'. Start by clicking HERE! 

b) Giorgio's Lexicon of Binomials

JUN 5, wordplay maps: sister-cities anagrams (19-21)

JUN 4, national and multinational verse: Armenia

Authors' Note:

neurasthenia: obsolete term from psychiatry, implying general debility attributed to exhaustion of the nervous system

Armenia, the first country in the world to adopt Christianity, has had disputes with its neighbors for most of its existence. The revered Mt. Ararat is now located geopolitically in Turkey, but is still considered a national symbol of Armenia, and dominates the view from the Armenian capital of Yerevan. Armenia's borders to the east and west currently remain closed owing to hostile relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey.

You can review our collection of verses about various individual nations, and about the groupings to which they belong, on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.