MAY 31, domestic hazards: fatbergs

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

links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, choose your year and then month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the post of your choice.

MAY 30, objectionable adjectives: forced (bulbs)

You can review our editorially selected doggerel (eight verses) relating to 'Objectionable Adjectives' by clicking HERE.

MAY 29, Ontario nostalgia: commuting by rail

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. 

links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, choose your year and then month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the post of your choice.

to continue daily titillations: BE SURE TO BOOKMARK THIS SITE!

MAY 28, Toronto excursion: 'Brickworks', dusk approaching

 

The great blue heron has been featured in posts on this blog HERE, HERE, and HERE.

The ponds are filled with yummy koi.

a midland painted turtle

Check our post about the painted turtle (southern subspecies) HERE. 

The black-crowned night heron has been featured in other posts on this blog. Click HERE. 

See other views of Toronto's Brickworks HERE.

MAY 27, mythed opportunities: 'Infernal' (Dante's Divine Comedy)

You can take advantage of the whole spectrum of illustrated poems dealing with 'Mythed Opportunities' that we have collected on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

MAY 26, reptiles: fence lizards

You can review photos and illustrated herpetologic verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Verses about Reptiles (don't worry! no snakes)' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

MAY 25, back in Toronto: views in the neighborhood

the red-winged blackbirds are back, too !

 

Cabbagetown horsechestnut in bloom

at Riverdale Farm

deer in the nearby Don River valley

bunny !!!

MAY 23, life in Palindrome Valley: organizing the Palindrome Rally

Authors' Note: Related palindromes include:

Harass selfless Sarah.

Ma is as selfless as I am. 

Harass Iris, Sarah.

Ev, lovers revolve.

You can review other illustrated verses on this topic by proceeding to the collection 'Life in Palindrome Valley' on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

MAY 23, toxic vignette: 'mad as a hatter' (the Danbury shakes)

Authors' Note: Erethismus (irritation) mercurialis, synonym for mercurialism, was well-known by Lewis Carroll's time, as signs of chronic poisoning had become common among workers in the hatting industry in which salts of mercury were used in the felting of furs; his character, the 'Mad Hatter' reflects the prevalent stereotype.

  In the US, hat-making was centered in the Connecticut town of Danbury, where the majority of long-term workers were subject to the 'Danbury shakes' as well as other neuropsychiatric manifestations. The plant continued in operation, including the dumping of wastewater effluent, until the early 1940s. It closed at that time due to staffing shortages and the need for mercury in the armaments industry.

   In 2020, a study of fish populations in Danbury's Still River showed alarming levels of mercury; the persistence of this toxic residue reflects, in part, the concept of biomagnification. 

Review all our poems of toxicologic interest by clicking HERE. 

MAY 22, Toronto: welcome back!

 

Learn more about trumpeter swans HERE !

MAY 21, Carolina lowcountry: farewell, wildlife!

'Til next year, IAC!

Readers' advisory: You can expand any photo on this blogpost, or any other, by clicking on the photo (those embedded in slides are an exception.) 

great egret at a pond in a nearby luxury condo.
Watch your step!

unabashed swimmer in a gatory pond

another suburban pond, close by

a green (Carolina) anole, on patrol

Carolina anole at leisure,
 sunning on our front-yard sago palm

a handsome southern toad,
occasional visitor to our backyard

brown pelicans strolling
 after dinner at the neighborhood 'pelicatessen'

'

paper-wasp mother building her nest

And, here's a verse about another domesticated great egret ...

pelican swimming fantasia

wood stork and Canada goose

a white ibis sits for a portrait

MAY 20, palinku (poetic novelty): Dennis's ongoing sin

  In this post, we continue with a novel form of poetic wordplay. Inspired by Japanese haiku poetry, the new format is used for a terse verse with a total of 17 syllables displayed on three lines. Unlike its classic Japanese analogue, this concoction does not mandate the precise distribution of the syllables among the three lines, but does stipulate that each word in the poem be included in a palindromic phrase or sentence in English (i.e. one that can be read either forwards or backwards). 

  To help the reader discern the origin of the lyrics, each palindrome (generally occupying one of the three lines of the poem) has been color-coded. 

The continually widening circle of Dennis's sins is indicated by the following recently discovered palindromes ...

Dennis and Ed, Nadine, Enid and Edna sinned. 

Dennis and Ed, Nadine, Eve, Enid and Edna sinned.

Dennis and Ed, Nadine, Eva, Dave, Enid and Edna sinned.

Dennis and Ed, Nadine, Eva, Dana, Ana, Dave, Enid and Edna sinned.

Also, you might want to check an earlier posting on this site for a somewhat different take on Dennis's entourage.

(Ed. note:) Poetry in the palinku format has continued to accumulate. You can view all the poems at one swoop if you proceed with a single click to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, choose your month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the post of your choice.

MAY 19, doctors and their practices: ex-hospital chief

You can view these informative verses in a wider context by proceeding to the collection 'DOCTORS and their PRACTICES' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!
 

links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, choose your year then month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the specific post of your choice. 

MAY 18, a brief saga: echoic binomials (Eco-pairs)

 To review the poetic effusion that we have accumulated about binomial phrases, proceed to our blog "Edifying Nonsense", and enjoy the post  'Grandpa Greg's Grammar: Binomial Expressions'. Click HERE ! 

 There is also an entire collection of lyrics to patter songs, somewhat older material, dedicated to various kinds of binomials, that provides more didactic material and an extensive series of examples, and allows you to sing these expressions for your own enjoyment, or for that of others around you. Click HERE !

 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, constituting a single submission to the online humor site 'Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form'. On the OEDILF site, rigorous standards for content and format are involved in a collaborative editing process that may take several weeks to over a year. 

Generally, OEDILF has not been enormously welcoming of multi-verse submissions, but Giorgio Coniglio has persisted, and the OEDILF number for each accepted multiverse poem is shown here on the slide with its first verse. We have been publishing these poetic adventures here monthly.

To access the next 'brief saga', proceed to 'anagram swarms'. 

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga', back up to 'Anglo-Latin and -Greek'

MAY 17, binomial phrases: 'front and centre'

 

Authors' Note: The above verse features a number of binomial expressions, most of which are in common use. The most striking binomial phrases are alliterative (like 'on and off') or rhyming (like 'tease and sleaze' and 'hot to trot'). As part of their catchy appeal, binomial phrases are often used as the names of restaurants, bars and small businesses, but the name proposed here for a strip-club is original.           

To review the poetic effusion that we have accumulated about binomial phrases, proceed to our blog "Edifying Nonsense", and check out the post  'Grandpa Greg's Grammar: Binomial Expressions'. Click HERE ! 

MAY 16, planet-saving verse: species loss

BTW, should you ever need to log in directly to this blog, its simple address is...

daily.edifyingnonsense.com

(Just type that into your browser search-line.)

Authors' Note: Scientists have determined that of all the species that have been present on our planet, more than 99% are now extinct. Many of the extant (current) species are under increasing pressure due to global warming, loss of habitat, and in some cases, exploitation and pollution.

You can help save the planet by viewing all our verses in this series at "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

Incidental photo: 

a great egret in low flight over a saltwater creek