JAN 23, death and the afterlife: decease in the crease

Authors' Note: In hockey, an assist is recognition awarded to a player who passes the puck to the goal-scorer at a key point in play. A sudden death system for resolving the winner in games tied at the end of regulation play has generally been used in organized hockey since its inception. The (goal) crease is an area demarcated by colored ice directly in front of the goal line where the goalie (goalkeeper) is not to be interfered with by attackers.

Although professional hockey has been the undisputed domain of males, more and more women are participating in Canada's national sport as amateurs and international competitors.

 You can review more poems about 'Death and the Afterlife' in context ('death and the afterlife') on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

 

JAN 22, photo-collage: unusual sightings, Toronto wildlife

JAN 21, terminal (poetic) exclamation: cold? I'M SOLD!

Readers might want to hold off reading this submission until they have have familiarized themselves with concepts exemplified in the posts on  "Limerick Variations", and "Terminal Exclamations" on the blog "Edifying Nonsense".

                                                                    final OEDILF approval April 2024, #125236

Authors' Note: Our protagonist, presumably a Canadian snowbird, can take little comfort in the higher values of Fahrenheit than Celsius temperatures in the reasonably livable range. The temperature is what it is; only the describing numbers differ, although they are precisely related as defined in PGS's conversion. And below -40 degrees, Celsius is higher (but not warmer) than Fahrenheit.

The above verse was written on a brisk January morning when the temperature in degrees was -12C (10F) in Toronto, -10C (14F) in Atlanta, and 11C (52F) in Miami.

You can review our collection of poems on the topic of "Terminal Exclamation (Limerick Variations)" as it evolves on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense"; click HERE.  

Birds along the south Atlantic coast of the US, like this goldfinch, don't seem to mind. Perhaps they know that it's going to warm up shortly! (At 10:30, it's already up to 31F!)

goldfinch

Incidental additional poetry:

JAN 20, singable satire: Dean Martin sings "ROBBIE BURNS' DAY"

  

PARODY-SONG: "Dean Martin Sings Robbie Burns Day" 2024, a parody pastiche with lyrics by Giorgio Coniglio, substituted to "That's Amore", the Dean Martin 1953 classic.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, December, 2018, updated from earlier blogposts, and with improved verse-charts. 

Explanatory Notes: Robert Burns, born 1759, became Scotland’s ‘national poet’, and a cultural icon at home and among Scottish diaspora around the world. In his short life - he died at age 37 -  he wrote hundreds of well-loved poems and songs; the most famous is Auld Lang Syne, traditionally sung on Hogmanay (New Year's Eve). Robbie Burns Day is celebrated on his birthday, January 25, often with a Burns Night supper. 

Burns' best-loved poems include "To a Mouse", "To a Louse", "Tam o' Shanter", "Parcel o' Rogues", and "Address to a Haggis".

PARODY-SONGLINK: To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "Robbie Burns Day" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.

Robert Burns 

ROBBIE BURNS DAY

(to the tune of "That's Amore")

INTRO (Tremolo)
In Aberdeen and overseas
Kilt-wearers freeze below the knees.....

When friends honor the haggis and flag of St Andrews - 

That's Burns Day.

First you’re piped to your place, they intone Selkirk’s Grace -

Robbie Burns Day.

Cock-a-leekie soup, cook will boast, address-by-the-host,

Offer toasts to the haggis.

The Saltire, or St Andrews cross

You think, “oops!” – dinner-wasn’t-cheap, eat tatties an neeps *,

Hope to sleep through the speeches.

Poems recite –- Mouse-that-gets-a-fright, Louse that’s-in-plain-sight,

Witches’ night – "Tam o’ Shanter"

Greed retold, Scotland’s future sold, England’s bribing-gold,

"‘Parcel o’ Rogues"  - truth or slander?

With slurred speech you sound Scottish, sipped Scotch ‘til you’re sottish - 

That's Burns Day.

Yes, you’ve downed too much malt, might be mostly your fault -

You feel plough'd.

Finally guests’ vote of thanks, you chant, closing your ranks

Like Hogmanay.

Let the world praise today the auld Bard o’ Alloway -

Robbie Burns Day!

JAN 19, photo-collage (sequel to yesterday's 'crepuscular rendez-vous')

 

The next day, we took our foray a bit earlier in the afternoon. The weather was clearer and considerably colder, but the late afternoon light had a golden hue....  

a pair of bottlenose dolphins hunts in synchrony

a lone cormorant flies low above the creek's surface

\

a goofy-looking penguin preens itself 

a more formal pose

at the ibis hotel

 

JAN 18, photo-collage: crepuscular rendez-vous

 "Crepuscular" is defined in our poem HERE.

snowy egret

black-crowned night heron

 white ibises in pondside shrubbery

white ibises finding a resting perch in the trees

further dimming of the light

ominous appearing cormorants

Is this a good place to spend the night?

wings of man

Be sure to check out the sequel to this foray, to be published tomorrow. 

JAN 17, palinku (poetic novelty): politics

  In this post, we continue with our novel form of poetic wordplay. Inspired by Japanese haiku poetry, the "palinku" is  a terse verse with a total of 17 syllables displayed on three lines. Unlike its earlier English-language forerunners, 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  (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. Readers will note that we have been publishing verses of this type on the 17th of each month.

 You can readily view all our verses of this type if you proceed with a single click to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. (Or if you prefer, you can stay on this particular blogsite and look for the offerings for the 17th day of each month -- there are now more than 60 of these.)

Also, if you enjoy the concept of political palindromes, you can review how they are constructed, and see a slew of examples, by undertaking an adventure-journey of bidirectional blogposts entitled 'Political Palindromes'. Click HERE to start. 

JAN 16, photo-collage: visit to Washington's National Gallery of Art

John Ward, "The Northern Whale Fishery", 1840 

Edouard Manet, "The Old Musician", 1862 

 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, "Pont-neuf, Paris", 1872

Alfred Sisley, "The Meadow", 1875 

Gustave Caillebotte, "Skiffs", 1877

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, "Oarsmen at Chatou", 1879

Mary Cassatt, "The Loge", 1879

Georges Seurat, "The Lighthouse at Honfleur", 1886

Mary Cassatt, "The Boating Party", 1893

Camille Pissarro,
"The Louvre - afternoon, rainy weather", 1902 

Mary Cassatt, "Woman with a Sunflower", 1905

snowy Washington street
on the morning of departure

high tea at a DC hotel
 prior to the Gallery visit

 Editors' Note: You can view illustrated verses about some of the artists by clicking HERE.  

                                                           

JAN 15r, trees: Norway maples

a) reprise from January 2020

Authors' Note: You might also enjoy a poem posted in April 2021 entitled "Leif the (viking) Norway Maple: a Bilingual Complaint". Click HERE.  

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". 

b) current birdie-pic

tufted titmouse

JAN 14r, American satire: Vladimir's hope

 

a) reprise from January 2020

JAN 10, American satire(1): Vladimir's hope

Author's Note: 

IOC: International Olympic Committee          

  The fanciful concept of medals being awarded to a 'hacking team' grew out of the conjunction of developments in 2017 and 2018, notably (i) censure of Russian athletic organizations, including subsequent retraction of Olympic medals, and (ii) investigations into Russian efforts to sway the results of past and upcoming American presidential elections. 

NEWS UPDATE !!!:  In the Senate trials of impeached American President Donald Trump, constitutional issues have taken precedence. Senators from many locales across the United States bring their specific viewpoints on the interpretation of this document to the debate. Some of these locales are shown on the map below.

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 30 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start!

b) recent birdie-pic

bluebird

JAN 13, poetic non-sequitur: bush plane

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.

JAN 12, birdlore: house finches

 

Authors' Note: The gregarious house finch, Haemorhous mexicanus,  originally an inhabitant of the western US and Mexico, was introduced into Long Island, New York, in 1940. Although the female is not showy, the male is distinguished by the rosy red coloration of its face, neck and upper breast areas. The species quickly spread across the eastern US and southern parts of Canada. A strict vegetarian, this bird is now the most common visitor to feeders in many parts of its current range.

For more titillating pics of the house finch at our feeder, click HERE.

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.