Northern Quarter

Random faces on the street―

one could be yours. 

I shut my eyes, count to a thousand.

Voices within earshot take me to sleep. 

The door is unlocked.

Windows near the fire escape open

just enough―not from forgetfulness,

but for a drawbridge.

A welcome note waits in the hall,

a second in the kitchen―

short sentences made to measure,

emphasis on the penultimate. 

The words work overtime,

call your name above the city―

come a great distance

to find you.

tk/ February 2014


Gorgeous read by R.A.D. Stainforth... 

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My Top Words for 2012, No. 2

scut·tle·butt  

/ˈskətlˌbət/

Noun Rumor; gossip.

My Top Words for 2012, No. 1

Buttsprung

Buttsprung:  A knit suit or skirt out of shape in the rear.

Elective Affinity

I mistake it for

a clever game,

a kind of spoonerism,

switched letters

meant to lay cool

in your dry wit;

my mind plays tricks,

vowels shoot like spit.

Three well-hammered words

catch me from behind,

thrust tall, straight-up

without stammer.

 tk/March 2012

Listen to the talented R.A.D. Stainforth read this poem:

Visit his great blog Black Dogs.

image by Sarolta Ban

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Great Scott

(Dashing and brave, but not this one.)

It was movie night at The Manor and one of the film's male
characters bellowed out, in a thick British accent, "Great Scott!"
I began to wonder exactly which Scott they might be referring to.
At one time it was common to say "great God", but during the
Victorian 19th century, a prudishness fell on the English speaking
world and it was replaced with expressions like "great sun",
"great Scott" and "great Caesar's ghost". The "Scott" in question
is not Rob Roy, or even the author Sir Walter Scott, but a popular
U.S. general, Gen. Winfield Scott, a hero of the Mexican War.

Yep, it's this one they're all shouting about!

Toodle-oo

My daughter and I were saying toodle-oo the other day on the

phone and it got me to thinking about the origins of the word, which

I often find fascinating. Here's what I found at Take Our Word For It.

Number two is my guess.

Toodle-oo was originally tootle-oo and first appeared
in writing between 1905 and 1907. There are several
theories as to its origin:

1. It comes from the word tootle meaning "to depart",
which itself comes colloquially from toddle "to walk
sometimes", as a toddler does;

2. It is a Cockney corruption of French à tout à l'heure
"I'll see you soon"; or

3. It arose as an onomatopoeic imitation of the old
bulb-blown horns found on early motor cars
(like the one that Harpo Marx used so effectively),
which were often sounded on departing.