Poppycock

Be careful of the words you say                           
Keep them soft and sweet
Because you never know from day to day
Which ones you'll have to eat.


I wasn't thinking of K. McCarthy's words when I wrote "Poppycock"--this year's entry in Lyrical Iowa.  When perusing the dictionary one afternoon, my pointer finger landed on poppycock, and I was amused.  Such a funny sounding word with connotations worth exploring that I determined to write a poem.  Other fun words came to mind:  nonsense, staccato, babbling, swelling, blazing, blather . . .

                            Poppycock

They sit with potbellies

Cups of tepid coffee

And comrades

(They think)

Fellow soldiers

In the fight against apathy

Stirring emotions

With opinions about everything

Speaking nonsense

                                             In blatant staccato

                                            Babbling, gloating, swelling

                                            With empty talk

                                           Becoming contagious

                                          Everyone expounding

                                            No one listening

                                            Blazing with blather.

Words.  Some, simply because of their sounds, are more entertaining than others:  huggermugger, haberdashery, cantankerous, gobbledygook, snollygoster, widdershins, whippesnapper, bloomers--to name a few.

Looking for children?

These are real words.  Huggermugger connotes a contradiction--threatening and cuddly at the same time; whereas, the real meaning in its verb form is to keep secret. Snollygoster is a mythical creature that  preys on children and poultry-- or an unprincipled but shrewd person.

Reading Dr. Seuss to grandchildren, I realized the blast Seuss had with language--using comical combinations and creating new. . .

                                        

Poppycock?  I don't think so . . .

Crunk-car

Ga-zoom!

Googoo goggles
Ichabod is itchy
Zike-bike

. . . and, decided to try a tale on my own . . .

An Incomplete Fairy-y Tale

While attaching the orange cummberbund around her tiny waist and a bright bauble at her neckline, Splenda felt the collywobbles in her tummy.  Being awkward in social situations, she wondered why she had allowed her sister, Higgle, to finagle her into attending Spillville's annual hootenanny.

A soft moan escaped her lips; Splenda remembered: Higgle had not been asked by anyone.  Not wanting to show up alone-- no one did that!--Higgle had niggled Splenda until she finally said yes.

Doodling with the curls that drooped at her neckline, Splenda slumped on the bed feeling downright despondent as Higgle waltzed into her room.

"Ready?" she demanded.

Higgle's bouffant was blanketed with various ribbons.  Bloomers peeped beneath her razzamatazz skirts.  Her winkle-pinchers produced a gait Splenda had not previously witnessed in her sister.  Nincompoop came to mind.  Splenda wanted to giggle.  Giggle at Higgle?  She could not.

Nor could she say anything.    

****

 

 Speaking, communicating, sounding with lips and vocal chords--amazing what we can do?  Entertain, tease, share, comfort, explain, complain, compromise, love . . .

 God cares about your words.

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, 

sweet to the soul 

and

healing to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24

And, sometimes, it is best to use no words at all--as was the case with Splenda.

During these moments of stillness, 
 you will often sense the infinite love

and power of your Creator--and, 

He, in turn will speak directly to your heart.  

(Day 12, 365 Daily Devotions for Women)

***

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

Psalm 46:10

Have a fun week with loving words be they entertaining, kind, or compassionate...

Next week's blog: SISTERS