Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Poem 18: Neologisms

Today's assignment is to "write a poem that incorporates neologisms. What’s that? Well, it’s a made-up word! Your neologisms could be portmanteaus (basically, a word made from combining two existing words, like “motel” coming from “motor” and “hotel”) or they could be words invented entirely for their sound. Probably the most famous example of a poem incorporating neologisms is Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky, but neologisms don’t have to be funny or used in the service of humor. You can use them to try to get at something that you don’t have an exact word for, or to create a sense of sound and rhythm, or simply to make the poem feel strange and unworldly."

Well, okay, then.

*

BtVS Rules

When you go out on patrol,
always carry one more stake
than you think you'll need.

If there's a shadow, there's something ooky in it;
if you think you're being watched, you are;
if you suspect you've got a bad reputation, you do --
so use it to your advantage.

Fashion is paramount,
four or five besties are to die for,
there's always time for an evil pun,
even and especially in mortal combat,
and if you think your roommate's a demon
you're probably right.

Never fall in love with a vampire.
When you do, don't sleep with him --
he'll lose his soul and go all vamptastic,
hunting you for sport, shoot you
with evil quips from the safety of his new
demonpack, all yukkityyuk and teethy
like a clangor of hyenas.

Never use a vampire for dirty sex.
When you do, he'll instantly fall smitten
and follow you wherever you go
like a drooling hellhound
neutered by schlove,
the soppydrippy Hallmark cardy version
phosphorescent with goopy nauseation.

After three minutes of the requisite sparring,
go for the killing blow, straight
to the unbeating heart --
there's nothing like the satisfaction of that
growling poofsplosion
when the panting language of the dance
vanishes into pixels, moondust, and
pastistory.





No comments:

Post a Comment