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Poems and Thoughts by Frank Maurer

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Linguistics

Dialects opus 47

Are we really so different--creature and human?
We laugh at or admire the Scottish dialect.
We diminish or romanticize the Southern dialect.
We swoon or feel inferior to the English dialect.

How do we react to the dialects uttering the danger calls of Prairie Dogs?
How do we evaluate the evening chorus of the Red-winged Black birds--
Vocalizing with differing dialects among flocks habitating the East or the West?

Differing dialects; differing tones; different speed of utterance;
Our Reptilian Brain crys: "Us and them".
Even our vocalizations delimit us
Just like "those creatures"!

Treichel opus 56

"Ich möchte mit euch treicheln."
Perhaps bad German, but the intention is there.
"I wish with you (plural) to 'treichel' (march together ringing cowbells)."
This act is done on New Years to cleanse all the village houses.
Ghosts of Swiss villages are purged from human habitations--
The huge cowbells are rung steadily--once--as each leg steps
And the smaller ones are rhythmically shaken to fill the bass of the lower.

At 19 years, teaching in the Alps of Switzerland,
I was asked (honorably) to join the men.
After showing me the method to work a large bell,
I marched off to cleanse, into the darkened village, with the others.

Who Will Win? opus 115

As with so many who sacrificed during WWII,
My father with a weakened heart, afflicted with Scarlet Fever in childhood,
Invented, tested, and produced his high altitude breathing equipment
To enable our pilots to outmaneuver their Axis counterparts;
He suffered the bends and stress at 41,000 feet
And died young at 59 years of age.
Many more sacrificed their lives much quicker,
From exploding bombs and direct bullets.

Why did so many sacrifice so much, so intensively?
Well, the world finally realized that a world under Hitler
Would be a life under a mad dictator.

Today, an analogous situation obtains.
The Earth's lungs are being polluted and suffocated.
Fires, flooding, melting, the disappearing Rainforest and pandemics--
All occurring too fast; unnecessarily.
Who is the Hitler now? Who wishes to control everything for Hiser* pleasure?
It is Us; and shamefully so, as indeed Pogo Possum** once uttered.

The question is: Will we truly unite and muster our efforts,
Realizing the terrific, self-destructive, pending danger?

Dedicated to Maureen and George

* Heesh, Hiser, Herm, Hermself; nonsexist pronouns coined by
Prof. L. A. Timm, linguist, 1966 and my late wife.

** Pogo Possum; Walt Kelly comic strip, political satirist, opossum:
'We have met the enemy and he is us' 1970 (first Earth Day in San Francisco).

Whaling out Names! opus 188

There are adumbrations of data which suggest whales
Might call out 'codas' by means of identifying each other.
Only three individual Sperm whales have been spied upon,
Listening to their 5R coda placed at the beginning of a call,
But researchers are confident they may be on to something.
The 5R has distinctive timing and seems to be consistent with each individual.
And to think the more we learn of these special animals,
We slaughtered them (and still do!) oblivious of their personalities.
Shame that we were so ignorant of these 'non-human persons'.

Turning the Tables on a Mess Together opus 195

Paul: Morning Frank. Sorry to mess you around,
But I need to push our lunch meet
Back to as far as 2 PM.
Does that still work for you?

Frank: How wonderful to have mess with you,
Breaking my fast from last night
At a more civilized hour!

Darian vs Darien / Any Connections? opus 198

I have always admired the name Darian.
When I meet someone named such,
I often ask if they understand its history or its meaning.
My Scottish ancestry, back to MacAlpin,
One of the first kings of that land (843 AD),
Reminds me of the Scottish attempt at a trading company (1697),
To emulate the English Hudson's Bay Trading Company.
Two attempts were made to establish their company
In Darien, now on the border of Panama and Colombia.
The name was Hispanicized from the Tanela River,
Called such by the Cueva people, an indigenous tribe
Destroyed by the conquistadors during the 16th century.
As a result of the hardships of the area, the unfriendly natives,
And mostly the Spanish, who controlled the area,
The whole experiment failed,
Along with the loss of a third of the Scottish GNP.

Today we hear of the migrants from the southern areas,
Walking north and confronting the Darien Gap,
A 66 mile wilderness swamp and forest,
Through which there is no Pacific Highway,
Only trails and purposely left open as a valuable wildlife sanctuary.
Many travellers have died, attempting to cross this challenging territory.
So, history repeats itself with the Darien area,
Blocking the Scottish attempt at colonization
And now the northern-bound migrants.

But what of the name Darian? Used by the English,
And perhaps first used by the Persians (and Iranians),
Meaning 'Upholder of the Good'--also 'Wealthy' and/or 'Kingly',
Continuing, the present name, Darian, is now seldom used,
And those I question, rarely know its derivation.
But from the early Persian times, to 1697,
To today's migrants traversing the challenging Gap,
It has shown itself throughout history with several manifestations.
Also, one must wonder if there is possibly
A more ancient linguistic connection!

Turkiye, Celebrating 100 Years Today opus 208

Having lived in Turkey (now renamed Turkiye), for several years, teaching biology,
I am aware that today, 29 October, Turkiye will be 100 years old.
Kamil Mustafa Atta Turk carved out his new country,
Following bitter fighting, including the exclusion of the Armenians.
Atta Turk's mindset was always 'black and white'--
One was either a Turk in the new country or not.
He changed the Hijri Arabic calendar, jumping 600 years
To the Gregorian calendar.
He changed the Turkish language, written in Arabic, to Latin lettering.
He changed all surnames, requiring only Turkish names.
He banned the fez, naming a brimmed cap
Which he intended to interfere with the bowing practice of prayer.

Turkiye has undergone many changes over its hundred years,
But Atta Turk is still very present and cared for in his created country.

Just Wondering opus 209

I have always wondered
Why the Latin Roman Mass
Commences with Kyrie Elyison,
Followed by Kriste Elyison--
Both introductory phrases are in Greek!
    Benedictus.  Ahmen.

I have also wondered why our moon
Seems to never rotate,
Always facing the earth.
On this one I finally learned
That the actual rotation of the moon
Is timed to be in sync
With its orbit in the monthly/yearly
Rotation around our earth!

Realizing the horrible waste and destruction
Which war results from human conflict,
Why have humans generally never learned
From wars' actual consequences throughout history?
Think of the many countries once in conflict,
Which, when all was finalized,
Became allies and staunch trading partners!--
A strange, meaningless enigma.

Lastly, in so many social situations,
Where tasty food, social communication,
And live, musical entertainment commingle,
One of these three often unfairly dominates.
I performed jazz in social situations decades previously--
Always attempting to comfortably 'fit in'.
These days, when I rarely attend such social events,
I am mostly overwhelmed by the horrid volume of music.
It appears that musicians care less about a 'good' performance,
But rather value volume as the means to gain praise and attention.
Of course the result is that the masticating, imbibing conversationalists
Can barely hear each other because of the selfish volume producers,
Oblivious in their own self centeredness.
I compare this present sound pollution,
Literally causing (future) hearing problems of all sorts,
Including tinnitus and, in extreme cases, deafness--
Much as smokers selfishly created in years past,
Resulting in asthma, lung cancer, or even death.

Nora opus 225

On this day, seven years ago at 0115 AM, my wife of 31 years passed.
This was a dynamic marriage with ups and downs--with most of the former.
As with all long term relationships,
The memories become more poignant as time passes.
We met when Nora stopped by to purchase a Wood Duck,
One of many species of wild ducks which I raised on my farm.
She always joked that she came to buy a duck
And left with the duck and a share in half a llama!

As time passed, our experiences became more profound,
Commencing with matching our new kitchen colors
With soft orange-yellow hues of a very studied sunset.
We continually worked together to manage our farm,
Working with chicken and turkey harvesting,
To netting catfish, using our 100 foot seine-nets,
To gathering vegetables from our one acre chemical-free garden,
To raising orphaned emu chicks in our living room!

Nora was a world expert linguist in the Breton language.
She guided me through her conference trips to Scotland and Ireland,
Where I found my own genealogical genetic roots.
Her use of continual elevated vocabulary raised my speaking abilities.

Her encouragement and support for our Quail Ridge land trust was incalculable.
Together, we raised six million dollars and purchased about 2000 acres!
This area is now part of the UCD Natural Reserve System;
Many thought its success would be absolutely impossible--not so!
Beyond this, a Student Endowment is now in a very active, continual place.
Nora and I never had children, but she always nurtured my two boys.

Her end was finalized with a merciless plague of cancer
Which raged throughout her body--she worried most about losing her special mind.
This disease ended the life of a most talented person--
Such knowledge and love was lost to the world forever,
Except through all those remaining who knew her
And continually recount her productive and giving life.

(Also on this day in Texas 60 years ago, JF Kennedy was assassinated.)

Reconciliation or (just) Recognition? opus 228

Three generations sat together at Thanksgiving,
Discussing, in part, their problems with communication.
The oldest one, who spoke well,
And did not grow up with electronic communication,
Actually apologized for having been so stubborn
To resist the new electronic mode of talking.
The middle generation liked the apology,
But offered no compromise.
The youngest of the generations,
Admitted he just did not use email and will not talk
With the oldest generation's attempt
Of at least trying to pass on something to him!
From the elder's viewpoint, minimally,
He only made a truce of emotion,
And gained no true compromise from the other two;
Hardly reconciliation and perhaps just recognition.

Humans are the only animal who evolutionarily
Can speak and have a complex, written language.
Will this marvelous genetic ability languish--unused--
And mutate back to vocal grunts and silence,
Augmented by spurts of electricity?

Music To My Ears, IV. Further Later Years; Turkey (now Turkiye) opus 234

Because of the economy and available academic jobs available,
I looked abroad and, since I had met Bryant and Betsy Harrell
On Nantucket Island, while I was trapping voles, researching for my Ph.D.,
And he had taken on a new deanship job at Robert College in Istanbul, Turkiye,
(Later to become Bogazici Universitesi),
He offered me a position in the biology department.
I accepted and moved to Turkiye and a new life.
As I and Maggi, my first late wife (killed in an auto accident later in Africa),
Drove through Germany, then Greece, and entered Turkiye,
I tuned the radio to a local station--it was like going to Mars.
I knew several languages, but I recognized not a word being broadcast.
As I said later, it was as though my tongue were removed from my mouth!
We settled into an apartment in Cucuk Bebek, an Istanbul suburb on the Bosphorus.
(See my 'Poems and Thoughts' on swimming the Bosphorus.)

After getting acquainted with my Constantinople Greek department head,
An elderly woman who soon died of cancer--
And I, having an appendicitis and a hospital stay,
I commenced through all that to learn much of my beginning Turkish.
(I actually learned from my Turkish ambulance driver how to count, 1 to 10.)
I discovered some fellow musicians and we befriended each other.
I soon had a leave for visa work and was in Saltzburg, Austria.
We went to an instrument maker and purchased an old 18th century 'cello.
Of course I had to learn the new instrument and its fingering.
Returning 'home' and with much practising, I approached Tom, a violinist,
His wife, Laura, violist, David, a pianist, and a flautist.
We started practising at an apartment in the shadows of the Rumeli Hisar,
A fortress constructed by Ahmet the Conqueror,
Who eventually conquered Constantinople and then all of Turkiye.
We practised every Friday evening from 5 to 11 with a 'gifted' dinner, lasting an hour.
We got quite good together and experienced marvelous evenings.
 I later came down with TB and was confined for many weeks in basic apartment isolation.
During that time I learned Esperanto, wrote, read, and learned the 12 tone system of music
Created by Schönberg, who migrated from Russia to Los Angeles, USA!
(When moving to California, I visited his 'reconstructed' studio at UCLA..)

I composed, in my isolation, two pieces for flute and cello, the scores of which
I later discussed with Karel Husa at Cornell on one of my home leaves.
These two works I performed in the Harrell's
Huge living room overlooking the Bosphorus,with many local colleagues in the audience.
It was a step forward in yet another musical dimension.
The Harrell's were gracious hosts and all went perfectly.
I finally returned to California for yet another life,
My music basically hibernating from thereon,
With so many new agricultural changes pending,
Also, creating the Environmental Education Farm Foundation, a non profit,
As well as the Quail Ridge Wilderness Conservancy land trust,
Music was still all around me, but now played by others.
Each piece they play still yields some memory from my past life.

A Moment from the Past opus 243

Once again, I was in line in the pet store with more 'lizard-crickets'.
A pleasant young lady pulled back with a full cart of product.
She smiled as I said, "Thank you."
I paid and was walking out as she passed by me.
I said, "So you told me you have rabbits."
Then asking if she had chickens
To graze the droppings from the cages above.
"No," she said, stopping to talk.
"Did you have children in the Davis schools?"
I said yes and named my two boys, Pierre and Basil.
"Oh, I went to school with Basil!"
She gave me her name as Sevgi.
Rummaging through my mind for languages,
I said, not quite sure which language to grab onto,
"That means love!"  "Yes it is Turkish."
"Of course," I responded. She smiled that I had understood.
(I did live in Turkiye for some years.)
Her sparkling eyes prompted me to invite her
And her family to my farm.
We said goodbye, I, feeling a nice warmth of internationalism.
Travel in and learning about other cultures
Does add a further dimension to one's depth.

New Year's Eve opus 253

Today is 2023; Tomorrow will be 2024.
Time, when contemplated, is a funny thing.
There are 'other' peoples' calendars
Which do not coincide with 'ours'.
Calendars, besides dates,
Reflect various histories and events;
It is all relevant to the awareness of a culture.
In addition, the months in a 'year' are often
Relegated to the cycling of the moon or the sun,
Yielding conflicting nomenclature of 'time'.
Months are named for people or events--
But why is December, the 12th month,
Named 'Deci', meaning 10?!
Even the days' names have individual significance.
Time is an imaginary fiction, defined by human need and desire
To have illusionary control over an overwhelming universe.

'Vertebra' opus 259

(My daughter-in-law rarely communicates in any form, so it was a surprise
that I received a text! 5 January 2024.)

I have had an occasional visit from my 3 year old grandson, Rowan,
Who traversed my farm, talking with me about encountered objects.
He pointed out a whale vertebra, from one of my earlier biology jobs.
I repeated the word, 'vertebra', many times,
Also pointing out his own vertebrae, comprising his backbone.
My grandson had a great time and went back home.

Eight days later, his mother sent this text to me:

    Hi, Frank, sorry (as usual) for the lack of contact.
    I wanted to let you know something you would enjoy.
    Tonight Rowan said, "I hope my vertebrae are doing ok."
    I asked him where he learned such a sophisticated word.

    And he said, "From Papa Frank."

  It was quite impressive and very sweet.
  Thank you for teaching him these important things
  That he will carry forward in his life.
  I appreciate it.

I answered, "Yes, he liked that word. We were looking at
My whale vertebra then to his back."

Such an unpredictable, unforecast pleasure!

Damming the Damning opus 286

I lived with an African Gray parrot for several years
And was witness to its incredible ability to imitate.
The Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in England has had to isolate parrots
Which, within public earshot, started imitating risqué vocabulary.
The decision was eventually made to remove these individuals
Back to the major flock, where it was anticipated,
That the eight offenders would again utter
'Normal' African Gray vocalizations--
Amusing, if the vocabulary had switched in the reverse order!

Another tale I have heard involved a murder case.
The Gray had witnessed the killing of its human companion ('owner').
It imitated the voice and words spoken during the murder.
The prosecution attempted to use the parrot as a witness,
But because the parrot 'was an animal',
The judge overruled the employment of the bird to nail the murderer!

Of course you have heard of groups attempting
To classify chimpanzees as sentient beings,
Who would be treated on a human level.
Perhaps someday, African Gray parrots
Might be included within the human domain!
(Chimps still are also on the waiting list.)

Why has English Lost 'Thou'? opus 287

In a younger time during High School and Antioch College courses,
I always thoroughly enjoyed my studies of Shakespeare's works.
Also, then, I became very aware of older English.
'Why hast Thou not taken Thy shoes to the cobbler Thineself?
To Thee I do ask.' (I just constructed this example.)
In the 1600's, for instance, 'You' was used conventionally for the upper class.
Quakers resisted, using only 'Thou' for singular and 'You' for the plural,
Resulting in many arrests, because of their insulting disrespect.
The story goes that William Penn, being a Quaker, founded Pennsylvania,
As a refuge in the New World, where their practice could continue.
Being a Quaker, Penn also founded Pennsylvania with no bloodshed--
Just agreements with the native people.
(If only Israel and other new territorial establishments
Could have been founded on that same model!)

By the time of the Civil War, 'Thou', except for the Quakers, was rare,
Especially in the new America, where most were more egalitarian,
And 'You' was commonly used for everyone.
Indeed, 'Thou' became most unpopular, also in England.
The disappearance in England was widespread, occurring region by region.
However, even today in Yorkshire, 'Tha' ('Thou') is still heard.
So the use of 'Thou' suggested that the speaker was superior,
And the listener was of lower or inferior class.

Today, for one, the use of 'Thou'/''Thee'/'Thy' seems to be honorific,
The misunderstanding being that the use of archaic language,
Elevates 'regular' speech, making it more formal!
These examples are found in legal, scientific, and academic contexts;
Also one encounters archaic language in historical liturgy.
If a servant girl addresses a superior male as 'Thou',
It is not because she is disrespectful, but rather,
Because he is an older male, and is of a higher class.

Another point is that English is losing its grammatical case and morphology,
Resulting in less formal linguistic intercourse.
(Perhaps I should stop with 'intercourse',
But all know what that actually means!) Continuing!
Perhaps people became infatuated with royalty,
And 'Thou' was too informal and fell out of use.
'You' also conferred formality and might compliment an unknown listener?
Eventually this might have just become the more formal version.
The use of 'You' might have one also attempting
To avoid making a 'mistake' with the listener.
Perhaps, too, with verb economy in mind,
By using 'Thou', the verb conjugation had to end with 'ST':
'Why doeST Thou? Thou shouldST speak properly!
Other languages did not have this 'problem'.

Today, we hear 'You All' and 'Yous', when addressing a group,
So 'You' switches to the singular and 'You All' is unmistakably plural.
If Nora, my late wife, a linguist, could read this, written by a biologist,
She would either just plain cringe, or be amazed and offer a soft compliment!
In conclusion, I remain reminiscent for somehow using 'Thou',
Because it gives a softness and sense of intimacy to our speech,
And without 'Thou', English has lost one wonderful means of expression.

Nikki: A Benevolent One or a Potential Dictatress? opus 296

Nikki Haley is wondrously standing up to Trump,
Even though she forwarns, as he,
Of repressive potential laws to curb women's freedoms, etc.
It is said she met her potential husband, William Michael Haley,
Declared he did not look like a Bill (nickname for William),
And to this day, he was then, and is now, (her name),
Michael!
Should we admire a woman who 'officially' renames her husband,
Or should we fear that she, if coming into power,
Would also be a dictatress 'for a day'?

1066 AD opus 299

After extensive travail, I discovered my ancestry
Trailed back to William the Conqueror, 8th Duke of Normandy.
As we sort of learned from the smutty comic scene in Henry the Fifth,
The conquest introduced, over several centuries,
French into England's Anglo-Saxon verbiage.
There are a myriad of examples, but one I love is our 'in lieu of ',
Which in English means 'in place of '.
'Lieu' in French, of course, also means literally 'place'.
I find it fascinating that this word jumped literally
From one language to another.
The 'nuance!', however, shifted from 'someone acting in place of another'
To the evolved meaning of 'one thing done or provided instead of another'.
Also the introductory moment was in the 15th century and not 1066.
But my fantasy of 1066 was not shattered.

After 1066, English was open to accepting Anglo-French vocabulary,
With numerous examples welling up, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries:
Fatherly became paternal, brotherly became fraternal,
Of course motherly became maternal,
But somehow sisterly did not even exist until the late 1500's,
Not to mention a competing French form.
Eventually soral appeared, but sisterly maintained its prevalence.
As we know, sorority is used from the Latin root, soror, meaning 'sister'.
The transfer of a word from one language to another
Is often because of the fancy of the speakers.
In spite of it all, 'lieu' appears to have sounded sexier (?) than 'place'--
Sort of emphasizing words, originally shadowing from 1066.

To Lady Sultan opus 322

Dear Madam Sultan efendim1.
The first moment I saw you
And conversed with you while you worked,
You struck me as something I have seen before--
I spent many years in Turkiye2
And your ambiance of that place passed through me.
Your voice flowed into my ear
As the Bosphorus3 current flows by Asia.
Your deep colored eyes looked upon me
As the golden çay4 I so often imbibed
While negotiating in the shelter of many bazaars.
Your general morphology reminded me
Of the splendor of Uludağ5 of Bursa6.
And your radiating aura enveloped me
As the blue hava7 which covers my beloved East.

(Written during the moments of the Spring forward time change.)

1. efendim -- madam or sir.
2. Turkiye -- new name for Turkey.
3. Bosphorus -- strait through Istanbul area between Europe and Asia.
4. Çay -- tea.
5. Uludağ (soft 'g') -- mountain near Bursa.
6. Bursa -- city in Turkiye.
7. Hava -- sky or 'heaven'.

Condemned to a Possible Death Sentence? opus 335

I was listening today to Public Radio featuring
A narrative about a woman who was
Wrongfully convicted unjustly to a death sentence
For a crime she did not commit.
After 17 years of solitary confinement,
And pro bono help from volunteer attorneys,
She was absolved of the crime and released
To a new world of a lost family and a totally new start.

I was also condemned to isolation and possible death,
While I was living in Turkiye on my new teaching job.
Suddenly, I was coughing up blood and feeling very weak.
I had been travelling, and had to make it back to Turkiye.
Tuberculosis, probably from my childhood,
Reared its head and condemned me to several months of isolation
And several overlapping medications to stabilize my condition.
I was condemned and isolated in my little apartment,
Where my coworkers were wary of visiting because of the disease.
Just as the condemned woman kept herself busy,
I practiced several arts to occupy my mind and remain somewhat sane.

I had learned about the intentional language, Esperanto,
While travelling through Bulgaria.
I purchased a 12-Step 'Teach Yourself Esperanto' and 'went to town'.
After a few weeks, I ordered various literature materials
And started reading. The language is so learner-compatible,
That I read half a page, before resorting to a dictionary!

My 'cello was my musical companion, upon which I practiced
Each day to the point of evening exhaustion!
During this time, I also started composing
A flute and 'cello 12-Tone System duet.
At that time I wrote a couple of scientific articles,
Along with many letters to colleagues and friends.

Without these diversions, I would have been totally lost.
As with confinement, isolation of any kind must be contended with.
The gregarious behavior of humans is a very powerful need
And must always be pursued in all conditions.
To be completely isolated, is to gradually destroy all humanity in a person.

Awareness opus 340

Two youthful fish were swimming together,
Deep into their normal fish-clicking language,
When an older, wiser, member of their type
Passed them by, nodding in the customary manner
And clicking out the greeting, "How is the water?"
The two nodded with respect and swam on.
Suddenly, the one stopped the other and clicked out the query--
"What the hell is water?"

When I lived for several years in Turkiye,
I learned that one of the first greetings upon meeting
Was "Su nasil?" (How is the water? -- meaning in your village.)
The basic point which I am sadly and nervously learning,
Is that our population is consumed with their own immediate needs,
With no idea how important
The surrounding world is for their very existence!
People now-a-days have no thought, for instance,
Of their companion plants--
These include grasses, flowers, shrubs and trees--
All, once vital to the indigenous people of the past.
But little do the Moderns realize of their importance to them.

Farmers and gardeners well know
How the changing rainfall and heat affect their livelihoods.
(Even planting temperature zones have been recently modified.)
Ornithologists well know of the disrupted avian food supplies world wide.
Ictheologists well know of decreasing fish populations,
Affecting both 'man and beast'.
Climatologists, like Yoda, see the changing overall picture.
To top all this, especially according to geophysicists,
Our planet may soon be subtracting a nanosecond from a future year
Because of the slower rotation of the earth,
Due to the melting north and south, and causing shifting
General equatorial planetary mass distribution.

Are we aware or even care about the fish' 'water around us'?
Or do we just continually bicker amongst ourselves
About what may turn out to be exceeding bits of trivia?

We are having a Telephone Speech Crisis opus 359

I am almost 83 in August.
I have raised millions of dollars by telephone for wildlife and open space.
I also receive hundreds of calls asking for something
Or informing me of an appointment or something informational.

The new trend is to employ many less expensive--cost cutting operators,
Most recruited from Central or South America, or more, from the Philippines,
Who do not often speak clearly or succinctly.
The many North American operators are mostly young female citizens,
Who are, over time, speaking more and more rapidly.
What I am observing over my many years,
Is that the foreign operators are not well trained in English
And that the citizen women uncoached operators speak so rapidly,
One has a true difficulty in following and comprehending their message,
Let alone catch their mangled name at the introduction.
As for the doctor or company for which they are calling
These pivot people are well trained in their professions and how to speak.
So my basic question is why on earth are 'professional' telephoners
Not trained properly in speech, speed of delivery, and clarity?
Actors on stage must learn proper speech and delivery.
Why are telephone informers not groomed
To properly execute their message as well?

Where has HAVE gone? opus 429

I am a biologist, having evolutionary theory as the basis of my science.
My late wife, Lenora, was a linguist with its own theory of evolution.
When I complained about some language variant,
Such as, "Where is the station AT?",
(I worked abroad nine years and had never heard such),
She gently reminded me that we both each 'have' our own form of evolution.
Yes, she was correct, but how might she react to the loss of 'have' now?
The tenses of 'to have', are 'have' (present), 'had' (past) and 'have had' (past participle):
FOR 'They have gone to the store' NOW resolves to 'They ' gone to the store'.
OR ' I have seen that many times' BECOMES 'I ' seen that many times'.
OR from a black announcer (on NPR!), 'What do you seen?' FOR 'What have you seen?'.

I find this a new, innovative variation with our English language--
Do listen for this, just for fun, and watch to hear you utter it yourself!

Crunching a Singular into a Plural! opus 430

Having struggled and attempted learning six languages over my lifetime,
As well as having a linguist wife, Lenora, for 31 years,
I listen carefully and with interest concerning changes in our language.
An interesting one is popping up with greater frequency--
For example, 'We have ALL accomplished this OURSELVES',
Is now 'corrupting' to, 'We have ALL accomplished this OURSELF',
(Also, incorrectly, 'It is a story WE tell OURSELF')
Contrasted correctly with, 'They EACH considered it THEMSELF'
(singular with singular).
I guess the conclusion might be, it is easier to blurt out 'ourself'
vs 'ourselves'!
Hmmm.

What a Difference an 'E' Makes opus 476

It has been determined that 'demure'
Is the chosen word for 2024.
This word has been used, but more,
Has been most often checked out for its meaning;
Thus being 'quietly modest', 'reserved', or 'serious'.
The final 'E' causes the 'u' to elongate to 'you're'.

The 'twin' with no final 'E' is demur,
Meaning 'to make exception' or 'object'.
The absent 'E' causes the 'u' to sound like 'purr'.
Without these 'rules', an unfamiliar speaker
Might not sound out a difference,
And thus might not understand the huge difference.

How many 'tiny' differences' in life
Do we encounter and navigate,
Often without a thought as to just why.
THAT is indeed something to contemplate.

Avalie is Coming to Visit opus 490

I have a colleague who announced he has a daughter, named Avalie,
Who had heard stories from him about me as a biologist
And wanted to talk with me
About biology, with which she has become very passionate.
I am very pleased and wait for her visit with anticipation.

I did ask her father what Avalie actually meant
And he replied she was named after a beautiful mare,
When she started her life in Kwazulu, Africa.
(She is as profound an African as her father.)
What a beautiful name--
Of Latin, British, German, Hebrew, and Persian origins.
Avalie is a modern variant of the classic name Ava.
Ava may have originated from the Latin 'Avis',
Meaning 'bird' or 'life' or 'living'.
Ava is often linked to the Hebrew name 'Hava', meaning 'life',
And the Persian Ava, meaning 'voice' and 'sound' or 'strength' and 'desire'.
Also Avalie has Scandinavian origins: 'Ava' for 'ruler' and 'lie' for
protection.
The latter name evokes a sense of power, confidence, and charisma.

Well, this is a result of some of my research,
Concerning this unusual and beautifully meaningful name.
This young woman, backed by such a plethora of nominal meanings,
Can only go upwards in life, with her studies and future profession.

A Plural Transgresses into a Singular opus 497

ACTUAL QUOTES:
THEY will be able to do that THEMSELF. (themselves)
WE are already working on that project OURSELF. (ourselves)
THEY should be able to vote THEIRSELF!!! (themselves)
WE don't need to wait until the end of our LIFE. (lives)
If that occurs, THEY will all lose their LIFE. (lives)
No ONE has lost THEIR (for the proper 'he or she') HOUSES (house)
(trying to agree with the 'false' THEIR, when it is a singular subject).

I have heard them all--
Why is it we now use a plural subject
And end with a singular personal pronoun or object?
Is it too cumbersome and laborious
To use THEMSELVES or LIVES in our sentences today?
Have we come to the point where we just must streamline
So much so that we destroy grammatical agreement?
The plural is now transgressing into the singular and vice versa!

A New Country Called California! opus 512

Since I have come to California in 1978,
I have seen two attempts to divide the state
Into two or three separate and independent states.
Now there is a new initiative,
Signature collecting starting 23 January 2025,
That proposes a vote on whether or not California
Should become a free and independent country!
(This has also occurred in the history of this state.)
Perhaps some fear for the possible future of California,
Being part of an ever-more conservative world.
This is, of course, serious business for the state;
But to add a touch of humor to this pending vote,
I am wondering if the new national anthem
Will be officially sung in English or in Spanish?
Might it also mention that this territory is being
Now turned back to its original "European' owners?

Origins of Spoken Language opus 533

The first spoken languages probably developed
50,000 to 100,000 years ago.
Some hypotheses claim early forms in primal Homo species
May go back as far as 2 million years ago.
Prehistoric languages evolved from
Simple vocalizations to ever-greater complexity.
Modern humans have developed advanced linguistic skills.
This is most likely due to a genetic mutation,
Playing a vital role in the emergence of human speech.
There is a human-specific variant of the NOVA 1 gene,
Absent in Neanderthals and Denisovans,
Leading to spoken language.
All this advance results from a single amino acid change
In the NOVA 1 gene.
As we speak to each other, think now and then,
That this ability may be due to that small amino acid change.

Creativity opus 537

Just what causes one to record a Thought or a Poem?
For me, there are several different stimuli that lead to a written page:
If I hear someone speaking about a certain subject
And wish to embellish it in a particular manner;
Or if a memory of a past experience pops into my head;
Possibly it might be stimulated by a foreboding of the future;
A particular sound or shape or color might lead to a written image;
Comparison of the present with the past, or a future event which might unfold;
Or possibly I wish to write something sad or joyful,
Manifesting reality or imagination;
Protest or anger about a situation may spark a creative impulse;
Of course it is always fun to write a short image about a person
And slip it to herm physically or auditorily to fulfill another's
passion or portrait.
The ultimate question remains--will anyone actually read it!

PREDATE--a Josh opus 542

A strange thought occurred to me
About predation or to preDATE.
If one looks in a dictionary, predate
Means only to 'come before' (PREdate).
On deeper research one can finally find
'To prey' or 'to hunt for'.
Thinking about both these meanings:
Is a date with a person then meaning
'A time before a date with a person' (PREdate)
Or 'a meeting with a person
Who will be preyed upon' (preDATE))?
Do watch out--all you young dudes!
It all depends upon the accentuation.

The Mason (Inspired by Jay W.) opus 554

Could you ever imagine yourself as a bricklayer--
Or, namely, a mason or a builder?
In German it is Maurer and a Mauer is a wall,
And the verb is mauen--boy, they have it all tied up!
But back to the point; a bricklayer builds huge things--
Walls and such, using only tiny rectangular 'cubes',
Fused together with well mixed mortar.
Piece by piece, each element is put in place,
With, obviously, a greater plan that these small elements
Will finally result in a great facade, winning praise,
Delight, and an emotion of being overwhelmed.
How is it that one has such patience and foresight
To create these magnificents to inspire all those
Who would not dare to attempt such creations?

Lexington, Massachusetts opus 566

When studying at Weeks Junior High School (about 1954)
In Newton Center, Massachusetts, I was learning French.
My teacher was Madam Neufeld, a wonderfully vivacious person.
French was my second new language after one year of Latin.
I had changed, after advice that the French would better help in a science career.
Madam Neufeld lived in Lexington, Massachusetts, where she invited me to visit.
I liked her as a sympathetic teacher and accepted her hospitality.
I clearly remember going to Lexington Bridge and the Green,
Where the Revolutionary 'Shot heard 'round the World' had occurred
I also had a very dedicated older, white-haired history teacher,
So my visit to the Bridge was ever more meaningful for my young mind.
Tomorrow, 19 April (1775), will commemorate
The 250th anniversary of the start of the US Revolution.
I am glad I have lived so long to see this day and time
But I am full of worry and anguish for our present and future,
As I am sure they were in those early days of turmoil.

My Pictish Beast Tattoo opus 577

Among other peoples, I am a Pict--
The tattooed or painted ones of Scotland.
I first saw the petroglyph, 'Craw Sten' of Rhynie
Several decades ago atop its hill--
Angled salmon above and Pictish Beast beneath,
On a standing stone two meters high.
I have utilized the image of this Beast
As a logo on all my literature.
Now, after 10 or more years of pondering,
I am ready to endure a baptismal tattoo
On my own left forearm.
I shall be kilted, with a hippo tusk lying nearby,
Accompanied by a bunched cluster of ancient mammoth hair.
There shall be a Swiss cow bell, as part of my past.
I shall add ancestral Erectus and Neanderthal stone tools,
Formerly used to skin said mammoths.
An attending Turk there, shall represent the Fertile Crescent;
A South African shall represent our African human origins;
And Drew, the artist, returned from 39 years abroad
Will represent my own sojourn in Sweden.
We shall be conversing in Swedish and Turkish and English.
After one half hour, I shall be marked for the remainder of my life.
Just as the new pope was recently inaugurated into the church,
So shall I finally be enfolded into my Pictish fellowship.

This poem shall be read before commencing with the marking (21 May 2025).

Is There Really a Singular 'THEY'? opus 586

'THEY'--the third person plural--is just that--plural.
But, know, that 'THEY' has struggled a vicarious existence.
Even you have most likely utilized the singular 'THEY'.
'EveryONE should put on THEIR life jackets now!'
'EACH student loves the time when THEY are free at recess.'
It is a 'borrowed' genderless pronoun, designating anyone.
Using 'HE or SHE' seems really awkward, not falling off the tongue.
Creating and using 'EX or HEESH'--clever, but will never catch on.

And now we have just added a new complication--
'THEY' as a personal pronoun! The 'new THEY'. (More on that to come.)
Many do not wish to use 'HE or SHE', 'HIM or HER'.
Being linguistically able, I could carefully use the 'new THEY',
But I even have trouble turning off the car radio,
Until that last bit of a classical music piece has concluded!

'We-Other' opus 587

Old, later English used to commonly use
The first person plural in an awkward, 'We-Other' or variations thereof
It included 'me' or 'I' and 'all the rest' or 'the others'.
English has pruned that away to just using 'we'.
But--there is a language which still utilizes the old form!
Guess which one? The very much used Spanish!
'We' in Spanish is 'Nosotros'.
Ok, dissect it; 'Nos' = 'We' and 'Otros' = other.
Wow, just always under our noses!
When I broach this complete history with Spanish speakers,
They are astonished that they had never contemplated its meaning.

Fathers' Day (15 June 2025) opus 588

A book recently released, outlined 'The History of Fatherhood'.
During the author's research,
He asked his adult son what makes a good father.
The son's immediate response astounded his father--
'A good father should be funny and give many hugs.'
The author, amazingly, thought for two weeks,
Before he concluded that this described his wife's behavior and character!
Over the years, since the first Fathers' Day, 110 years ago, indeed,
The role of fathers has slowly evolved from a powerful disciplinarian
To a more participating, gentle role of parent.

And Then There is the 'New They'! opus 589

There are certain individuals today, who wish to be referred to as 'They'.
Linguists nominate this phenomenon as the 'New They'.
The 'old fashioned', 'normal, plural They', utilizes no '-s' with the verb--
They walk, They see clearly, They eat pizza relishly.
'He', 'She', and 'It' have an '-s' with the verb--
He listenS, She singS, It appearS suddenly.
So, as to not confuse a 'plural They' (They sing),
With the 'singular They', it has been proposed
That the 'singular They' should have an '-s' suffix with the verb:
Plural: They walk quickly; Singular: They walkS quickly.
This would clarify the understanding of who is doing what,
As well as to make it easier for those to verbalize correctly.

Ms for Mrs took off; why not a little '-s' added to a 'singular They' verb?

What is Yourn is 'Meen' or What is Yours is Mine opus 590

Mine, by the way, used to be pronounced 'Meen'.
'Meen' used to be 'Mee book' and also before a vowel: 'Meen' apple.

Here is the pattern of today's possessive pronouns:
mine
ours
yours
yours
his,hers,its
theirs
So why is mine not 'mys'?
The Middle English possessive pattern, ended in an 'n':
mine
ourn
thine
yourn
his,hern
theirn
Moreover, Thine (possessive) could have been Thouse,
But actually matched Mine.
Speakers of the time, perhaps from sound or pattern, simply used Thine.
Also 'his' was the odd one out, which could have been 'hin'.
'Bruce's hope' was being utilized, but why not 'hin hope'?
However, the final 's' on 'his' began being used
With the other possessive pronouns--just feeling 'normal' to do so.
People with their language hold onto oddities out of habit,
But also, linguistically, seek pattern.
Language is a never-ending process of transformation--
Formerly, the nominative, 'Thou' was the singular,
'Inc' addressed two persons, and for more than two, 'Ye' was spoken.
Historically, further back, there was most probably,
'I, me', and 'that' for he and she, and 'those' for they!
What sounded normal to one, was eventually odd and 'wrong' by another.

Are Audio Books a Form of Reading? opus 608

The ability to read is an important aspect of human life.
The debate has begun as to whether audio books count as reading.
According to an NPR-Ipsos poll,
40% of adults felt such books were not a form of reading:
This poll was comprised of men 65 years old and older,
And those with no four-year college degree.
But what does science say? No significant difference,
Between reading, or listening to, or doing both.
The information retained was basically the same!
HOWEVER, school-aged students did worse when utilizing audio alone.
In other words, they comprehended, understood, and recalled less than readers.
So, when one is learning to read, one needs the actual experience of reading!

The Momentum of Speech opus 612

I have been struggling doing business on the phone,
Especially with young women.
Because they talk so fast, it is difficult to follow at times.
The scuttlebutt is that Gen-Zers talk faster than Millenials,
Because of the former being exclusively exposed
To the ever-expanding, all-consuming, social media.
Also, scientists record that greater numbers of women
Are using a growly, creaky, 'annoying' speech pattern now named 'vocal fry'.
But why, in general, are people speaking faster now?
One study implies that listeners find fast-talkers more persuasive.
Slow speakers can be assumed to be less intelligent or competent,
While very fast talkers might be seen as less truthful or less kindhearted.
In a competitive society, people might hurry their words for fear of being interrupted.
A bustling, competitive or clamorous school environment might reinforce rapid speech;
A child or older student learns to speak hastily to be heard.
If we interrupt each other in society, rapid speech becomes a survival skill.

Social dynamics in our high pressured society
May have a great influence on women's speech:
Women are taking a greater role in the workplace,
Competing with men, who some surveys show, talk faster,
So it is natural that young women compete back by also speaking faster.
The other factor, along with this, is that sexes mimic each other
And just like cultural mimicry with an accent,
Speed might also be imitated so that one better fits in with peers.
High pressure workplaces require quick information delivery.
Fear of interruption in that workplace causes a rush to finish thoughts.
And if there is emotional intensity involved,
This might lead to uncontrolled rapid speech.

At any rate in my nearly 84 years listening to others speak,
I definitely notice an increase in speaking velocity,
Especially in young women, who are definitely
Dominating the telephone answering services.
This is not prejudice, but merely an old guy observing his fellows.

Do Voters Choose Their Politicians OR Do the Politicians Choose Their Voters? opus 626

The simple thought is that, of course, voters choose their candidates.
In a perfect world, that is what ideally occurs.
But there is a device, disparagingly named Gerrymandering*--
The politicians' manipulation of voting boundaries,
Resulting in the reverse--the politicians' determining their voters.
See what Texas Republicans are now doing
To create five new Representatives in Congress;
And realize the reaction of California--using the same opposing manipulation.
And then multiply another Gerrymandered state, and then another.
We are no longer governing for the good of the people,
But spending all our energy to simply gain power,
With little time to govern wisely for the people.
A tragedy, indeed: A manifestation of insatiable human territorial greed.

(* Gerrymandering was named after Elbridge Gerry (pronounced originally with a hard G),
Massachusetts governor in 1812, who signed a bill, creating a partisan district in the Boston area,
in the shape of a mythical salamander, thus creating the portmanteau 'Gerry-mander'.)

Myself Or Me? opus 627

When they see MYSELF (ME!) cooking, they are impressed.
I can cook anything MYSELF (ME - No, No, No!), in spite of them.
People are, more often, using 'myself' totally incorrecty.
'ME' is a plain old object in a sentence,
While 'myself' reflects back to an ability or an accomplishment;
It is used reflexively (no object), for emphasis, or in absolute constructions.
Eg: I hurt myself; I myself did it; Myself busy, I sent him instead.
So, let's try to get this correct--
I am sure YOU (object) can learn this YOURSELF (reflexive)!
I know language changes, but, please, this misuse is too much.

Me or I? opus 632

My CPA (a young man) emailed me an invitation--
"Can you come to a meeting with Marc and I on Friday at 2?"
I answered: "Yes, Me will be there at 2 on Friday."
Then: "If you can substitute a nominative (I)
For an accusative (me), (. . . with Marc and I . . . ),
So am I able to substitute an accusative (me)
For a nominative (I), (. . . Me will. . .)"

("Just emulating your grammar!")
"All in fun,"  Frank.

A Possible Fate opus 650

S***, I M** N** B* A*** T* S**** A* I A***** H*** B*****...
Is this the fate of our future?
Remember the bravery of our forefathers and mothers.
I wish, still, to live in the land of the Free.
May 17 September 2025 not be a date in infamy!

I rest my case. Frank.

'My' Has Evolved to 'I's'! opus 655

Listening to the news this morning,
I heard a story about a dog film actor.
The owner/trainer was describing his story,
Explaining that, "Lassie was my wife's and I's dog."
As in biology, where some mutations are truly extreme,
This linguistic 'mutation' is amazing and one for the books!
The question, as with all mutations, is will it survive and perpetuate?

Bellwether opus 687

Managing a small farm, sometimes with sheep,
I have always been amused by the term 'bellwether'. 
I know one would initially think
Of a bell ringing to warn of the weather.
Today, we use it for someone or something
That leads the way or points out a trend.
Historically, though, the usage first appeared in English
In the 15th century, remaining to this day.
In Middle English, 'Belle' meant a ringing bell
And 'wether' was originally a male sheep,
Later to become a castrated male sheep.
This animal was designated to be the leader of the flock.
By using a castrated individual, rather than an 'active' male
May have designated, more accurately, the flock's position.
(This is my own speculation as a farmer and biologist.)
The sound of the bell was, of course, 
To locate the flock's whereabouts. 
It is interesting how word use shifts through the ages.

From Where Does He Come--'van' or 'von'? opus 698

His name was Ludwig van Beethoven.
He was born in Bonn, Germany, 1770.
If one looks carefully at his name,
One sees 'van'.  What is all that about?
Shouldn't it be 'von'?
'Von' in German, means 'from'.
But wait, 'van' in Dutch also means 'from'.
So the question is, 'from' where came Beethoven?
Most of us have never scrutinized his name in this way--
Just lovers of the written word, I guess.
So, if one checks out his genealogy,
One discovers that Beethoven's grandfather
Came from the Netherlands;  thus the 'van',
And it stuck with him on all his manuscripts!

The Softness of the German 'Trost' opus 745

I was chatting one evening on the phone with Marianne,
A Swiss-German speaker; her mother tongue.
Somehow the word 'Trost' came up and 
She could not remember its English meaning.
After some discussion, we sussed out its meaning.

COMFORT -- general relief from distress.
CONSOLATION -- for something that alleviates.
SOLACE -- a formal poetic term, 
                   finding peace in religion, nature, or art.

When spoken, this word is soft in its feeling and sound.
There are those who claim German to be harsh--
Not true and if spoken from the heart as if to a lover,
Elicits passion, and depth, and solace to the listener.
This is a word to be spoken by any and many
And if correctly understood, would bring peace 
As well as compassion for the world.