Category: reference works

Wikipedia, dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopaedias

K2

The bare bones of a name,
all rock and ice
and storm and abyss.

It makes no attempt to sound human.
It is atoms and stars.
It has the nakedness of the world
before the first man—

or of the cindered planet
after the last.

Italian climber Tosco Maraini describing the name K2.

The substance without the shadow

I would not seek to set up
that which Providence hath destroyed
and laid in the dust,
and I would not build Jericho again.
– Oliver Cromwell

Did not wish to spend winters in England.
Felt too sick to accept. Felt he could do
his work better without it. In protest
at the nomination of The Beatles
for the MBE. Silly. What you get if you
clean the toilets well at King’s Cross;
sort of thing given to civil servants.
Man, I’m a Star Wars fan – empire is bad:
a Ruritanian charade that helps
to prop up the top-heavy monarchy.
It reminds me of how my foremothers
were raped and my forefathers brutalised.
A symbol of slavery and suffering;
British Empire, a brutal, bloody thing.

(Some potential recipients
have rejected one honour
then accepted another
or have initially refused an honour
then accepted it or
have accepted one honour
then declined another
or refused in the hope
of another higher)

From the List of people who have declined a British honour.

43-Man Squamish

Penalties are applied for infractions
such as walling the Pritz,
icing on fifth snivel,
running with the mob,
rushing the season,
inability to face facts,
or sending the Dummy home early.

The game officials are a Probate Judge
dressed as a British judge, with wig,
a Field Representative
in a Scottish kilt,
a Head Cockswain
in long overcoat,
and a Baggage Smasher
dressed as a male beachgoer
in pre–World War I years.

Competitors wear gloves,
a helmet, and flippers.
They pursue the Pritz,
constructed from untreated ibex hide,
stuffed with blue jay feathers.

Play begins after a frullip
is touched to the flutney
and the recitation
Mi tío es enfermo,
pero la carretera es verde!

Most squamish games consist of seven Ogres,
unless of course, it rains.

From the rules for 43-man Squamish, conceived by Mad Magazine in 1965.

When in France

The sheets on this bed are damp.
The radiator doesn’t work.
I cannot sleep at night, there is so much noise.

I have lost my keys.
I cannot open my case.
It doesn’t work.

Excuse me, sir, that seat is mine.
I cannot find my ticket!
That man is following me everywhere.

There has been an accident!
Someone robbed me.
He has lost consciousness.

I feel sick. The noise is terrible.
I did not know that I had to pay.
I am lost. He is losing blood.

From Collins’ Pocket Interpreters: France, 1937.

The legacy of Chuchi-jo

The Kan’ei-ji temple is a quiet pagoda
home to a simple engraved stone.
Here supporters of the emperor
attacked the forces of the last Tokugawa shogun.

Home to a simple engraved stone,
a memorial to the souls.
Attacked the forces of the last Tokugawa shogun
(there are still bullet holes).

A memorial to the souls:
Matsuyama was plagued by guilt
(there are still bullet holes)
crickets and grasshoppers that had been killed.

Matsuyama was plagued by guilt
guilt at having caused the deaths;
crickets and grasshoppers that had been killed,
killed in the production of a scientific text.

Guilt at having caused the deaths.
To console the spirits of the flies
killed in the production of a scientific text,
few visitors stop by.

To console the spirits of the flies.
Here supporters of the emperor…
Few visitors stop by;
the Kan’ei-ji temple is a quiet pagoda.

From the listing for Mushizuka at Kan’ei-ji Temple.

Flowerspeak

Poppy, scarlet, fantastic extravagance,
Damask rose, brilliant complexion;
Camellia, red, unpretending excellence,
Japan rose, beauty is your only attraction.
Mistletoe, I surmount difficulties,
Rose, daily, thy smile I aspire to;
Citron, ill-natured beauty,
Mulberry tree, I shall not survive you.
Sorrel, wild, wit ill-timed,
Butterfly weed, let me go;
Hundred-leaved rose, dignity of mind,
Cistus, gum, I shall die tomorrow.
American starwort, cheerfulness in old age,
Locust tree, green, affection beyond the grave.

(Flower meanings from Collier’s Cyclopedia, 1882)