Big Words Scare Me
jules’ interpretations of Poetry #3
I am feeling a bit apprehensive about today’s interpretation. But, hey, what is a challenge without fear mixed in. Today, I take on a haiku series by my mentoring challenger, Marcus
When this popped into my feed, I seriously wanted to ignore it. You see, if I am completely honest, the primary reason I avoided poetry for so long was the big words that I had no definitions for. If writing is about speaking to your audience, then I am not a member of this group.
Big words instantly make me feel stupid. Is there a word for that?
Looking back, it is the fear of looking ignorant that kept me away from a lot of challenges throughout my life.
So here we go. The first sentence in my stream of consciousness:
The title, Onomatopoeia, what the hell Marcus.
Now, I have to stop the flow of my reading before it even starts to go look up the word. Merriam-Webster says the essential meaning is:
the creation of words that imitate natural sounds Buzz and hiss are examples of onomatopoeia.
Why didn’t you just say that? Anyway, on to the rest of the poem.
My favorite stanza in his poem:
The jester smiles wide Knowing his needs will be fed as wind chimes the snow
Right or wrong, as wind chimes the snow, fit into the meaning I read for Onomatopoeia. Chime is one of those words. I immediately heard the gentle “ting” while envisioning the swirl of snow in the wind. Since the poem was based on a visual given as a prompt, I could see the “ting” of the hearts beating in the swirl of humanly desire.
As I sat in my contemplation of Marcus’ poem, I could hear the rain outside. So, I decided to try my hand at a haiku series.
pitter patter drops wind whips give strength in numbers engagement blended wet streets darkly shine slippery surface cautions veil of storms thunder dance steps in the rain solo in a chorus line communities form
Pitter patter, I believe, could be considered an onomatopoeia.
Perhaps the rain is nature’s way of showing us a life lesson about divine oneness. Each of us a drop in the universal pool of life. As I continue the path on the language of poetry, I will try my best to move beyond my fear of big words and build a bigger vocabulary. It’s just another change in perspective, I guess.
I used two websites to help with my understanding and word counts
