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Lexicon

The language becomes narrower each day;

Our actions and our words decelerate.

Only in the aftermath of slaughter

Do we attempt to find the words for death:

Some words to tick the box and shrug it off,

To come to terms with our cheap cuts of guilt.

Their boy lies, unresponsive, while we live

To relish the chaos of adulthood.

Truth is complicated. Dumped in a hole,

Until j...

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Warpitylanguage

The lower case k

I wrote this for my typography class. We had to research and redesign our assigned letter over six weeks. I couldn't resist a punny opportunity...

 

In ks you forgot 

 

A clog in language

works quietly away

Like the ticks of a clock

Across time and space

 

Fit for a king

At the highest peak

In the deepest sink

Bows the humble k

 

It knocks on the doors

...

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letterklanguagepunstypography

Honey, the Mother Tongue!

mother tongue is the
language
of ambrosia,
dip in it and sip the honey!

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Beautymotherlanguage

Chit Chat

Speaking can feel like your swallowing

So, you may as well swallow instead

Or it’s giving,

Giving and giving

Fingers down your throat,

Retching

Searching for…

Will I be stronger tomorrow?

Or just hollow tomorrow?

So, you end up filling up on someone else’s dictionary

I am disarmed without my language

But my language is disarming

Words do break your bones

Voca...

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silencetalkingtherapyanxietystresstheraputictalkopening updenialstiflesuppressiondepressionquietwordslanguagepoetrypower of words

For the love of language

English is a rebellious tongue

defiant and disobedient.

Like a passionate protestor

it rails against rigid rules

and dodges

pattern and conformity.

And lucky is the linguist

who joins its

joyful dance.

 

Where males may sail

with crews who cruise

past whales in Wales

and foul sea fowl.

And soles are soiled

down lanes well lain

and herds are heard

...

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Poetrylanguagewords

Caledonian Secrets

She’s a mistress that hides her secrets under fret

A flash of Victorian ankle maybe all that you receive

Her true joys often hidden beneath dreich petticoats

She’s the master of mystery, of guile and disguise

 

The tales she tells echo round the glens

Off barren croft walls and empty harbours

Her booming, brooding silence hides voices

Lost on the winds of time, home, yet no...

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Scotlandweatherlanguage

Cet accent

Arrivée il y a vingt-trois ans

Mais comment se fait-il 

Que vous gardez cet accent?

 

Cet accent, qui ne fait pas de liaison

Entre "les" et "oiseaux"

Cet accent, qui prononce "eau" comme "owe."

 

But do you know how to say "owe"?

And do I owe you an explanation?

 

Cet accent, tout le monde le comprend

Certains le trouvent charmant, voire séduisant

Cet accent ...

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accentCultureexpatfrenchlanguage

Language and Viruses

Some writers use poetry

To propound great thoughts

Through deeply intoned vowels,

But poetry is only language,

And you can use it as if

Chatting with a friend

About passing days

And pastimes.

You can pull them in,

Get a laugh or two,

And make them

Trust you

Before thrusting

The knife deep

Into the abdomen,

Drawing it up

Toward the eyes,

As you let...

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poemlanguagevirusviolence.betrayal

Save the words!

Preamble: this is a slam poem and probably works better aloud. I'll try to make a video one day.

I’m here today to speak to you about something of great importance:

We have to save the words!

Dozens of words each day are being lost

We cannot underestimate the intellectual cost

As their natural habitats become corrupted

And their reproductive patterns are being disrupted

Words ...

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emoticonslanguageslam poetry

read poetry while high

Double fuck

hit with some starry metaphor like a hammer smash

can taste the iron of proxima's atmosphere

tangy on a tongue like steak was slapped.

In jest I speak but truly sweet holy fuck

when those twisted sibilant sentences scathe and scrape around the cranial pits.

 

 

 

 

 

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Highlanguagemindspaceweed

One people

I will not fight, I will not stand

For border, nor for any land

I need not know, am not concerned

Your place of birth or language learned

Too many wars are fought, too many die

Over province, pride, triumphal lie

 

I will not guard, I will not bar

The stranger landed from afar

They need a home, and wish to settle

Want to work, to show their metal

We can only profit...

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refugeesstrangersincomersexilesemigrantspacifismwarshomelandlanguagecustomsculture

Warrior of Words

I’m a warrior of words

And I’ll fight you to the death

With my pen

For the right to speak my thoughts aloud.

I’ll tread the boards and stand before the crowd

Though I might need a moment to gather my thoughts

And choose a subject for an almighty discourse;

Life, Liberty and freedom, the usual sort of thing

I’ll have to wing it: speak off the cuff

I may even throw somethi...

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languagewords

French Invasion

Since the bloody Battle of Hastings
When 'Arold got killed by French Bill
We've seen an endless invasion of French
And I've just about had my fill
 
Don't we have enough words of our own
In this wonderful language of ours?
- To seek and find le mot juste
Dunt take much linguistic power

It seems using French has been with us forever
Passed down as a fait accompli
Have we ever really tr...

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franglaislanguagetongue in cheek

Language

The only thing in life is language

not love, not anything else

Not tears

not laughter

But those things may come after

It's words that matter

Because words come from deep within

because all our thoughts,

all our feelings,

are melted down inside our skin

and from our lips come words,

language,

not love

Not anything else

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lifelanguage

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