Jennifer Liston

Poem a Day for 19 April 2012: House of hedgehog

Written by

Jennifer Liston

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Here’s my poem for day number 19 in my poem-a-day project for April.

I received Sydney Writers’ Centre e-newsletter today and after reading the ‘Weird Words’ section, this poem prickled its way onto the page.

House of hedgehog

I love it when a word
springs off the page
and startles me,
grabbing my neck
with first and last syllables,
tightening its hold
with middle syllables,
then releasing me,
standing back, cheeky,
to inspect me.
I love it when a word
wants to be welcomed
into the lemon-scented home of my vocabulary,
paraded in front of other residents,
admired, tasted, heard.
I love it when a word
wants to mark its own terrain in my lexicon.
The word that did this to me today?
Erinaceous.

Comments

4 responses to “Poem a Day for 19 April 2012: House of hedgehog”

  1. Mike Avatar
    Mike

    Yes, I saw that as well, and for a nano-second considered incorporating it into a poem. I decided it couldn’t be done. You’ve proved me wrong.

    Love the “lemon-scented home of my vocabulary”.

    Reply
  2. Jen Avatar
    Jen

    Yes, I couldn’t let it go and it wouldn’t let me. Seems we were in sync today; we considered the same word and posted at almost exactly the same time.

    How did Words at the Wall go? Was really sorry I couldn’t go.

    Reply
  3. Mike Avatar
    Mike

    W@W went very well. Good turnout. About 35 people. I wouldn’t have paired Alison and Jill myself (Maggie’s doing) – they are so utterly different. But most people seemed to enjoy it. Both performed very well. Alison sold several of her books. As Russ said, a really good Scottish / Irish pairing would have been Alison and you.

    Reply
  4. Jen Avatar
    Jen

    35 sounds like a reasonable turnout. Hee hee, I’d say Alison and I would’ve had a bit of craic!

    Reply

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