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.
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