Have you heard the words battle ground and swing often enough this election cycle? It’s not difficult to click on a thesaurus (e.g., Merriam-Webster, Roget II, or WorldNet.), but the American news media seems allergic to synonyms in this presidential campaign. And, we’ve been condemned to cliche hell.
Until recently, I couldn’t figure out why the two political parties were spending so much money to woo the 806 people living in Battle Ground, Indiana (Tippecanoe County), [click here to read all of this swinging post]
Maybe, soon, swing will again have connotations that I enjoy.
far from home
an empty swing
half my size
by Roberta Beary for Anita Virgil) in Frogpond XIX:3 (1996)
& A New Resonance 2: (Red Moon Press, 2001)
our kids on the swing
old enough to push each other
april evening
by Matt Morden from A New Resonance 2: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku (Jim Kacian, Dee Evetts, eds. Red Moon Press, 2001)
update: Don’t miss our follow-up on today’s post: first thing we do — kill all the cliches!
If you want to find your own voice as a blawger, head over to Fed84’s guest post
at Notes from the (Legal) Underground.
The Haiku Guy, professor-poet David G. Lanoue, has responded already to my suggestion
that he pen a State Haiku for Louisiana. David likes the “little sister” haiku that I posted, and
also proposes:
hard Louisiana rain
indoors
in beer
Since Ernie the Attorney got us started on this, I hope he gets in touch with Prof. Lanoue.
from dagosan:
first date:
she groans with pleasure
at my pun
[Oct. 20, 2004]
