Cringe-worthy Words/Phrases

"Early Release!" Those are two words that makes me cringe. When prisoners are paroled, they use the term "early release!" The bad effects of early release usually makes the news, such as when a recent parolee commits a crime and opponents comes out in droves.

The sign above isn't about early release from prisons but about schools. Why do we use the same phrase to describe schools sending children home earlier to their parents. 

Another word that drives me nutty is that combination word from horrible and terrific. I can't even write it because I don't want to propagate its use. When something is just plain horrible, let's use horrible. Or, if you want to change it up a bit, then use terrible. If it scared you then scary or terrify is good enough. 

What phrases/words makes you cringe? And why?

Here's a poem that is included in the Bards of Broward: The Courtyard Chronicles

The Last Inhabitants

Lizards lounging on a ledge,

Or window-sill but safely inside

their spaceship while outside,

a planet on the verge.

I looked closer and saw them

Lizards lounging about some interior

And outside the Earth was about to explode

Only the lizards are safe, only the lizards escaped.

With their gilded, glossy skin

And dewlaps extended to warn

Of humans overrunning on Earth:

Animal and plant species on the brink of extinction

Foreign species introduction and proliferation

Human nations on the verge of annihilation.

Lizards lounging and looking out the portal:

A last look at what was once home.

Copyright 2016 Suzzette Dawes

Bards of Broward: The Courtyard Chronicles is available from Amazon.com

Share your thoughts below!

Making time...

Sometimes we bite off more than we can chew. Yeah, that's what I will attribute my absence on social media. Well, my new goal is to make time: 1 hour on Sunday to read posts and post so here goes:

Join the South Regional Poetry Club for "The Poetry of India"
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
South Regional/BC Library Conference Room
http://ems.browardlibrary.org/MasterCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?EventDetailId=216610

Open Mic with South Florida Poetry Journal
Saturday, March 4, 2017
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Main Library Bienes Museum Ceremonial Room
http://ems.browardlibrary.org/MasterCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?EventDetailId=218718

Cabaret Poetry Workshop
Hosted by Anastasia Clark
Weston Library
4205 Bonaventure Blvd
Weston, Florida 33332
11am -1 pm on April 8, 2017
https://www.facebook.com/events/380847565604307/?ti=icl

Let's make some time and attend these poetry events!

Inauguration Day -5

Everytime I see that statement, I cringe. I want to ask was it ever there? When did it leave?

Elegance

Pageant ready on a plagiarized platform.

Rosy cheeks that you kiss when you greet

On pale skin -- pure like the driven snow.

The driven snow? So now I know

Elegance, like melatonin, is something innate,

socially acceptable and can infatuate

The populace with just a smile.

That perfect smile and long, wavy hair

reminiscing with his mail-order bride

Unhinged by his impeding, lessening rights

Made great again with the right candidate

Protecting and dictating women's reproductive rights. 

Inauguration Day -12

As we edge closer to that day, I picture what I would say if I was the Inaugural Poet.

     Great Again!

We can be shallow. We can be deep.

Even a dense fog or murky river

Doesn't reveal what's beneath -- the anti-hero

owns honesty and tells how it should be,

Never buckling to political correctness' pressure

to tolerate differences and welcome strangers.

Let us forget about Japanese-American internment

in World War II lest a pattern of history will repeat!

Knowing the definition of insanity can't deter

enemies within us contributing to the snafu -

how we look to the world. If only we were in a vacuum,

isolated from others. Ridicule is our new backdrop

making us low so we can rise to be great again!

Inauguration day -18

I thought I had an original idea that I would dedicate the next several days writing a poem that would be suitable for the inauguration. To my dismay, several poets already have poems since December on 2017inauguralpoem.blogspot.com/2016/12/welcome.html

These poets are very passionate. Tell me how do I compare?

This poem is similar to the "I am" poem but I use "I want"

I want to...

I want to party like when I was young

I want to rejoice and sing the songs that was sung.

I want to orate and hear the crowd applause

I want to tantalize, oh just because...

I want to explain my poor behavior.

I want to set the record and be an anchor.

I want to thank the one percenters with less tax.

I want to tax to the max the middle class.

I want to revoke all health subsidies to the working poor.

I want to umbellate my ideals to the world.

I want to marry and divorce as I please,

I want to preserve family values!

Accomplishments & Goals

In that mode to reflect on accomplishments of 2016 and goals for 2017 and beyond. I stopped talking about resolutions and decided to do goals. Resolutions has a negative connotation thanks to the gym's ads which is all so true for many people who make a resolution to exercise and go heavy at it January and then fall off after February. So I don't want a resolution. I want a goal that may take a week to accomplish or 2 years to accomplish. If it is a 2 year goal like finishing a course of study then I can set mini-goals per semester that brings me closer to my main goal.

Going forward what are your main goals? Take some time to think about it and make a list (yes, that sounds very resolution-like). Then based on your resources, make a timeline. Well, if I wanted to bake and decorate a cake for someone in January, then my timeline would end on the exact date in January. Baking a decorating a cake may not seem like a difficult thing but what if you wanted to use the new technique not yet learned. Then that would make you learn the technique to apply the technique.

Also, once timelines are added in, some list items may need to be changed to another date, postponed for when it can be added back into the list or sacrificed. Therefore, having a goal, setting timelines to accomplish the goal and seeing how goal fits in with other goals provides a more dynamic list. Further, if the unexpected occur, you can modify the goals.

For example, this 2016 year, I decided to enroll in studies which was my main goal so my writing (including my blog writing) became more sporadic so I modified my prior goal of daily to weekly to at least once a month and I sacrificed cake decorating in August. I also limited my social media presence.

For 2017 year, I plan to make some changes although the studies will still be my main goal but I really want to write weekly, exercise daily (sounding like a resolution, here) and maintain my limited social media presence. Note that the studies were a 2016 goal with a timeline of 2 years; the writing more frequently was a goal that I started back in 2013; exercise, not fooling anyone, used to be a yearly resolution but I have a new approach: just 15 minutes daily of walking, cycling, gliding and check it off on my calendar which sounds more doable than hours at the gym.

What are your goals or resolution for 2017?

In the meantime, check our BardsofBroward.com. This actually started as one of the projects for my studies but I have removed some pages from the project and added in some other pages to make this site. What is your opinion?

One Last Time for 2016

One last time for 2016
Let the voices be heard
in the halls, in the aisles
and especially in the courtyard!

for one last time in 2016...