Ginny Lindzey
Writing/Poetry Page

Occasionally I play around with writing Double Dactyls and Haiku. I had lost many of the Double Dactyls I had written but recently came across some in an old spiral. I decided for safe keeping I would post them on my web pages. I don't pretend that they are anything great; just something I amuse myself with.

For more on Double Dactyls, please see "Re: Results of the Double-Dactyl Competition"  You can also read my review on Tonight They All Dance, a book of Latin and English haiku.

Double Dactyls

Vesuvial Suicide

Higgledy Piggledy
Pliny the Elderly,
Taking a nap under
     Volcanic skies.
What was he thinking? Such
Idiosyncrasy!
Just as well--I suppose
     Everyone dies.

           * * *

Unwelcome Harbor Guest

Higgledy Piggledy
Emperor Claudius,
Taking delight in at-
     tacking a whale--
Made up a new game called
Orcanaumachia;
Chariot fighters in
     Rome now seem pale.
(This did happen in Ostia; Pliny the Elder records it. Strange thing--a ship of hides from Gaul had shipwrecked in the harbor while it was under construction. A killer whale came to eat the hides and got stuck in the shallow waters. Claudius brought Praetorian Guards and made a spectacle of killing the whale, as if it were a show during the games.)

           * * *

Haunted House

Clinkity Clankety
AthenoDOrus, phi-
lospher, purchasing
     Cheap real estate,
Faced up to hauntings with
parapsychology,
buried the bones--now he's
     Lost his roommate.
(From Pliny the Younger's letters.)

           * * *

Ninth Month

Wiggledy-Squiggledy
Tobin the Parasite,
Fetalaerobically
     Moving about,
Tumbling and cartwheeling
Amniaquatically--
Why can't you just seem to
     Find the way out?
(clearly written late summer 1995)

           * * *

Falco's Dad

Higgledy Piggledy
Didius Geminus
Caught nicking gifts that were
     Bought by his boy,
"You know by now I'm a
Filifinangler,
Shady shenanigans--
     My pride and joy."
(with apologies to Lindsey Davis)

           * * *

Zero to Hero

Higgledy Piggledy
Hercules, "Jerkules,"
Hades' opponent in
     Seizing the top;
Thwarted his takeover
Superheroic'ly
(Disneyesque artistry
     sells in a shop.)

           * * *

Sabine Women

Higgledy Piggledy
Women of Sabine, who
Rushed into battle 'twixt
     Husbands and Dads,
Though their own rapes started
Filiopatricide,
Dropped the bomb: PREGNANCY--
     No one left sad.

           * * *

Luck of the Dice

Higgledy Piggledy
Emperor Claudius
Suffered from passions--yea,
     Verily--vice;
Gambled on marriages
(Ludifututio);*
Bettered his chances by
     Playing at dice.
(Ludifututio was coined by the illustrious Peter Green. It means f***ing game.)

           * * *

Pontilianus

Higgledy Piggledy
Pontilianus, ac-
quaintance of Martial and
    Rather a pest;
"Send me your book!" M said
epigrammatic'ly
"Risk reciprocity?
    Surely you jest!"

           * * *

(MORE COMING SOON)

           * * *
 

Haiku

de te cogitans

sola sedeo
tua in umbra grata
sed tu non ades.
(summer 2002)

Thinking of You
(translation)

All alone I sit
in your comforting shadow
but you are not here.
(summer 2003)

* * *

Narcissus (aka, my son Tobin)

The eloquent child
admires his silent language
in each reflection.
(summer 2003)

* * *

Sole Counselor

Drowning in sadness
the woman speaks soothingly
to her own hot tears.
(summer 2003)

* * *

Home

The quiet beauty
of slanted sunlight fills my
home, bringing me peace.
(summer 2003)

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Last updated August 3, 2003.