Today's word is
You know, I've had a tough time getting poetic around the last couple of words, and that happens sometimes. This last couple of words has been just too...I don't know. It's not that the words are intrinsically boring; they certainly don't have to be. And it's not that they're all sharp and formal, business attire for tongue and pen. It's not. They just haven't connected yet in my head with anything that carries any emotional meaning to me.
But the dictionary is like -- god help me -- a chocolate box. Most of the goodies in there will do the trick, salve your sweet tooth, make you happy for a minute and a half. Some are too complicated, others simply not to your taste. Every once in awhile, though, you run across one that's an old favorite that you'd completely forgotten existed until someone held it up for you to choose.
I loved this word when I first heard it out of my mother's mouth pronounced "VAY•pid." I have loved it even more pronounced "VAP•id."
I hope I can think of a poem in which to use it today.
*****
Thursday, 5:38 p.m.
Okay, it took me more than one day. But I've been busy elsewhere, so I excuse myself.
Oh, vapid biology --
Oh mucous, oh hormones --
Oh drama and pretense,
posturing and positioning --Oh, novelty that fades --
Oh birth that's always miraculous
but not always welcome
and never special --Oh death that's always inevitable
but not always unwelcome
and ultimately so ordinary as to be banal
every time
in spite of the mystery and fear --Oh --
I guess you must have a pretty interesting view on life if you see "vapid" as a chocolate coming out of a box - I have always liked the word simply because it seems to sum up the life interests/mental awareness of so many of my aunts.
Posted by: elizabeth | July 02, 2007 at 04:05 PM
No wheelchair boxers among them, eh?
Posted by: Sara | July 02, 2007 at 04:30 PM