The Evolution of English

Over the course of history,

English has undergone many changes.

As it is spoken by,

Many people in different places.

Its roots are entrenched in 450 AD,

When Germanic tribes arrive in Briton,

They brought with them a new language,

And were called the Anglo-Saxons.

While few to none of the words in Briton,

Had been assimilated from the Roman vocabulary,

The Anglo-Saxons new language,

Was appreciated for its ease and contemporaneity.

With simple words like “house”

And a “loaf” of bread,

Their vocabulary was,

Much more appreciated.

Besides such domestic words,

They also gave more abstract contributions.

For “Tiw's day”, “Woden's day”, “Thor's day” and “Frey's day”,

Are all based on their immortal pantheon.

After the Germanic era,

In what is believed to be 597 AD,

English was enlarged even more,

By the advent of Christianity.

Thanks to the Roman penchant for conquest,

Latin had been something to abhor,

Christianity's themes of love and peace,

Helped popularize “font”, “bishop” and “martyr”.

Time and history passed on,

Then, cerca 800 AD, or so,

Along came the Vikings,

Bringing violent words galore.

Their language was extremely brutal,

And reflected their rapacious lives,

For among the over 2,000 words English gained,

Were “drag”, “ransack”, “give”, “take” and “die”.

And so the years passed, once again,

Until 1066 came around,

With William the Conqueror,

Taking the British crown.

From France he brought,

Terms such as “council” and “parliament”,

And eventually made anglicized French,

The language of government.

Besides words with such political definitions,

There came some with legal meaning,

Such as “evidence”, “justice”, “jury” and “judge”,

Which are used today to describe more than criminal' dirty dealings.

And over time, new words came into being,

As people of various occupations,

Coined new terms to describe the things,

They interacted with on a frequent or daily basis/

“Cow”, “Sheep” and “Swine”,

Came from the English farmers,

While “beef”, “mutton” and “pork”,

Came from those wealthy enough to buy them.

And so many, many words were derived from the Normans,

Such as “jewel”, “fruit”, “music” and “melody”,

But all was not so blissful or peaceful,

As shown by “war”, “poor”, “pain” and the need for “charity”.

Then, as the Hundred Years war began,

Nations added new terms to their vocabulary.

Mostly military words and phrases,

Like “solider”, “army” and “navy².

Well, this occurred from the fourteenth to fifteenth century,

Then Shakespeare rose to prominence,

And created a vast array of new words,

That are still used in today's English.

Certainly worth “perusing”,

Are his contributions,

He alone created thousands of terms,

For his plays and compositions.

After the Shakespearean era,

Came King James' Bible in 1611,

Instead of words, it gave English phrases,

Like the metaphorical “fly in the ointment”.

The “ends of the earth” were visualized,

and Hell's depths given “fire and brimstone”.

As the “powers that be” fulfilled their “heart's desire”,

When laymen believed that they had “the wisdom of Solomon”.

But as religion began to fade away,

Science accrued numerous discoveries,

Leaving scientists to describe their concepts,

With new words like “pendulum” and “electricity”

Alongside the “gravity” of physics,

Another burgeoning field was biology.

With words like “acid”, “tonsil” and “cardiac,

English was growing quite rapidly³.

Besides the flourishing sciences,

So too was English spreading,

As the British Empire,

Decided that the world needed conquering.

First, they went to the Carribean,

And learned to “barbecue”.

But this hardly interested those back home,

So they pretended that “cannibals” captained the “canoes”

Then onwards to India,

Where they gave the natives an plethora of problems,

In exchange for learning “yoga”,

And about cummerbunds and the color crimson.

Later, Africa too was invaded,

And their religion reduced to mockery,

As the words taken were given negative connotations,

Like “voodoo” and “zombie”.

Their eastern interests, satisfied,

The British turned to look south,

Then proceede to ravage Australia,

while “nuggets” and “boomerangs” were picked up.

Then as the empire began to fail,

America rose to prominance and power,

Spreading their version of the language,

And changing English forever.

It started in the 17^th century,

As, filled with hope,

Settlers arrived on America's shores,

From all across Europe.

After arrival, the pilgrims,

Said a Thanksgivng grace,

Amazed by the abundance of life,

Like “pumpkins” and “maize”.

Though they would eventually “squash” the native culture,

(The word was actually supposed to describe the plant),

They also partook of the “moose” and “racoon”,

Before claiming all the land.

But these Britishers were not alone,

In describing the food in America.

The Dutch brought “cookies”, the Germans “pretzels”,

The Italians? “Pizza”, “Pasta” and the “Mafia”³.

After the 1800's came the Industrial Revoultion,

Which dominated the century,

As words like “whitecollar” and “bluechip”,

Were used in the economy.

“Capitalism”, was the economic system,

People capitalized on for their gain,

But the malpractice and “mergers” of monopolies,

Led to “price-fixing” and “downsizing”.

Then came the “World Wars”, ending the Depression,

But taking many men's livelihoods,

And along with “breadlines” and “bomber jets”,

It brought about the rationing of goods.

Post this time of conflict,

Came the Technological Revolution,

As the creation of “cellphones” and “laptops”

Changed language and “telecommunications”⁵.

Yet, despite English's growing diction

The prevalece of electronic abbreviations

Is placing many terms near extinction.

Words like “” and “” are in a precarious situation

So, to the reader, it should be quite apparent,

That, like most other things, there is nothing stable about language.

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1. Well, that put a damper on “charity”, as “markets” closed
   and most people lost their desire for “mercy”.
2. In part due ot the Royal Society,
   Which was founded in sixteen sixty.
3. Though the last is not edible,
   They were quite instrumental,
   In American culture, and deserve a mention,
   Though their ethics were questionable.

4. x

5. With the arrival of “email” and “tweeting”,
   Paper and ink near oblivion, replaced by “text messaging”.
   Social Media is also greatly expanding
   With blogs and Facebook giving a new meaning to “liking”.
   As “selfies” and “snapchats” become more important,
   And people thrive on status updates
   “Nomophobia” is increasingly prevalent.
   And replies cannot seem to wait.
   Then, to guard our precious “software”
   We “download” protections
   Among which are “Anti-virus” programs and “firewalls”
   To secure our private information

(If you like long, historically-oriented poems, I have another interminable one on a particularly fascinating epoch coming soon....)

Playground

Like psychedelic stars,
shards of glass sparkle,
on the expanse of black tar.

Yet less than a few feet away,
a puddle glows like liquid gold
under the afternoon sun's rays.

Shouts and laughter blur behind,
Car horns and shrieking whistles,
As cacophonous conversations collide.

Yet birds still trill their melodies,
Barely audible unless you are listening,
their music flowing from the trees

The jungle gym spreads,
the rungs caging us in,
steel branches overhead.

Yet we can soar past the clouds.
On the swings we fly,
To the farthest reaches of imagination.

The world is only black and white.
Some things sit in dark,
others in light.

Yet sometimes, under the slide,
Grey shadows cover those who walk,
Between the woodchip lines.

Retribution

For so only so much time,
is it possible for them to try,
to pull the wool over other's eyes,
and believe that when shrouded in lies,
their secrets shall not ever come to light

For when one takes leave of their senses,
there will come a time when despite their pretensions,
they shall be left to wallow in stillness,
burdened by the weight of consequences.

Retribution is greater than revenge,
and is a much more potent lesson,
for it shows no discrimination,
and shatters every false illusion,
in harsh, brilliant illumination.

So they lie in solitude,
their own hearts and heads their only refuge,
as mistakes cannot be removed,
indelible marks, inked in rue,
for they shadow everything the errant shall do.

I apologize for the delay. Things have been quite hectic the past two weeks.

All talk and tears

There once was an organization,

Called The United Nations,

A decade ago,

After meetings and so,

They came to eight conclusions.

The Millennium Development Goals,

As they were so called,

Were meant to try,

And bring to right,

The problems of the world.

We listen to really sad songs,

which lamented all the many wrongs,

In the world, as it is,

And the way many people live,

In places where mercy is gone.

There are pictures we see,

That show the carnage caused by cruelty,

Or the plight of those,

Who have lost all hope,

And who were treated inhumanely.

They bring no tears to my eyes,

Though others may take fright,

For what good does it give,

To sob and shriek and snivel,

Then decide to ignore their plight?

They who dwell in ambiguity

Have no need of our pity,

For they are people too,

Who can laugh and love true,

And would much prefer global amity,

To the enmity that is characterizes their grim reality.

A visit to a village

Off the bus, onto the grounds,

Oh, gracious me,

Half the houses are thatched huts,

With absolutely no privacy!

Goats in the paths

People everywhere,

No personal space,

And vehicles are rare.

The children, however,

Smile in absolute glee,

Such a quantity of visitors,

Is a treat, to say the least.

The others pair off,

As the children gather round,

I stand, utterly confused,

“translate for me, anyone?”

I just think you should know,

I had moved here a couple months ago,

And though it was my first tongue,

Now Tamil is confusing to the core.

I tag along with Rupaa,

And some other girls,

The village kids are spinning tops,

would we like some turns?

Wind the string round the wood body,

(The tops look a lot like turnips)

To spin them, hold, then release,

While you twist your wrist.

I decide to take a turn,

But to my chagrin,

The wooden thing goes “thud”,

Without a single spin.

I had spun the thread,

Then flicked it right,

But it hit the sand hard,

And I said “I tried”.

Those villagers,

Were a whole different sort,

As with minuscule effort,

they could spin those tops.

Little wood tornadoes in the hands,

The skill with which they were twirled

Spinning in the sands,

left me quite impressed.

In conclusion,

I would say this goes to show,

That life is can be quite interesting,

Without a touchscreen in tow.

(This visit occurred sometime this March, I believe)

First Impressions

Bare brown skin,

caked in the dust of a thousand feet,

All rushing around,

never a pause to breathe.

Draped in a riot of colors,

a patchwork of cultures and creations.

A dazzling discordance.

surrounded by assorted traditions.

Little odd shoppes and markets,

tucked in the sides of streets.

Selling an assortment,

Of foodstuffs and novelties.

And the temples.

Painted spires reaching skyward.

Engraved with the tales of ages.

Carvings of stories not longer told.

Face lined with cracks,

Blackened by bursts of petroleum,

blown from broken vehicles,

and the baking heat of the sun.

Jostling and gesticulative,

Never a pause to consider,

holding open doors,

for strangers.

But all too ready,

to swap questions and answers.

Teachers turning blind eyes,

to the trading of test papers.

Covered in contradictions,

and jumbled juxtapositions.

Moving through a system,

of systematic confusion.

Witnessing humanity,

in all its humors and hues.

New perspectives,

of how people live and choose.