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Speaking of the Wolf: Advice on Word Displacement from a Ukrainian Linguist

Pro voyka pomouka a vouk u chatu.
One speaks of the wolf and it runs into the house.

 

You mustn’t say THE WOLF;
            instead, say    the gentleman in a gray suit
                                             the hunger artist
                                             my long-toothed grandma
                                             the man-eyed beast
You must say WOLF like
                                   the word is
             a pen
                              cil
                                            cut in half
                                            by the water’s
                                            level;
                    a thing            unsplit
                          but             existing in two
                                            places.
                                            According
                                            to your eye:
                a paradox.
You mustn’t say THE BEAR;
            instead, say    the world’s hairiest man
                                               the growler-drinker
                                               the botherer of bees
                                               our premier wax-collector;
Not            THE _____________
                        but           the belly-walker
                                        the S-whip
                                        the legless fang-puppy
The word resists; must resist—
                 the word is
                                              what calls the beast.