POETRY: {Spill the Tea}—In Plain English

I.

The founding tongues of craggy isles,

Those of Celtic clans,

Bestowed the names of place that end

With -hill, -combe, -shire, & -land.

II.

Roman legions brought their terms

And alphabet besides,

But the colonizers’ speech lost hold

Despite its bona fides.

III.

From Viking ships came mystic words

Like reindeer, sky, & thrall,

And tragic words invaders lend:

Anger, slaughter, dirt & crawl.

IV.

Next the Anglo-Saxon wave,

A pounding German hammer.

Their verbs say: Sit & Drink & Learn

While leaving us their grammar.

V.

The Normans—just like all the French—

Were gluttonous & sultry.

Pig turned to pork & cow to beef,

While chicken became poultry.

VI.

A lesson of inheritance

For any English poet:

Millennia of mouths conspired

To tweak & stretch & peel & sow it.