Poem: "Wallscrawling"
This poem came out of the January 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from Dreamwidth user Callibr8. It has been sponsored by DW user Fuzzyred. This poem belongs to the Dr. Infanta thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. See also the "Time's Up" thread by DW user Dialecticdreamer.
Warning: Do not read with mouth full.
"Wallscrawling"
-- a sqerpina
[Friday, November 13, 2016]
She is the Thorn in the Foot,
little and vicious and ancient.
She devotes an afternoon
to the fine old art of satire.
The scolding begins with
Errorpol and Interpolpot.
It shifts to InTERFpol
and onward to Interrible.
Already complaints come in:
the arrows have struck home!
At last, a flash of inspiration:
Inturdpol, she scrawls on a wall --
and that one goes viral.
* * *
Notes:
A sqerpina is a rude satirical verse aimed at mocking someone, usually a person in a position of power. Its name connects to word roots for "cut" and "harvest," thus literally a poem to "cut him down to size," or "cut-down poem" as it's often rendered in English. The form relies heavily on puns and other wordplay, including cross-linguistic puns and kennings. The Picts have used this form to devastating effect in sociopolitical warfare, for thousands of years, spanning many languages. This variable base requires some flexibility, but the form is traditionally no more than 13 lines (limited by the number of moons in a year) and includes at least one play on the target's name.
*cut (?) *skanto-; *sken-tr-
cut down *kom-bi-n-a
Proto-Indo-European
Etymology
Ultimately derived from *(s)ker- (“to cut”). A general word for 'to harvest' that had a tendency in some stocks to be specialized for the picking of fruit while in others for the reaping of grain.
Root[edit]
*kerp-[1]
1. to pluck, harvest
Derived terms[edit]
► Terms derived from the PIE root *kerp-
• *kerp- (root verb)
o Balto-Slavic: *kerp-, *kirp-
Latvian: cìrpt (“to shave”)
Lithuanian: kir̃pti (“to cut, chop”)
Slavic: *čerti (“to scoop, draw”), *čerpati (“to scoop, draw”), *čerpъ (“skull; broken piece of pottery”), *čьrpati
o Italic:
Latin: carpō (“to pluck”)
• Unsorted formations:
o Germanic: *harbistaz (“harvest, autumn”)
o Hellenic:
Ancient Greek: καρπός (karpós, “fruit”) < *what is plucked, κρώπιον (krṓpion, “sickle”)
o Indo-Iranian:
Indo-Aryan:
Sanskrit: कृपाणी (kṛpāṇī, “dagger”), कृपाण (kṛpāṇa, “sword”)
See earlier example "Trump of Doom."
Interpol has claimed to be a global police force. In actuality, it has Nazi connections and is a terrorist organization with a thin veneer of authority. See also the "Time's Up" thread by .
Pol Pot was a genocidal maniac from Cambodia. He oversaw mass atrocities and is widely believed to be one of the most brutal despots in modern world history.
The Controversial Term: TERF Meaning And Its Broader Implications
Warning: Do not read with mouth full.
"Wallscrawling"
-- a sqerpina
[Friday, November 13, 2016]
She is the Thorn in the Foot,
little and vicious and ancient.
She devotes an afternoon
to the fine old art of satire.
The scolding begins with
Errorpol and Interpolpot.
It shifts to InTERFpol
and onward to Interrible.
Already complaints come in:
the arrows have struck home!
At last, a flash of inspiration:
Inturdpol, she scrawls on a wall --
and that one goes viral.
* * *
Notes:
A sqerpina is a rude satirical verse aimed at mocking someone, usually a person in a position of power. Its name connects to word roots for "cut" and "harvest," thus literally a poem to "cut him down to size," or "cut-down poem" as it's often rendered in English. The form relies heavily on puns and other wordplay, including cross-linguistic puns and kennings. The Picts have used this form to devastating effect in sociopolitical warfare, for thousands of years, spanning many languages. This variable base requires some flexibility, but the form is traditionally no more than 13 lines (limited by the number of moons in a year) and includes at least one play on the target's name.
*cut (?) *skanto-; *sken-tr-
cut down *kom-bi-n-a
Proto-Indo-European
Etymology
Ultimately derived from *(s)ker- (“to cut”). A general word for 'to harvest' that had a tendency in some stocks to be specialized for the picking of fruit while in others for the reaping of grain.
Root[edit]
*kerp-[1]
1. to pluck, harvest
Derived terms[edit]
► Terms derived from the PIE root *kerp-
• *kerp- (root verb)
o Balto-Slavic: *kerp-, *kirp-
Latvian: cìrpt (“to shave”)
Lithuanian: kir̃pti (“to cut, chop”)
Slavic: *čerti (“to scoop, draw”), *čerpati (“to scoop, draw”), *čerpъ (“skull; broken piece of pottery”), *čьrpati
o Italic:
Latin: carpō (“to pluck”)
• Unsorted formations:
o Germanic: *harbistaz (“harvest, autumn”)
o Hellenic:
Ancient Greek: καρπός (karpós, “fruit”) < *what is plucked, κρώπιον (krṓpion, “sickle”)
o Indo-Iranian:
Indo-Aryan:
Sanskrit: कृपाणी (kṛpāṇī, “dagger”), कृपाण (kṛpāṇa, “sword”)
See earlier example "Trump of Doom."
Interpol has claimed to be a global police force. In actuality, it has Nazi connections and is a terrorist organization with a thin veneer of authority. See also the "Time's Up" thread by .
Pol Pot was a genocidal maniac from Cambodia. He oversaw mass atrocities and is widely believed to be one of the most brutal despots in modern world history.
The Controversial Term: TERF Meaning And Its Broader Implications