Introduction
While reading Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s most recent book, “The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health,” I kept a list of words I wanted to clarify in my mind. Instead of simply looking them up, I decided it would be fun to invent a poem using the list—in no particular order except for trying to create a bit of narrative sense.
Just below is my December 8, 2021 first draft prior to looking up the words. I like its brevity.
The venal oracle began champing at his bit to unleash his Janissary Corps upon the arrogant-weisenheimer mandarins.
Donning his ghillie suit, his beau ideal in clothing, he Gasconaded his nabobs, and the fun began.
After visiting the Omphalos and consulting the Khedive, he instructed his legate in jingoistic natal moves.
The tocsins in all their Brobdingnagian verve, fell upon the paladins, hitting a solipsistic nerve.
Golcanda did a volte-face and hit the Bwana hard. The cognomens and the quacksalvers, dragooned in utter glee, convened the omerta and fell upon their knees.
For whatever reason, I did not feel content to merely revise and shape the above version and publish it. Instead, I worked through five more drafts, looking up each word, pondering, writing, looking up the words again, and writing more. I will not bore you by sharing interim versions.
As work progressed, I threw in some rare words not on my list from RFK, Jr. (see a photo of it below). Two of them, sententious and rutilant, I credit to my mom who brought them into a recent conversation and another, mephitic, to an entry in Merriam-Webster's. Any others must have been rattling around in my head waiting for a chance to appear on paper.
I hope this brings you a smile.
Happy New Year!
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s Vocabulary Lesson
A Poem for the New Year 2022
By TWOH
The venal Oracle, while champing at
The bit to unleash his Janissary Corps
Upon any and all weisenheimer
Mandarins brave enough to delay or
Obstruct his plans, becalmed himself enough
To don his lavish bespoke ghillie suit,
His unlikely and amusing beau ideal
In nouveau-authoritarian outfits.
In woolen sweater, woolen socks, and high boots,
The Oracle unleashed a gasconade
On the sententious nabobs who had gathered
In his honor to celebrate his rise.
Each of them listened intently to their
Preeminent mikado's jeremiads,
Salivating at the prospects he described,
Particularly as they pertained to purview.
The next day, after rising early to
Visit the Omphalos and consult his
Supreme Natal Khedive, the Oracle
Descended into the lower world to
Instruct his legates in stealthily but
Systematically imposing his
Jingoistic and genocidal schemes
Upon all the good peoples of the world.
Unbeknownst to the Oracle, one legate,
Bearing the cognomen Peace Abides,
Regained her human Conscience and her Soul
And thus betrayed the Oracle by sounding
The Sacred Brobdingnagian Tocsins.
The ancient golden clarion resounded,
Into the solipsistic slumbering ears
Of the Great Paladin People of Old.
Previously mired deep in apathy,
The Paladins awoke inspired anew
And set forth to restrain the Oracle
Along with his evil minions galore.
Sensing impending doom, the Oracle's
Golconda did a volte-face, impaling
the Bwana with a spike of his own gold,
Thus draining his mephitic lifeblood, power.
Then the Paladin People, in rutilant glee,
Dragooned the Oracle and his vast band
Of sycophants and quacksalvers complicit
In the deadly omerta concealing
The Oracle's plot to destroy humanity
And led them away to Justice Mountain,
Restoring peace to the peoples and their lands.
The Paladins stand guard, forevermore.
TWOH, January 1, 2022
The List
omerta
oracle
quacksalvers
venal
Omphalos
Khedive
Brobdingnagian
Golconda
Bwana
Champing at the Bit
Janissary Corps
weisenheimer-arrogance
paladin
ghillie suit
solipsistic
natal
beau ideal
gasconaded
legate
volte-face
dragooned
mikados
nabobs
mandarins
jeremiads
jingoistic
tocsins
cognomens
This is The Work of Happiness.
Kindred spirits, please share this far and wide!
A happy ending, a welcome read!
No boojum!
😁