Dear Gary,
If you use terms in a poem  that are quite technical and specialised, then I
don't think you can be careless with them. I don't hold with the idea that
it somehow doesn't matter because it's poetry, as if poetry is somehow more
wishy-washy than prose.
  If we care about writing, then I think we should be especially careful
with words.
Kind regards,
  grasshopper


----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Blankenship" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, November 23, 2002 3:35 PM
Subject: Re: New: "engraved as hieroglyphs" , James, Grass, karina, Roger


> "debitage"  The flakes left from weapon prehistoric weapon production, the
> most common artifacts in a dig.  I've taken liberties and used it for the
> general leavings of a ancient site.
>
> hieroglyphs and cuneiforms:  Yes, cun. is an adjective, but I am from the
> West side of the West and we do things to words and more.
>
> The title is a line from a poem written by a friend who I trade poems with
> on a regular basis.  This is a companion to his.  First, glyphs and cuneis
> are both quite dead methods of writing and fretting over them seems odd to
> me, especially in a poem.  But I appreciate the need for accuracy -
> sometimes.
>
> But they are related enough to be used together.  Both were used by the
> major empires in the crescent, the bookends as it were with all the rest
> generally the battlefield for their machinations.  Esp true of what we
call
> the Holy Land.
>
> Please think of them as sides of the same coin.
>
> Sorry, that my license with words bothered someone, but it will likely
> happen again.
>
> Thanks much for the read.
>
> Gary
>