Awhatthef..Kia Poem by Douglas Scotney

Douglas Scotney

Douglas Scotney

Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Resides in Adelaide

Awhatthef..Kia



'What ho? There ain't no bears down here, '
Said Robert Falcon Scott,
'I'll call it Anobearia.'

Back in acadamia
They translated it to Greek,
Called the place Antarctica,
That's still the name we speak.

What a shame he didn't honour
The flightless polar bird
And call it Apenguinia.

That name might have stuck-
Unless the Greeks had seen the bird
And called it whatthef..k.

In Greek that's ti-oto,
The land Ati-otoa.
Arty-ottowa.

'Sound's good, ' said acadamia,
'But meaning's not so nice.
We'll use the Greek for 'penguin'
And call it Apigwevosa,
The Underland of Ice.'

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Another Poem on the Naming of Places.
On discovering that 'arktos'='bear' and 'ant' may as well='ain't no',
I thought 'Antarctica' too negative a name for The Underland of Ice.
To think I'd come up with so many alternatives. That's Thought though.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Danny Draper 25 June 2012

I like it well considered. Consider this, if those in acadamia had been fans of proteaceae it could have easily been named Macadamia.

0 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Douglas Scotney

Douglas Scotney

Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Resides in Adelaide
Close
Error Success