Apparently, according to Laura Bloomsbury (tonight’s host over at the dVerse Poets Pub) today is National Thesaurus Day. So…
———[||]———
Farewell, Mr. Roget
I had a book once. It was a thick,
voluminous text and it was loaded
with words I’d never consider using.
It brimmed with linguistic verbiage,
overflowing beyond my contemplation;
had gobs of expressions and articulations
I would dodge, sidestep, and avoid
at all costs, without hesitation or delay.
I believe in speaking plainly; saying
simply and precisely what I mean,
verbalizing only what I intend to convey.
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dVerse Poets Pub
Tuesday Poetics
~ Thesaurianism ~
———[||]———
Scrambled, Not Fried 
I love “dodge, sidestep, and avoid at all costs.” 😊
You’re echoing Hemingway here, and sure brevity and uncluttered lines have their place, but…verbosity also stands proudly in the lexicon.
I am your comrade in arms Ron. I wanted to share with you the irony of something I wrote in 2011, beating “way way” around the bush to say what you said so immaculately simply and plainly in your piece here. http://www.image-verse.com/poet-in-arms
You can tell by the number of poets who responded to my humble piece, what a great site Tess Kincaid had put together with her “ Magpie Tales”. I miss that site fiercely.
Great first line, ‘I had a book, once.” Say Roget, not today. 😉 And, I, of course, greatly enjoy your style without his interjections.
You got that tone exactly right…the difference between your first stanza and second is fantastic! I mean I really chuckled, and you really made your point, while at the same time just letting us know, by showing the range of your “voice,” that it is absolutely your own choice and not a constraint. Well done! Very.
I love this anti take on the prompt.
I respect your take. I also did a poem that put the thesaurus in a more negative light.
A great poem,and an enjoyable read ❤
you had me at the first line – and that “gobs of expressions and articulations” is a mouthful of Thesaurian discharge
Wonderfully done with the sandwiched examples of ‘excess verbiage’ as my Grandad used to call it. I don’t use a thesaurus either, althoigh I did read one from cover to cover when I was a youngster, and some of the words stuck!
I’m with you on this one, Ron. 100%!
Hmm. The right word saves a lot of verbosity too.
Love your take, Ron. Thesaurus is for people like me whose first language is not English. 😅
Ha… yes I do think it makes sense (and it should for anyone having English as a second language…) but I think I’m too loquacious not to use a thesaurus not to be repetitive 🙂
I love this, Ron, and tend to agree. I somehow have reached the age of 88 without benefit of a thesaurus. I do admit, however, to lean heavily on Google!!
“had gobs of expressions and articulations” Gobs is just the right word for this poem. Yes, I have felt overwhelmed by a thesaurus at times, only at times. I like that we are given reminders.
That last stanza is wonderfully crisp.
Such an enjoyable read, Ron 😀
An antonym of a homage! Witty and sharp 😄.