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sneezing

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 3:44 am
by Dave
So I am told
deaf people sneeze silently
not aware of the language of disease
atishoo, or atschi, the many voweled explosions.
 
How many others now refrain
from the public exposition
of their contagious selves
in times of epidemic and panic
fail to warn others of their fate?

I stand on a street corner at night.
The sky has found its stars
while the air circulates in cool currents,
and listen hard for the rising bile
of daily life but hear only echoes.

Re: sneezing

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 10:15 am
by indar
The sky has found its stars :)

 

Oh Dave,
Save this beautiful line for anther more romantic poem. Sneezing is a strange event and the word sneeze it seems to me is an 
Onomatopoeia.

Didn't know we humans have a language for it. Do the Inuit say atichoo or Australian aboriginal people I wonder. Americans say ah-choo.

Obviously we need the explosion to warn others. Good observation

Re: sneezing

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 11:11 am
by Dave
Hi Indar
Yes apparently sneezing loudly simply has a social function learnt over the centuries and has no intrinsic biological reason. Thus, deaf people have never known of its meaning and therefore don't make one of those sounds, which do indeed vary from culture to culture, as does the degree of explosiveness.

I will save the line just for you.
:D
 

Re: sneezing

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 8:31 pm
by Colm Roe
Really like this Dave, and as Linda directed, that line sparkles.
It finishes so well. Speaking of well, hope we stay that way over the next few decisive months.
You made me google...and look what I found:

While we haven't come across reported deaths of people dying by holding in their sneezes, technically it's not impossible to die from holding in a sneeze. Some injuries from holding in a sneeze can be very serious, such as ruptured brain aneurysms, ruptured throat, and collapsed lungs.

Reminds me of advice I got from an old man when I asked if I should get married...'You're fucked if you do, and you're fucked if you don't!'
I often change the sound I make, it always begins with an ah sound, but (assuming the company aint too delicate) I often 'say' ahfofucksake.

Re: sneezing

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2020 11:24 am
by Dave
That is what I love about his site: you write some mildly interesting poem and end up with some great stories and people like you or Indar who come back with some great knowledge.
Tanks Colm

Re: sneezing

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2020 1:38 pm
by indar
Here's one from the internet:
The Prophet said, "Allah likes sneezing and dislikes yawning, so if someone Sneezes and then praises Allah, then it is obligatory on every Muslim who heard him, to say: May Allah be merciful to you (Yar-hamuka-l-lah).

Re: sneezing

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2020 4:18 pm
by indar

Re: sneezing

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2020 8:21 pm
by Colm Roe
indar wrote:
Wed Mar 25, 2020 4:18 pm
And another:

[font]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Response_to_sneezing[/font]

I was brought up to say 'Excuse me' after a sneeze. And say 'God bless you' to someone who sneezed.
Whether you believe in a God or not, they are social niceties, respect and concern.
I'm really agnostic...I think? But the thought of a landscape without churches is unpleasant.
Your link says the internet is where God goes to die!
It's probably more accurate to say it's where the Devil was born.

Re: sneezing

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2020 10:20 pm
by indar
I messed up--what a strange Wikipedia entry. This is the one I intended to post;:

[font]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response_to_sneezing[/font]

 

Re: sneezing

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 4:13 am
by Colm Roe
Photic sneezing...it just gets weirder :lol: