Jun 2017
HOW NOT TO SWEAR WHEN ONE IS SWEARING
After I hit it
with a hammer
my old thumb takes on
a now cartoonish character
pulses and throbs
grows biggerandbiggerANDBIGGER.
My three year old
gasps in astonishment
that an adult would/could
do such a silly silly thing.
"Bold Daddy!" she scolds "Bold Daddy!"
My mind screams in silence but
my tongue longs
to utter in the demotic
a good old fashioned Anglo-Saxon
ffffffffffFFFFFFF...word!
I somehow( don't
ask me how )
gaze into my little one's
baby blues
delete the expletive
carefully in slow motion
substitute the first
thing that pops into the mind
the first( as it happens )
of Mr. Joyce's thunderwords.
None of Eliot's
" Shantih shantih shantih "
I had the presence of mind to
"Finnegans Wake" it!
"BABABADALGHARAGHTAKAMMINARRONNKONNBRONN
TONNERRONNTUONNTHUNNTROVARRHOUNAWNSKAN
TOOHOOHOORDENENTHURNUK!"
"Funny Daddy!" she chortles "Funny Daddy!"
Now whenever things
go wrong and
they will go wrong
( as sure as words is words )
she begs me
to "...do the thunder!"
Waits for her little
bit part so she can
chime in with her
". . .TOOHOOHOO..."
and I gather her up
in my arms and we
both declaim
as one
". . .THURNUK!"
After I hit it
with a hammer
my old thumb takes on
a now cartoonish character
pulses and throbs
grows biggerandbiggerANDBIGGER.
My three year old
gasps in astonishment
that an adult would/could
do such a silly silly thing.
"Bold Daddy!" she scolds "Bold Daddy!"
My mind screams in silence but
my tongue longs
to utter in the demotic
a good old fashioned Anglo-Saxon
ffffffffffFFFFFFF...word!
I somehow( don't
ask me how )
gaze into my little one's
baby blues
delete the expletive
carefully in slow motion
substitute the first
thing that pops into the mind
the first( as it happens )
of Mr. Joyce's thunderwords.
None of Eliot's
" Shantih shantih shantih "
I had the presence of mind to
"Finnegans Wake" it!
"BABABADALGHARAGHTAKAMMINARRONNKONNBRONN
TONNERRONNTUONNTHUNNTROVARRHOUNAWNSKAN
TOOHOOHOORDENENTHURNUK!"
"Funny Daddy!" she chortles "Funny Daddy!"
Now whenever things
go wrong and
they will go wrong
( as sure as words is words )
she begs me
to "...do the thunder!"
Waits for her little
bit part so she can
chime in with her
". . .TOOHOOHOO..."
and I gather her up
in my arms and we
both declaim
as one
". . .THURNUK!"
"bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk" is the first of the ten "thunderwords" in James Joyce's FINNEGANS WAKE. Each is a hundred letters long except for the tenth which is a 100 and one words long!
1 ) (thunder):
Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk
2 ) (thunder):
Perkodhuskurunbarggruauyagokgorlayorgromgremmitghundhurthrumathunaradidillifaititillibumullunukkunun
3 ) (clap):
Klikkaklakkaklaskaklopatzklatschabattacreppycrottygraddaghsemmihsammihnouithappluddyappladdypkonpkot
4 ) (*****):
Bladyughfoulmoecklenburgwhurawhorascortastrumpapornanennykocksapastippatappatupperstrippuckputtanach
5 ) Thingcrooklyexineverypasturesixdixlikencehimaroundhersthemaggerbykinkinkankanwithdownmindlookingated
6 ) (shut the door):
Lukkedoerendunandurraskewdylooshoofermoyportertooryzooysphalnabortansporthaokansakroidverjkapakkapuk
7 ) Bothallchoractorschumminaroundgansumuminarumdrumstrumtruminahumptadumpwaultopoofoolooderamaunsturnup
8 ) Pappappapparrassannuaragheallachnatullaghmonganmacmacmacwhackfalltherdebblenonthedubblandaddydoodled
9 ) (cough):
Husstenhasstencaffincoffintussemtossemdamandamnacosaghcusaghhobixhatouxpeswchbechoscashlcarcarcaract
10 ) (Norse gods):
Ullhodturdenweirmudgaardgringnirurdrmolnirfenrirlukkilokkibaugimandodrrerinsurtkrinmgernrackinarockar
1 ) (thunder):
Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk
2 ) (thunder):
Perkodhuskurunbarggruauyagokgorlayorgromgremmitghundhurthrumathunaradidillifaititillibumullunukkunun
3 ) (clap):
Klikkaklakkaklaskaklopatzklatschabattacreppycrottygraddaghsemmihsammihnouithappluddyappladdypkonpkot
4 ) (*****):
Bladyughfoulmoecklenburgwhurawhorascortastrumpapornanennykocksapastippatappatupperstrippuckputtanach
5 ) Thingcrooklyexineverypasturesixdixlikencehimaroundhersthemaggerbykinkinkankanwithdownmindlookingated
6 ) (shut the door):
Lukkedoerendunandurraskewdylooshoofermoyportertooryzooysphalnabortansporthaokansakroidverjkapakkapuk
7 ) Bothallchoractorschumminaroundgansumuminarumdrumstrumtruminahumptadumpwaultopoofoolooderamaunsturnup
8 ) Pappappapparrassannuaragheallachnatullaghmonganmacmacmacwhackfalltherdebblenonthedubblandaddydoodled
9 ) (cough):
Husstenhasstencaffincoffintussemtossemdamandamnacosaghcusaghhobixhatouxpeswchbechoscashlcarcarcaract
10 ) (Norse gods):
Ullhodturdenweirmudgaardgringnirurdrmolnirfenrirlukkilokkibaugimandodrrerinsurtkrinmgernrackinarockar
