poemranker ::Round 27 by Dovina

DetailsThe poem, its numbers, and the conversation.

Free verse № 137616

Round 27

by Dovina

Member since 2004 · Posted 26 Jan 2006 · 17 comments

In a nation where war backfires and trust in naves erodes, a viral infection permeates the collective mind, emitting technological devices, erecting a paling of standard excuses.

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0 is the worst, 10 the best. Pick a number, add a comment if you like, then send it. Keys: 0–9 pick, Enter sends.

mean 5.00 weighted 5.00 rank 7783 views 279 View voting details →

4 votes so far. Yours would make 5.4 votes so far

17 comments

[7] ecargo 26-Jan-06/11:55 AM Reply
Double meaning of "naves" here is clever. What do you mean by a "paling of standard excuses" (it's the "erecting a paling" that's throwing me off)? I don't get the title.
[n/a] Dovina › ecargo 26-Jan-06/1:46 PM Reply
Thanks for the comment. The title is merely angst at how many times it takes in the boxing ring for a country to get it. Nothing special about the number 27.

The “paling” bit could be rewritten for clarity: “a viral infection permeates the collective mind, emitting technological devices, and erecting for itself a fence of sharp sticks, pointed upward, which serve as a neat collection of standard excuses against anyone who objects.”
[8] ALChemy › ecargo 26-Jan-06/7:27 PM Reply
What 2 meanings of nave do you mean?
[7] ecargo › ALChemy 26-Jan-06/7:41 PM Reply
Well, I took it for a reference to church naves and to "knaves."
[n/a] Dovina › ecargo 26-Jan-06/8:00 PM Reply
and hubs of wheels.
[8] ALChemy › Dovina 27-Jan-06/5:09 AM Reply
Well how nave of me.
[n/a] Dovina › ALChemy 28-Jan-06/9:22 AM Reply
You seem neither the interior of a church nor the hub of a wheel, and if you mean knave, well, not that either.
[8] ALChemy › Dovina 28-Jan-06/10:10 AM Reply
There's a glitch at dictionary.com were if you type "nave" and hit the search button the definition for "naive" sometimes pops up. Sometimes you have to do it a few times for it to work.

So it was kinda my own little private joke.
[n/a] Dovina › ALChemy 28-Jan-06/10:44 AM Reply
I tried that, and it worked alright. I guess your computer is fraught with glitchism. I prefer http://www.onelook.com/?loc=rz4&;w=*ism&scwo=1&sswo=1 for its many options and various dictionaries. And you can enter something like *ism and get all the words ending in "ism", more isms than michael_d cares to think about.
[8] ALChemy 26-Jan-06/7:33 PM Reply
Smart sounding words.
Sounds mostly like an excerpt from a sociology book.
[n/a] Dovina › ALChemy 26-Jan-06/7:59 PM Reply
Then you voted too high.
[8] ALChemy › Dovina 27-Jan-06/5:09 AM Reply
Eight is enough.
[8] ALChemy › ALChemy 27-Jan-06/5:12 AM Reply
Well I was going to give you two 4s but I still haven't figured out how that trick is done.
[5] amanda_dcosta 26-Jan-06/7:42 PM Reply
I don't get this one. It doesn't seem too clear to me about what you're trying to convey.
[8] ALChemy 27-Jan-06/5:14 AM Reply
You should make this into something more. It needs bookends.
[n/a] Dovina › ALChemy 27-Jan-06/11:01 AM Reply
It needs something to bookend too. I was playing with words on this one, not trying to be deep or meaningful, frivolous really, and the bad thing - erodite.

4,4 - (sometime I'll let you in on a secret)
[n/a] Ranger 28-Jan-06/12:19 PM Reply
Not sure yet what to make of this one, I will have to ponder it further and return.