Ancient Words That Find Their Ways into My Love Poems as Found in the OED
by Dick Westheimer
There is, of course, “glitter” from glaster and glatter.
To shine is to glidder, to ghel is to glizzan.
The Germans, they glitzerned, the Greeks,
they ghleid—all are ways to stave off grief.
Then there’s what “matters,” from madeira and mater,
and all thence from matière and certainly mother.
And what means more than müt and to mate,
than hand and hold, than making and made.
And finally here’s “moon” and mone and menon.
We measure and mene and memsis and month.
Then menses and miz and maan and mince,
then menopause and all that’s happened since.
They say that stars shine brighter with age
and even more before they die. I do hope it’s so
for you and for me, that the glittering matters
and what follows your glaster is so often laughter.
To shine is to glidder, to ghel is to glizzan.
The Germans, they glitzerned, the Greeks,
they ghleid—all are ways to stave off grief.
Then there’s what “matters,” from madeira and mater,
and all thence from matière and certainly mother.
And what means more than müt and to mate,
than hand and hold, than making and made.
And finally here’s “moon” and mone and menon.
We measure and mene and memsis and month.
Then menses and miz and maan and mince,
then menopause and all that’s happened since.
They say that stars shine brighter with age
and even more before they die. I do hope it’s so
for you and for me, that the glittering matters
and what follows your glaster is so often laughter.
