Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Utopiae

On a lost continent, over the seas
Rose Vyzas, Purdy and Glumi:
Three tiny nations, lovely to see,
Well governed, enlightened and roomy.

Vyzas was ruled by good men of science
Who governed by tested predictions
And made peer review a form of alliance
As they defined and discouraged addictions.

Purdy was painted, house, office and dale
By artists, who served also as mayors,
No sin was considered beyond the pale,
In this land of sellers without payers.

In damp, sylvan Glumi, each house filled with prayer
And every citizen was a priest.
All the people were equal with creeds to declare
And sought to be chosen the least.

Though the island is sunken or mislaid, it seems,
The memory was handed down to me,
Of the righteous societies of malcontents' dreams:
Vyzas, and Purdy and Glumi.

SOFA, n.  The philosopher's throne. 

25 comments:

Minka said...

FIRST!

I rule all!

Minka said...

sofa,n. the upholstery of content

Tom & Icy said...

It must be Wednesday.
Do you lay on the sofa and think these things up yourself? Or do you help Willie get up on it?

Jamie Dawn said...

I'm on the throne right now!
Uh, my sofa, that is.

I bet all the people-priests of Glumi aren't Catholic priests, or there'd have to be a whole lot of behind the scenes procreation going on in order to replenish the island.

What color is your sofa?

Mother Theresa said...

Hmmm, and I thought the philosopher's throne was in another room of the house. ;)

G said...

No wonder Louie is so comfortable up there! I wonder what goes on his adorable puppy head.

"Of the righteous society of malcontents' dreams" - just love that line.

Ariel the Thief said...

There's only one thing more frightening than reality: utopia(e).

A philosopher on the sophist? :-)

Anonymous said...

Sofa:in truth, an economic fable only a philosopher can see or sit on

And I like Krugman, in answer to your comment, he's not afraid to see many socio and economic factors running together. Though he might be wrong and I hope he is
courting destiny

Feel truly stupid doing that

tsduff said...

Sofa: Chair of choice for our own philosopher dawg? Cluck Ah, move it on over.

TLP said...

How can I couch my definition? I like to lie on my sofa. I'm very careful about falsehoods on a chair.

Hobbes said...

Sofa: A lordly couch.

Enjoyed the poem.

Anonymous said...

Those islands must have been sunk by the same kind of storm that just hit O‘ahu. We were without power for about six hours, and they just managed to open the one road out of Wai‘anae. We are well and undamaged, fortunately - unless you count Quilly's flu bug.

And sought to be chosen the least

So the motto of the third nation was "Glumi to the sofa"?

And does that make the chaise longue [sic; fie, or as sar would say, a fee on all of you who subject the world to chaise lounge] ...

As I was saying. Does this make the chaise longue the seat of sofistry?

*ducks*

OC or Q said...

SOFA at our place, the best cough, cough only seat in the house ....

-Quilly

Anonymous said...

Sofa: 'tater cradle. ; )

TLP said...

LOL Puppy! Good job.

mireille said...

Is it so bad to have vision? Just unfocus your eyes as you upholster the sofa with your Self ... and look at the horizon ... and thank the priests, the artists, the scientists. Also, the philosophers. xoxo

I Dive At Night said...

Sofa: A curmudgeonly philosopher's bar stool.

Anonymous said...

Ok now i know what Ariel meant when she told me initially you will be just too overwhelmed with awe. I am in shock right now!! Need to lie down on the sofa to process all these thoughts and words...Gimme time I am a newbie in here :)

Doug The Una said...

Minka, but what are the contents of upholstery?

Icy, Willie can still get up on sofas sometimes. When he does he writes real poetry.

Jamie Dawn, the color of the sofa I blog from is, I'm told, alarming. Greens and reds, mostly. The Catholics of Glumi are abstinent.

Theresa, when you're a philosopher, thrones are in every room.

G, he's probably contemplating the meaning of milk bone.

Very clever, Ariel! And you're right, what people wish for is scarier than what they have.

Now I understand why you're doing that. OK, I'll read some Krugman. It's free again, right?

Terry, this dog likes his couch. Especially when blogging or eating drippy food.

TLP, and truth on a stool?

Thanks, Hobbes. Couch is splendor, isn't it?

Amoeba, I'm delighted you survived the storm to pun again.

Lozenge, Quilly?

Neva, that is good. We, the couch potatoes of the world thank you.

TLP, you have to get off the couch early to catch Neva, don't you?

Actonbell, the Divan's reserved for you.

Mireille, I can't see how it could be.

Right you are, Morgan!

Doug The Una said...

AIM, sorry we cross-posted. Trust me, the awe's temporary.

Anonymous said...

had i considered it a moment longer, i'd have said 'tater cot. sometimes i'm in too much of a hurry to be punny, i guess.

loveloveloved your poem, by the way, which i ALSO failed to mention yesterday. d'oh!

Doug The Una said...

OOOOOOOOOOH, NEVA! Tater Cot! You get a prize!

Anonymous said...

athenkyew. *beams with pride & curtsies sweetly*

Hobbes said...

In case I pansified you, I meant that "sofa" seems to be the more high falutin' word for "couch."

Doug The Una said...

Neva, put your hands where I can see 'em.

Hobbes, it's a short trip to pansify me, but I thought that was what you meant, Hobbes being the high-falutin' word for Weirsdo.