Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Hunting the Devil

They say the devil is found,
Not just below ground,
But there in the minutiae of labor.
So we no longer wonder
At the source of the thunder
But at the raindrop that fell on our neighbor.

Perhaps it is on account
Of the general amount
Of error we share with stranger and kin,
That we find more compelling
For clucking and yelling
The banal in transgression and sin.

But if under our own roofs
With sulfur and clove hooves,
The devil makes merry in the small things we measure
Then we do Satan a kindness
Whenever he finds us
Piously watching the news in our leisure.
-The Right Reverend Jeremiah Right

MINUTIA, n.  The big picture on the small screen.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oooh I'm first??

I missed cunning? Drat.

TLP said...

Minutia: too piddling for me to bother with.

Anonymous said...

MINUTIA

One small grain of sand,
labored over and polished,
then left on the beach.

Ariel the Thief said...

Quilly, that is beautiful. I am not sure but it truly is!

So, Doug, is the devil running away from you?

G said...

Didn't the devil go down to Georgia?

Anonymous said...

MINUTIA, n. The mote that obscures the gleaming gem of accomplishment, or the rotting timbers of malfeasance. The speck at the apex of each of history's colossal vortices. The memento mori, complete with green eyeshade, abacus, and spreadsheet, tugging at the pantsleg of the great and powerful.

tsduff said...

I was actually going to comment on your word minutiae before I knew it was your word... because I like it. It sounds amazing, but means extreme details gathered into a small frame... just my style. (Except that the "small frame" isn't so small).

Looking forward to your presence in a scarce few days... please excuse the snow on our brow ;)

Jamie Dawn said...

tsduff: I agree with you. Minutia is a totally cool sounding word.

My mom's coming for a visit over Easter weekend, so I am cleaning down to the minutest detail.
Jamie Dawn's Minutia Cleaning Service. Dust and grime will be no more!

Anonymous said...

minutia - Something big enough to be noticed, but not big enough to be dealt with.

mireille said...

plural, minutiae. heh. Doesn't that look insectish to you? minutiae. and insects are what rabbits eat! maybe. if it's on a carrot. *struggles with segue issues* here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin' down the bunny trail, hippity, hoppity, Easter's On Its Way! xoxo

The Old Mule said...

Am I the only one who wants to give TRRJR a big a--m--e--n?

Doug The Una said...

Not terribly cunning of you, Jenn.

TLP, take the day off.

Quilly, a great place for haiku.

Ariel, I doubt it. I can still smell brimstone but that might be from the bratwurst I grilled for supper.

G, I think he came up from there.
'
Amoeba, that was beautiful. Translation?

Terry, see you Friday. Which of us is wearing bells?

JD, I hope it pays well. I try to stay big picture with my cleaning.

Poobah, that's a pretty wide spectrum.

Mule, let er rip.

Cooper said...

Minutia, n

The glue holding it all together.

Jim said...

Minutia, a rather trivial bit of trifle of which I will not discuss.
..

Anonymous said...

Ariel, thank you for your compliment, but I'd like to edit the poem:

MINUTIA

One small grain of sand,
labored over and polished,
becomes a pearl.

(I put this one on my poetry blog.)

Anonymous said...

Translation, Doug? Ask Howard Dean about screaming. ;)

Doug The Una said...

Cooper, that's actually physically correct.

Terrific, Jim.

Quilly, that's the right strand.

Yeeeeeee-ahh! Amoeba! Amoeba! Andale Andale!

mireille said...

Whenever Doug is irked by what he feels is off topic, he ignores your laboriously constructed comment. I don't care. *snif* xoxo

Doug The Una said...

Mireille, my apologies. This happens more when I try to answer comments on my iPhone. And you're right, Minutiae sounds like ephemeridae, my favorite genus. I'm pretty sure a person could get from there to Peter Cottontail if their mind were mercurial enough. Thank you for this opportunity to mention I have an iPhone.