Volume X, Issue 10
March 10, 2021
Word of the Week: post hoc
Dear ,
When I came across Jennifer Maier's marvelous rant of a poem, "Post Hoc," I couldn't wait to share it with you. Because haven't we all, at one time or another, attributed causality, and even blame, after the fact? I confess I am guilty of flinging about more than my fair share of "should have’s," "What was s/he thinking’s, "Why did or didn't s/he’s," and, my favorite, "if only’s," as in "If only s/he had listened to me!"
From Lexico, powered by Oxford: https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/post_hoc
It's true, as filmmaker Billy Wilder said, that "hindsight is 20-20." I hope you get a smile out of Maier's "Post Hoc" and perhaps a new perspective on this all-too-human behavior. And be sure to check out the writing prompt that follows.
Happy writing,
Maureen
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More WordPlay opportunities coming soon.
Stay posted!
It happened because he looked a gift horse in the mouth.
It happened because he couldn’t get that monkey off his back.
It happened because she didn’t chew 22 times before swallowing.
What was she thinking, letting him walk home alone from the bus stop?
What was he thinking, standing up in the boat like that?
Once she signed those papers the die was cast.
She should have waited an hour before going in; everyone knows
salami and seawater don’t mix.
He should have checked his parachute a seventh time;
you can never be too careful.
Why didn’t she declare her true feelings?
Why didn’t she play hard to get? She could be out at some
nice restaurant right now instead of in church, praying
for the strength to let him go.
It all started with that tattoo.
It all started with her decision to order the chicken salad.
Why was he so picky?
Why wasn’t she more discriminating?
He should have read the writing on the wall; listened
to the still small voice, had a lick of sense. But how could he when he
was blinded by passion? Deaf to warnings? Really dumb?
Why, why, in God’s name, did he run with scissors?
If only . . .
Read "Post Hoc" in its entirety here, with thanks to Garrison Keillor and The Writer's
Almanac.
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay—so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's “post hoc.”
Write about a time that you, someone you know, or one of your characters engaged in some post hoc judgement of oneself or someone else's behavior or actions.
MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of
Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and three collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water.
She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, “We are meant to midwife dreams for one another.” Maureen also believes that serious “word
work” requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best
learn—and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours!
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