unfavorite words

I have always delighted in words - I remember (and still have some of) my favorite books from kindergarten, when I discovered the power of letters in a certain order to bring to life pictures in my head; from a young age I wrote names of cute boys intelligent things on my Pee-Chees; in high school I discovered mind-opening novels & poems that I dissected and marked, circling the richest examples of imagery, and tried to imitate; I fell in love with advertisements that entranced me with wordplay and collected the best ones in notebooks.

But there are some words I have come to loathe [interestingly, 'loathe' is a word I love the feel of in my mouth]. Words that only conjure [love that one too] unpleasant thoughts & feelings. And since it is Monday, the most unlovable day for many, here are some of my unfavorite words (excluding racial slurs and most derogatory terms for body parts as a given):

1. mucus
2. penal
3. flatulence
4. giblet
5. flaccid
6. flautist
7. creamed
8. expound
9. gobble
10. saliva
11. teat
12. juncture
13. womb
14. cancerous
15. phlegmatic
16. bile
17. canker

That was strangely comforting & liberating. Not that we're friends yet, me & these words, but I don't feel quite as hostile toward them. Maybe I'll include one or two in a haiku sometime, just as a little peace offering.

P.S. I WON AUDIENCE HAIKU AT LIVEWIRE! FRIDAY NIGHT. It was kind of exciting. Tune in tomorrow for details; I'm not prepared to expound at this juncture. (That felt okay!)