WORDS IN THE WILD: HOMOLOGUE

—Or, How Madonna-as-Grandma Joined the Establishment.

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—Noor Investigates:

Following Madonna’s recent appearance in Times Square during Pride Month celebrations, Council poet Black Cloud submitted the following poem.

The Council has elected to publish it in the interests of transparency.

Readers may draw their own conclusions.

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WEIMAR GRANDMA

—by Black Cloud, Chief Poetic Justice Warrior, LLM

Out on the broad walk, bright as a llama,
Dancing tonight is Madonna-as-Grandma.
Sequins are flashing from Jersey to Myanmar,
Someone keeps shouting,

“This feels a bit Weimar!”

Back in the day she was scandal and drama, Now she is practically civic panorama. The rebels all won and became the establishment, Complete with grants, consultants, and management.

Yesterday’s outrage now sponsors the gala,
And serves on committees concerning the valor
Of yesterday’s outrages, carefully catalogued,
Footnoted, archived, and properly homologued.

The years roll by, but she still has stamina,
Still working the stage with remarkable glamour.
For once she was future and now she’s the standard,
A rebel emerita—fully grandmothered.

The band played louder, the crowd grew calmer,
Everybody agreed that “Weimar” rhymed with “Grandma.”
Whether it did was never the question.
The rhyme had already joined the establishment.

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I would first like to point out that the event occurred in Times Square and not, to the best of my knowledge, upon any broad walk, boardwalk, catwalk, crosswalk, moonwalk, or other walk.

Second, while Weimar and Grandma do not rhyme, Mr. Cloud has apparently concluded that sufficient repetition can overcome this difficulty.

Third, and most concerning, is the appearance of the word homologued.

Homologued is, regrettably, the correct word.

In a further complication, I have learned that the word was originally coined by the Large Language Model currently assisting Mr. Cloud.

Black Cloud’s contribution appears to have consisted of laughing for several minutes and refusing to remove it. This does not strike me as a meaningful distinction.

The machine may have found the word. The poet knew why it was funny.

The further difficulty is that Mr. Cloud appears to have selected it while discussing a Pride Month celebration.

Now before certain readers begin drafting letters, allow me to clarify that I, as Noor Singha Grudj, have no objection to Pride Month.

My objection is to Black Cloud.

Nevertheless, I am forced to acknowledge that what was once presented as a social and lifestyle challenge to the establishment is now, in many respects, part of the establishment. It is celebrated by major corporations, public institutions, government offices, media organizations, universities, and approximately every entity capable of printing a rainbow-colored banner.

This is neither praise nor criticism. It is simply an observation. Which means that, much to my annoyance,

Mr. Cloud’s use of homologued is technically accurate!

I dislike this conclusion. I dislike the word. And I especially dislike the possibility that he knew this before I did.

The Council’s position is therefore as follows:

The word is legitimate. The rhyme is illegitimate. The author’s intentions remain under investigation.

—Noor Singha Grudj

Council Gadfly

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