Happy Friday! Well, I almost made it. Friday’s Dictionary.com Word of the Day is Internecine. It originated in the Mid 17th century (in the sense ‘deadly, characterized by great slaughter’): from Latin internecinus, based on inter-‘among’ + necare ‘to kill’. (From the Oxford Dictionary)

Once again Friday’s word of the day relates well to our current political discourse in the US…or rather the lack thereof! 

We have become so polarized that the idea of compromise, of civil debate or the rational exchange of ideas, is all but impossible. Being passionate for a cause is certainly a noble thing, but one runs the risk of developing tunnel vision.

We need each other. We need our differences of opinions, beliefs and ideals. We need to be able to debate the issues that are important to us while respecting each others’s passions. Making room for others doesn’t limit us. It expands us. 

When it comes to Friday’s word of the day, internecine, it’s quite probable that nobody will win in the end  and we will simply  grow more and more distant and isolated. 

And so, the Haiku…

Polarized rivals
Engage in futile stances,
internecine wars

kat ~ 27 February 2016

NEW! Word of the Day Haiku Challenge!

If you’re interested, here’s a chance for you to have the exciting challenge of creating a Haiku based on a Dictionary word of the day. If enough of you are interested I will post it at the Commons. For your efforts I will do a weekly calendar roll call broken into each day with a link to your Haiku. Here are the rules:

Word of the Day Haiku Challenge

1. Pick a day that works for you. Once you pick your day, stick to it. This is what makes it fun and quite a challenge.

2. Choose an online dictionary that features a word of the day. I use dictionary.com but there are others. Pick your go-to dictionary.

3. Create a Haiku using the word of the day. In this challenge, no synonyms allowed.

4. A Haiku is a three line poem with the syllable structures 3-5-3 or 5-7-5.

5. (Optional) If you want, you may also post a expanded history of the word, your thoughts about the word, or some unusual facts about the word of the day.

6. Post a link to your Haiku in the comments so I can find you.

7. I’ll post the weekly roll call list on Sunday. So you have until Saturday at midnight (EST) to post your haiku.

8. Have fun!

I’m renaming this weekly post Word of the Day Haiku. Hope to have at least one haiku for each day of the week. I’m looking forward to reading your Word of the Day Haiku!