ci'irprosa

ci'irprosa levi pemci cukta vau
Preface to this poembook

fu'e.a'a ca'e lu lo velsku mo leri selsku li'u
How does the means-of-expression relate to its things-expressed?

.i ru'a la lojban. teryro'i co danfu fo di'u
I assume Lojban is a means of trying to answer that question.

.i rixire cizra mu'i .iki'uku ri mi cinri po'ita'i lenu lo
Thus it is strange; & it therefore interests me, as a blackbird

xekcpi cuse trina loi minra ni'o sera'a le me la sapir .uorf.
is drawn to shiny things. As for the "Sapir-Whorf" hypothesis,

kuku pe'i ri ge narvai kaurjetnu gi dutcumki selcipra .iku'i
it seems to me both a truism & impossible to prove. It might be

pe'icu'i rolo pemci fasnu cu danfu po'a fo lu ba'e lemi velsku mo
said, however, that each poem-event is like an answer to the

levi ba'e bazi selsku li'u .ije ni'iku lezu'o pemci zbasu kei
question, "How does MY means-of-expression relate to this NEXT

mo'u bau la lojban. ka'e tadji lenu cipra satcyzga kei be leri
thing-expressed?" Then poetry in Lojban would be a way of

selsku ka cumki .ifu'o ku'i mi nabona'e milxe selsrana le sabji
experimentally examining its expressive range... But i am not

be loinu skekrinu kei be le cuntu poi rincau caircni ku be'unai
overly concerned with providing scientific reasons for so fascin-

.i .a'oo'acu'i lemi ka gersne kei bana cfipyspo le canko bismo'a
ating an activity in itself. I only hope the imperfections of my

po'a pe lemi mukti mu'o
usage do not obliterate the "window ice-pattern" of my intent.

4/19/91-5/13/91