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Page 12

Black and blank -- unnatural twins,
since blanc goes with noire, while
black goes with white, the first pair
French, the second from Old (ye olde)
English.

But there must be a plan here, for blanc
ends with the "c" that makes black
out of blank; and noire begins with the "n"
that makes blank out of black.

Here's a spectrum of sounds, from shiny white
to rich dark: White, blank, black, blanc (blahnc),
noire. Interesting how English bleaches out
the French vowels, even its black (bright night)
brighter than blanc.

To compensate, the French lighten
their darkest sounds, cutting vowels short,
impatient to leap from consonant
to consonant and swallowing (into their
nostrils) even those: that famous
consonantal cuisine (keeps the vowel
movements regular).

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