Why Udugi?

The gentle reader may well wonder why there is so much of the Udugi language in this poetry blog. I myself might not have predicted it. After all, I considered my work on the language to be finished several months ago, and even announced as much. It's true that I'm helping those who wish to learn the language to do so, but they could also develop it on their own. A living language cannot be the property of a single person.

No, there is no need for me to continue to write in Udugi. At this point, I'm doing it for myself. The truth is that the language, which I love, has become a part of me and of my poetry. It is now part of my art. Often, I cannot say which language is the original, because they are so interwoven. Further, writing in a language that is even partially indigenous is a great aid to plain speaking.

I think the Sequoyah syllabary, in its final form, is quite beautiful in and of itself. Even those who do not understand the language can appreciate the decorative, aesthetic, and symbolic qualities of the writing system, not to mention the role that it played historically. But leaving aside all of this, and even the fact that is a writing system at all, we are left with the addition of a beautiful and personal, quasi-asemic dimension to my poems. I like that added dimension very much, and I intend to foster it.

Text and image © 2018 by Donald C. Traxler.