THIS WAS THE RESPONSE I RECEIVED:

Hello Alinka,

Thank you for taking the time to write to HBO. Your comments are useful in helping us to understand our subscribers' point of view. Be assured that your opinions have been noted and shared with the relevant people here at HBO.

Again, thank you for taking the time to send us your comments, and for your interest in HBO. Sincerely, Lesley Doerner, HBO

When I studied creative writing at Barry University some time ago, Florida's Poet Laureate, Mrs. Vivian Laramore Rader, was my poetry teacher. I only made a "B" in her class, because for the life of me, I could not write a Shakespearean sonnet. Never being one to accept second place, I strived to write that poem and finally two years later I sent it to her, but she would not change my grade!

I love to use onomatopoeia when I write poetry because I can feel the emotions drip onto the paper through my pen, as if guided by some mysterious hand. A friend of mine from Chile, asked me in Spanish - (we always speak Castellean, which the nuns taught us in school in South America, because I find that if I do not use a language I forget it) - "how can you write romantic poetry in English, such a non-romantic and commercial language?" I showed her some of my poetry, and she was amazed. She thought for a moment, then said, "maybe it is good because it is so simple and comes from the heart, so I know what you are saying."

I am shocked when I read the Sun Sentinel with all the grammatical errors that these so-called reporters write. I am even more astounded when I listen to television. We no longer write English emails. They have evolved into a sort of slang-shorthand creating a new language. Somehow we seem to communicate in spite of the confusion, because if we don't somebody is not going to get that dollar, which we have turned into a god.

I think of this country as a fruit salad, a very colorful mixture of cultures, which mixed all together becomes a democratic feast. But when the only word we can find to communicate with each other starts with "F", it is time to go back to basics.

Onomatopoeia means (so you don't have to look it up) the formation of a word for rhetorical effect. We can't all be lawyers and speak legalese, or poets talking about: "Lorenzo dwelt at Heighington; his cote was made of dimity; lest-ways if not exactly there; yet in its close proximity." (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a/k/a Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice in Wonderland,) but we can try to maintain a semblance of grammatical integrity.

English may not be the appropriate language for romantic poets, I prefer Spanish because it is so rich and sweet - (when spoken correctly, not the kind of Spanish you hear here in Florida, and I doubt you will want to sit through a Cervantes book (Don Quijote)- but when English is spoken all over the world as a vehicle of communication let's try to preserve some degree of elitism.

My mother, a retired English professor, tells me that it is a changing language to suit our changing times, and it is difficult for foreigners to learn, but I cringe when I hear "dove in the water" and the improper use of "lay." (Only hens lay eggs!)

If you are going to murder a language make sure I am not around because I have to bite my tongue not to correct you. However, with Bill Maher, I could not hold back my displeasure and I told him to clean up his act.

I refuse to lower my standards! Maybe we should try Esperanto again!

Alinka Zyrmont