anaphora - noun - repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive sentences or clauses in order to create a drama effect or for emphasis.
When I taught high school English, anaphora was one of the literary techniques that I encouraged my students to use in their writing, mainly for poetic as opposed to dramatic effect. Back then, poetry was appealing. The term and its defining synonym "repetition for effect" popped into my head today at a care center while I was sorting through myriad boxes of clothing to be made available to the survivors of the recent L.A. wildfires. A fellow volunteer and I were told to keep all nearly new items and toss the threadbare. As we went through box after box of all kinds of donations (even designer garb), I discovered via chatting that my comrade in selection was not only from a town near my own hometown in Jersey, but she had worked for a man who had been friendly with my dad. Small world.
Without prompting from me, she began a new verbal paragraph and told me that many of her friends lost her homes to the fires in Pacific Palisades and Malibu. Using anaphora unintentionally, she dramatically revealed that one of these current domestic mourners had lost more than one house on the same plot of land in more than one fire over a period of six years. The family had been displaced, yet returned to the scene of the natural crime only to rebuild. They just lost the latest version of the home two weeks ago and are already meeting with architects. Why? To rebuild. Really? Anaphora is one thing; deja vu is another. The question that plagues me is why someone would wish to fall down the same rabbit hole more than once.
What makes certain individuals ignorant of obvious patterns? Do they not believe in warnings from the Universe? Heck, for me, one loss would have been enough of a sign to sell the lot and move to Vegas where there is literally nothing to burn but hard-earned wages over and over again via any of the slot machines in the abundant casinos.
As you know, I am not Einstein, but I do have common sense. But maybe that's just it. "Common sense is not so common" according to punny Voltaire. Some people are willing to take extraordinary risks especially when it comes to real estate. What it all boils down to is money, that abstract, concrete concept that rules the world. A house (particularly a new one) in Pacific Palisades or Malibu will be worth a lot more than the same house anywhere else. Who cares if the owners can't find an insurance company to insure the place? They can always sell the land. Or can they?
I have no time for complications of this nature, which is why I live in an apartment, a distance away from what tends to be burning these days in SoCal. I have insurance, but just enough to replace some of the contents of my 725 square foot abode. If the building were to disappear one way or the other, I would just find another apartment somewhere a bit safer. It would just make sense, though, like anaphora, not deja vu.
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