Rob Graber
Entertainingly thought-provoking! Each of these "exceptions" is, and will remain, extraordinary for reasons of its own; thinking about why almost could be a party game!

For what it's worth: In closer conformity to prestige-dialect English syntax, which calls for pairing "neither" with "nor" (and "either" with "or"), would be


it's weird
how neither caffeine
nor codeine,
neither leisure
nor protein,
forfeit their place
to the rule


And one more comment: Worth considering is the impact, on the poem's appearance, of moving "how" from the second to the first line:

it's weird how
neither caffeine
nor codeine,
neither leisure
nor protein,
forfeit their place
to the rule

Though I like this, I admit there is much to be said for "it's weird" as a line of its own.

:-,?
2010-04-01