By Amy Foreman
A cold and rainy afternoon recently gave rise to this little idea of a poem-puzzle. I challenged myself to write a poem where each word started with a different letter of the alphabet, in order, from A to Z. I allowed myself up to three extra words not in the alphabetical line-up, and I allowed “X” to stand in for “Ex.” It was a fun little puzzle to try fitting some sense, a theme, a meter, and a rhyme all around the letters of the alphabet.
Here, in all their glory, are some ABC nonsense poems:
Age vs. Youth
Aches, Bursitis, Carpal-tunnel,
Deafness, Entropy—
Frown-lines, Gout, and Halitosis:
It’s Just Kids Like Me
Never Open Pills, Quite Rightly
Shunning Therapy.
Upstart Vocal Weanlings X-ude
Youth so Zestfully.
Starry Night
As Birdsong Ceased, Dark Evening Fell,
Genteelly Hovering,
Its Jewelled Kiss, Love’s Magic-spell,
No Other Promising.
Quintillion Radiant Starships Tell
Unending Vision-ing
While X-tra-luminaries Yell
To Zillions star-gazing.
Why Is My Fridge Empty?
Able Boys Can Definitely
Eat Food Glutt’nously.
Ham In Juice, Kohlrabi, Lychees,
Milk-n-Nuts, Or Peas,
Quiche, Ricotta, Stewed Tomatoes,
Upside-down-cake, Veal,
Watermelon, X-tra Yogurt,
Ziti—makes a meal!
Now, it’s your turn! Post your ABC nonsense poems below in the comments section.
Amy Foreman hails from the southern Arizona desert, where she homesteads with her husband and seven children. She has enjoyed teaching both English and Music at the college level, but is now focused on home-schooling her children, gardening, farming, and writing. Her blog is theoccasionalcaesura.wordpress.com
Sooooooo silly! Sooooooo much harder than it looks! Soooooooo . . . here goes nothing!
Able bodied chef denies
Edible fruits give health. Insists
Juiced kiwi leaves’ll mesmerize.
Neurotic ophthalmologists.
Prepares quesadillas, roasted skink,
Then uncooked veal with xanthic-yellow zinc.
Love it, James!
And you didn’t even use “X” for “ex” or throw in any extra words. Well done!
Finding an “x” word that made any sense was quite a challenge, lol! I hope others give it a shot. You are one crazy, clever lady, Amy. Your kids must be getting a great education with you in charge.
Haha! I will let them know you said so, James!
The puzzle idea is quite clever! Your poems set the bar very high.
However, here follows my attempt:
A boy could dance,
Eye fondest glance,
Hold in joyous kiss
Love’s mad nuances.
Over-pacing Quickstep,
Rhumba, Samba, Tango;
Until Vigour’s wantonness
Expires youthful zoom.
Fabulous, David! Love all the dances you fit in there!
Great fun but I got just about nowhere with it; “All babies cry”, “Anybody care”, “Amy bakes cookies”.
My hat’s off to all of you!
“A bitter, crushing disaster, eh?” Thanks for trying it out, Joe! 😉
Query for the Hollow Men
Across broken columns, did Eliot find greatness hiding in jeweled, kingly light?
Maybe. Not.
Or perhaps these questions reach, slowly, toward undulating, violent waves bringing exhausted, yellowed zeitgeists.
Wonderful, Nick!
After bittersweet changes
Dreams effortlessly flourish
Glory humbles instantly
Just kind loving
moves nascent obstructions
Proving quiet repose
Settles tumultuous undulating
Vicissitudes
Wonderful experiences yearning for
Zion
The phrase “yearning for Zion” goes far beyond the “nonsense poem,” Theo. Well done!
A to Z
A Bible can divulge
even far greater heights
in justice, knowledge,
learning, meaningfulness,
neatly opening plentiful questions
regarding subtle truths,
upon very wide examination,
yielding zestfulness.
I do not belong to any church, nor exclusively adhere to any specific religion or school of thought. About ten years ago I read the Bible, cover to cover, word for word, in its entirety, just as though I was reading a novel or a biography. I found it to be full of truth, wisdom and philosophy. I recommend to any poet seeking inspiration. For me, it induced the revelation that Jesus Christ is the single most influential and important human being in the history of mankind. As a result, he is my only hero. Speaking of revelations, I think the Book of Revelations is a fantasy and should be dropped from the Bible. It does more harm than good. (Funny how
your little poetry puzzle challenge yielded all these thoughts. Thank you, Amy)
Fabulous poem, David! I am so impressed by the depth and meaning in all the poems contributed thus far. I’m so glad others are enjoying this challenge, too!
Hi Amy
thanks for sharing your rainy day play.
Impressive so many can follow your way
and make so much sense
from the small and dense
with only three extra words for lee-way.
Some time ago I had the notion
to set alphabetical acrostical poemicals in motion;
but Oh how tiresome,
Oh how rum,
to bid ev’ry letter of the alphabet come.
So, to avoid the
awkward x, y, z,
I filled my head
with
awful words instead.
Yes,
awful
awfull (but seldom awe-full)
aw-full
a-wfull
a-w full
a to w full
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w full
absurds. Yes,
nonsense bonne-sense
that may be
a bit clearer down every future gully
having ingeniously juggled knowledge lovingly
more narrow or perhaps quintessentially ravingly sense-less
to ultimate vanity’s wilderness
Yes, awful, isn’t it?
But more fun than an alligator bun.
Thanks, Amy,
For the opportunity,
Damian
Super, Damian! More fun than an alligator bun!
Here’s another one for the computer age:
Always back computer drivers.
Every file gets held.
Index JPGs, key logins,
Motherboard-remelds.
Never overstuff your PC;
Quick reboots save time.
Under valid warranteeing,
X-cel yields zilch crime!
And a little explosive chemistry:
After benevolent chemists decant ether’s foam,
Gaseous helium instantly joins kaolin’s loam.
Manganese, nitrogen, oxygen, all polychrome,
Quickly react, so that “unbreakable” velodrome
Wildly explodes yeasty zeppelins under its dome.
Always betting, commonly doleful,
eager, frequent, gaming hopeful.
Incredible jackpot – my king! my liege!
money bestows noblesse oblige.
Practice quiet, regulatory stealth;
taxes unpaid — volatile wealth.
Extraordinary young zillionaire!
Terrific poem, Steven. Love the subject matter, too!
Thanks Amy! As a computer scientist, I appreciated your “PC” poem.
Hi Amy, more fuel for the fire, I have no available awfuls—the one above was made on the spot as I have not kept the origional batch (from decades ago) though I may have one in an old magazine somewhere.
Amazed at the full rhymes people have achieved. Here, I’ve managed 7 x 7-syllable lines with four half rhyme endings spaced by none-rymed lines.
I may have cheated by using Mandarin words: Xin1xing4 – moral character and Zhen1 – Truth
—I hope the content does not scare anyone off
Very Best Damian
Amid Boundless Confusion,
Dafa Expands; Falun Gong
Heals Inside-out. Justice, Known,
Lifts Majorities’ Non-life.
Opened, Pure, Quiet Reason
Sustains Them, Uplifts Virtue,
Wisdom’s Xinxing, Yielding Zhen.
Wow! Impressively plotted out in an amazing 7×7 poetry grid! Very difficult to do. Bravo, Damian!
Addicted, bother …
Penalty Shootout
Alone.
Ball Centered.
Dot.
Eyes Focusing
(Goal.Goal.Goal.)
He Inhales.
Jimmies. Kicks …
Lops Miserably…
Nicks Outer Post!
Qualifying Roasts …
Starts Turning Upfield, Visibly Worn.
X. Young. Zero.
So sorry I didn’t see this fabulous ABC poem until now, Damian! This is just genius, the spacing, the punctuation, the structure. Really, really good!
Thanks Amy, I was beginning to think it was TOO non-traditional!
Absolutely not to non-traditional, Damian. It may be my favorite one yet, simply because it doesn’t feel forced at all, even though it has been squeezed into this extremely limiting form. Great job! I, also, am a bit addicted to this puzzle when I have the time and inclination . . . so here’s another one about calling the kids home to supper . . .
Atlases best can direct every fourth-grader home.
Instantly, juvenile kids loudly make noise or phone.
Quickly returning, by some transportation unknown,
Vaulting those wayward x-patriates back to your zone.
“too”–not “to” . . .sorry about that!
Astonishing! Brilliant, Cadenced Dactyls …
(Excuses Florrish, Guiding Hopelessness In —
Just Kan’t Keep up — Kompetitive, Loco Mentality .. Me, me …
Bravo, Amy,
dexterous prosody,
rhythm and symmetry.
[Though I think you missed a bit—
shouldn’t ‘noise’ be ‘noises’
in the midst of it
to keep the dactyl’s poises?]
It wonderfully evokes the peel,
the belling mayhem of the meal,
the calling to of mini hordes
from far and wide and odd abroads;
the homely, mini refectory,
that may be in a mini assembly hall
where some sense of parity
with the wider educational sprawl
is as good as it can be.
[ I home schooled my kids
— or ‘home educated’ as we say
in this across-the-water here UK —
with my wife and many bids
to higher beings to keep the lids
on stew pots and the binned get-rids.
The memories don’t disappear
though all growed up and in their 20s
with some, as adults, still living here,
and that is plenties!! ]
That you appear sane and happy and have time for yourself in poetry is praise for well done schooling — that your children must be paying back some of what you’ve taught them.
PS Did you know, in Chinese the word for ‘name’ is the sign for dusk above the sign for mouth. It alludes to parents calling their children home in the evening.
名
Míng
VBest
Damian
What a lovely post, Damian! And it was wonderful to read that you and your wife home-educated your kids. My husband and I have made many mistakes as parents, but schooling the kids at home was not one of them!
Glad the public system
Missed ’em!
We were happy to assist ’em!
Proverbs says, “Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.” It’s the truth. All seven of ours (ages 12 through 22) are a constant delight, and give both my husband and me rest. I think the closeness that comes from schooling at home fosters a big bunch of goodwill between the kids and the parents and between the kids and each other. . . even though all of us occasionally do drive one another crazy! Still, we wouldn’t have it any other way!
Blessings to you and your family!
This was a super fun post to read. I did a similar challage is my old writing group. It was to write a poem with song titles from only 1 band. Perhaps you would like to try. I chose the Grateful Dead. You could use extra words to connect sentences but every line has to contain a song title.
Death is Life for the Grateful Dead
The dark star is coming
She is the October Queen
The saint of circumstance
Pick up you’re china doll little queen
Forget the sins of your father
There is work to be done
Their watching you from Franklyn’s tower
Your warrior awaits you in this broke down palace
In his hand a box of rain
He is the estimated prophet
A trinket grail but the blood is purely yours
Venture through the cold rain and snow and pay your tariff
At Terrapin station all the while whispering he’s gone
But here in your fathers last temple he whispers back
She belongs to me
A thirteen point lightning rod will steel your face
Just as Jack Straw leads you through
Shakedown St mumbling to himself
About yesterday’s Mexicali blues
In the days between there are no easy answers
Believe it or not all we are is just a ripple
In the black muddy river
Blow away your foolish hearts
You are neither the victim or the crime
In this strange world
This night of a thousand stars
Here only the strange remain even so
You were built to last you’re the mind bender
A ramble on rose here where
Time never ends just empty pages in the
Greatest story never told
Dance your samba in the rain
Underneath the Banyan tree
Celebrate childhoods end
Black throated wind blows through the
Fire on the mountain in a touch of gray
There stands Wharf Rat throwing stones
Beckoning to you with crazy fingers
“My queen from the heart of me there is help on the way
Please let me sing our blues away I find you easy to love
If I had the world to give I would wrap it just for you
Wrap it in scarlet begonias”
Dire wolf circles through the fennario and the demon daughters
Standing on the moon are linked by an unbroken chain
Getting drunk on the pride of Cucamonga
Dire wolf lets out a mighty roar “Be gone black Peter
Take your demon wife’s with you I know you rider
You friend of the devil”
“Nihil interesse inter diemet saeculum”
No Peter this is the poorest day to die but you for you
Death don’t have no mercy
It’s just like any other day that’s ever been
The only time is now sweet crimson rose
Peter’s blood runs to sweet ruby Cerise from his foolish heart
Yet Reuben and Cerise are merely the Pirouette in the carnival
And I’m your fatal vision
Wave to the wind I will show you the way to go home
With my immortal kiss now just through that corps aside
All liars, pretender , Peter , Rueben , Wharf Rat it makes no differences in a name
The righteous purest will ascend while ravens sing you to sleep
“Never trust a women” Silents wolf I am death I am the big bad wolf you fool
I am the nightmare that never ends you are just the thorn of the rose vine
Encompassing life’s mortal coil little queen
Lazy lightning resembles the wolfs smirk of a smile
Smile smile smile
I know you yet you feel like a stranger
I am the strange the martyrdom the keeper of the rose
But I have no need for the attics of my life
Oh my little China doll
Righteous blood will feed your soul and the strength of hatred
Will fuel you for the journey down the lazy river road
You see a broken heart I see a new beginning
It must have been the roses that led you to me
Come your lost sailor awaits in the last of your fathers homes
In the musk rat flats there the last red wood temple dwells
Your ancient prince sitting with a grail of memories
And a box of rain.
By Vanth Seven (Enjoy)
What fun, Vanth Seven! This could be a great rainy day game–now if only there would be another rainy day in Arizona! Thanks so much for sharing this!
What an amazing challenge, Amy, and what terrific poems are emerging! Unfortunately, like Joe’s, my mind at the moment is a complete blank.
Haha . . . I know what you mean, Jenni! You might have to wait for that rainy afternoon! I, too, have been so impressed with the creative poems that have resulted from this challenge.
A Misstep in Space
A big comet dodging Earth flew,
generously hacked
into Jove, kept little matter,
not otherwise packed.
Quite ruined stars’ telemetry,
Upset space’s vac,
whose infinite X-istence you
labeled Zodiac.
Wonderful rhyming poem, Linda, with sense and meaning worked expertly into the tight construction–very well done!
Thank you so much, Amy. I enjoyed this activity!
This is Brilliant!!!
Thank you!
Linda, I have thought of your poem each day since reading for I am a lover of astronomy and metaphysics – to me your poem is genius in how it captures the beginning of our universe and Amy’s idea allows it to be easily memorized!! You might show your poem to Neil deGrasse and let him know how Amy inspired you. I asked him a question on relativity long ago by email (he probably doesn’t even use that now – message him on Facebook or twitter) and he replied – you never know he may feature your poem on his site if you can contact him. Once again this is brilliant!!!
Thank you, Joan. Such kind words!
Alone breathing calming down, ever
Free God He’s Infinity Justice Keeper.
Love money neighbors out pace quieter
Resting. Serene trusting understands
Victorious wisdom exudes – your Zen!
This is beautiful and meaningful, Joan! With no extraneous words. Lovely!
Thank you so much! Means a lot coming from you!
Such nice work, Joan!
thank you so much!
A Kiss from Zorro.
A bully can’t
Defeat easily,
Fight good humouredly
Impose joyous kindness
Learn mostly,
Not optimistic prayers!
Quiet ripostes shall then usurp
Valiantly winning
X
Yours, Zorro.
Love how you used the “X” as a kiss from Zorro! Super clever! Nicely done, Paul!
Great style and so clever like Amy said, it is zexy!!
This is wonderful!
“Zexy,” indeed! 🙂
ABC Amy
Alphabetical bohemian—
Culled, dilettante, elect.
Feasance to genius heirology!
Intellect juggler. Kind Lent
And mercy for national opera poet.
Quintessent radial sarod to
Underwrite verbatim ways.
eXulti Yin Zenith.
A Breath-taking, Consummate Discourse: Each Formulation Glimmering with Humorous Intellect, Joella!
. . . .Bravo!
Thank you for the opportunity.
To all who have contributed thus far:
A Big Congratulations!
Delightful Entries From Great Human Intellects
Just Kinda Leave Me Nearly Overjoyed!
Poets Quite Readily Shape Tour de forces Unique:
Veritable Workmanship eXcelling . . .
Yessir, they’re sure Zippy!
The Birth.
A baby comes
Disdaining every fear
Generating hopes
Instigating joyful kisses
Loves mad nuances ordered
Placate querulous reasoning
Smothering the ubiquitous vanities
Welcoming Xavier’s
Youthful zephyrs
This is genius, Paul! I love it!
This is genius!
The New College Dean’s Speech.
Approaches breathing, coughs
Doubt ensues feverishly,
Galloping hormones
Ignominious jibes
Kinfolk lachrymose,
Mouthing naysayers
Optimism postponed
Quizzing repeatedly,
Suspicion towers
Underwhelmed
Voice withers
Xenophobic Yawns
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Oh, that poor new college dean! I have seen a crowd of blasé students like that, with the new guy trying to work up the courage to speak in front of them! Very creative poems, Paul!
Well written and so true!
Homo Flinstonious.
After Barney called during eventide
Fred got hot
It’s just kinda loose
Making noises openly
Practically Queer,
Real sexy though,
Unusual?
Very!
Wilma?
X-rated
Yabadabadoo
Zany!
Haha! This one is just delightfully goofy! Thanks for the chuckle, Paul!
Arise, beautiful children! Dawn enters
Fairyland, gaining here its journey’s keen
Luminescence. Morning, new-sprung, occurs.
Pan’s quick-quivering reeds swell to unseen
Voices warbling with
Exaltation: yellow’s zenith.
Wow, Juleigh! Beautiful imagery and perfect sense–you’ve incorporated such an ethereal, picturesque mood into this strict “form.” Well done!
Thank you. Your challenge was inspiring!!
Magnificent!
Thank you so much!
Anthony became Cleo,
Daring emasculation
Found girlishly happy instincts joyously kinetic
Loathed manhood’s nervy oppressive posing,
Quick reacting, slow thinking, useless vain wisecracking yobbo
Zapped
Terrific!
Anthony became Cleo,
Daring emasculation
Found girlishly happy instincts joyously kinetic
Loathed manhood’s nervy oppressive posing,
Quick reacting, slow thinking, useless vain wisecracking ex yobbo
Zapped
Paul, you are on fire! Your ABC poems are clever, culturally apropos, and plentiful! Five stars!
Fatuous Gluttonous.
Apples, blue cheese,
Devilled eggs,
Fried garlic,
Horseradish, ices
Jackfruit, kedgeree,
Lemon meringue (nice option),
Pressed quail, roasted sardines,
Tuna uncooked, Venison,
Wilfully expanding
Your zips.
You are definitely on a roll, Paul! A gooey, caramel roll, dripping with butter! You’re making all of us who read this hungry . . . 😉
Great idea Amy and great fun, but slightly addictive. Many thanks.
Yep, this is all epicureans’ idea of a poem. Fabulous! And oh so tasty.
Window Sill Fester.
A blind cat
Dives everywhere,
Forgotten, gone
His instinct’s jarred
Killing little mammals
Not optional
Purring quietly?
Rarely so tranquil!
Usurped, vexed
Wearisome exit,
Yellowish
Zymotic.
Wonderful, Paul! I agree. It IS addictive! I have found myself, going through my day, and thinking thoughts . . . and suddenly realizing those thoughts are alphabetical! Funny how the brain gets going on a certain track . . . Glad you’ve enjoyed this as much as I have!
Ah blessed children
Don’t ever forget
Good homes
Inspire joy,
Knowledge
Loosens magnificent nascent optimism,
Providing questioning’s royal solace,
These upward visions
Welcome xeniums,
Yield zest.
An ABC blessing for the home . . . perfect! Had to look up “xeniums.” That was a new one: “1 : a present given among the ancient Greeks and Romans to a guest or stranger and especially to a foreign ambassador. 2 xenia plural : gifts sometimes given compulsorily to medieval rulers and churches.” (Merriam-Webster)
Acrostics Based on Chinese Do Exist
(well, sort of).
“In Chinese language, there are no letters. Every single word/character stands alone and means something. So, putting every first word of each line of a poem together, they mean something else.
Well, now let’s show everyone an example of Cang Tou Shi. “
See https://www.whitecloudpoetrysociety.org/blogs/2018/4/8/what-is-cang-tou-shi-
Although acrostics of roman alphabets do not need to tag the first letter of a line, Chinese Cang Tou Shi do. As the translator Jennifer Zeng says in the blog linked above: “Cang” is the Chinese word for “to hide”, or “hidden”. “Tou” means at the beginning. “Shi” is the Chinese word for poetry and poem.
Not as tight as the a to zeds on this page, Amy, but interesting possibilities.
Very interesting, Damian! I think there would be all sorts of fun possibilities with this using the English language. We usually think of acrostics as just dealing with the beginning letter, but what if all the beginning words of lines read as their own message when perceived from top to bottom, as the “White Cloud” Cang Tou Shi did? And what if the second words could be read from top to bottom, reading the same as the second line? And the third words, read from top to bottom would be the same as a third line? And so on . . . sort of a linguistic sudoku.
Kind of a strange idea, but I tried it on for size. This poem doesn’t make a lot of sense, but if you look carefully, the first words of each line are the first line, and the second words of each line are the second line, and so on. I couldn’t make it come out quite right, but it’s a first attempt–and I tried to keep a little rhyme going there, too.
This should ward off old-age diseases! 😉
Can you listen or rehearse?
You should know this is a curse.
Listen, know it’s not a game,
Or this knot head seeking fame.
“Rehearse” is a seeking word.
For a game, fame once was stirred.
That curse, now, is undeterred.
Star Man.
After Bowie
Culture declined!
England’s fey genius,
Harmonious inveterate jester
Kaleidoscopic,
Life, Mars?
Nebulous,
Outstandingly pretentious
Quintessential Rocker
Sexy traversing upstager
Visionary wordsmith
Extraordinary
Young Ziggy!
David Bowie, anyone? Another great ABC from Paul Gray!
The Other Route.
Zippers yawning,
X-rated wantonness
Vibrant untrammelled torsions,
Sensual revelry
Questing Passion
Overthrows normalities,
Moist lustful kisses Joined
Intimate harmonised groupings,
Forgotten edicts
Disdaining convention
Bacchanalian abandon.
Oh, boy! The backwards poem . . . about moral backsliding . . . this is a great idea, because the easier part of the poem will come last, instead of the poet getting to “v” or “w” and running out of options!
Being Irish, my experience is that moralists slide on their bellies.
Waiting.
Another banal concert,
Discouraging expectations
For Godot,
Halfwit’s incessant japes
Kinaesthetic Lucky
Moron’s nervous overbearing pleas
Quiet!
RECALL SOMETHING
Terribly unique,
Vladimir’s weary existential yawn,
Zombies.
ABC ennui, oh, me!
Nicely done by Paul, you see . . .
And here’s a little upset at the local zoo . . . so much for lunch!
Armadillos, Bengal-tigers, Coatimundis, Dogs,
Egrets, Fawns, Gorillas, Hippos, Insects on their Logs,
Jaguars, Killer Lions, Mambas, Night-Owls, Plus Quahaugs,
Rats, Snails, Ticks Upset Vans, X-ing Yeasty Zoo hot dogs.
Noble Bill’s no bilge as Noblesse Oblige.
A Bard Comes,
Dramatic English Foreseer,
Greatest Harbinger,
Ironic Jewelled Knowledge
Leading Mankind,
Nuanced Observer
Philosopher, Questioner,
Romanticist, Satirist, Tragedian,
Unmatched Veracity,
Worldly Excellent
Yon Zeus.
Laptop lapsarian.
All Bloody Cowards
Dreading Eternity’s Fate
Generate Hope
Imply Justice
Kill logic
Manufacture Nonsense,
Oppressive Protestants, Quakers
Rabbled Sectarians,
Transcendental Universalists,
Villainous Wormwoods
Expectant Yea-saying
Zoroastrians.
I won’t be in today for the South Wind brings:
Abscesses, Bunions, Callouses,
Dengue, Ebola, Fever, Gout,
Hernias, Impetigo, Jaundice,
Kawasaki, Leprosy, Mange,
Neurosis, Osteoporosis,
Pneumonia, Q-fever,
Rickets, Sarcoidosis
Tachycardia, Ulcers,
Venereal, Warts,
Xerostomia, Yaws,
Zits.
Baker Street.
Arthur’s Book
Conan Doyle,
Elementary,
Fiendishly Good Holmes
Intuitive, Jocular
Killers Lagged,
May Need Other?
Perhaps,
Quiet, Reliable, Stoical, Trustworthy
Unimpeachable Valiant Watson,
Excursive
Yet Zealous!
William Shakespeare, Original Sin, and a catalogue of diseases . . . all in ABC format! Go, Paul!
Thanks Amy, the problem with original sin is that it’s so unoriginal.
So true!
Still Single Seeks.
Artistic Bohemian
Creative Dandy,
Excellent Fellow
Gregarious, Handsome
Inveterate Joker,
Kind, Loving, Manly,
Naturally Optimistic
Passionate, Quiet
Reasonable, Serious,
Trustworthy, Upstanding
Viable Womanising
Ex Yodelling
Zionist.
Haha! I doubt if the SWF is going to find herself a man who’s all those things, from A to Z! Seriously, Paul, you should make a book of these–you are prolific! 🙂
Bringers of light.
A burning candle
Dying embers
Flaring gases,
Halogen,
Intelligence
Jokes, Kids, Laughter,
Matches,
Neon,
Old Photographs,
Quivering Rays,
Shiny things
Ultraviolet,
Veracity
Women,
X-rays,
Years,
Zaftig.
Painting Salvador’s Funeral.
A bovine canoe,
Dali’s eggs,
Funereal goldfish,
Happy Impala’s juggling Kirsch labels
Malevolently naked overlords
Pronouncing Quatrains,
Rising sherry tides,
Upended valises,
Wildebeest Xylophones,
Yo-yoing Zimmer-frames.
“Bringers of Light” is quite profound. Well done, Paul!
On the…
A bum,
Charlie
Docks,
Edie,
Father,
Garden,
Hey!
It’s Johnny,
Killing
Lost
Malloy’s nobody,
Options?
Philosophy?
Quiet?
Rat?
Strength?
Terry,
Union
Violence
Waterfront,
Expiation?
Yes!
Zenith.
Remember.
Adolf became chancellor
Death ensued,
Feral Germany,
Holocaust
Iniquitous Jew Killing,
Loathsome Mankind’s New Order,
Protection? Quashed!
Resistance? Some!
Terror,
Ubiquitous vilification,
War, extermination,
Yearning
Zion!
History in ABC! Another couple of impressive groupings from Paul Gray!
This really tested my patients, haha, but I wanted to give it a whirl!
“Confession”
Apparition blazon corruption,
Decency escapes foes.
God harboring ill-will,
Justice knows lascivious motivation –
Not objectivism.
Parish questor,
Right seldom triumphs.
Unanticipated visitor,
We without xenia –
Yield zeal.
PATIENCE !! Sorry, it’s late! The part of my brain that knows how to spell checks out at a certain point each night.
Well done, Lauren! It’s a trick to get it all to form sentences, but you did it easily, it appears! Thanks for trying this out! 🙂
I had to go find this one I wrote in 2016.
“Afrikaners, Blacks, Coloureds
Durbanites, English foreigners:
Go, hate, in ‘justice’,
kill, loot, mock!”
No.
Offer peaceful questions.
Revise, share, teach.
(Usually, violent wrath
exposes young zeal.)
I hadn’t visited this page in quite some time, Joe, and just saw this poem! What a meaningful, well-written sentiment, even apart from the genius alphabetical line-up! Well-done!
Azure breezes’ cadent dance
Enters fire-gasping helm
Inuring jousting knightly lance
Mighty nimbuses of Pelm
Quixotic rider, stallion tall, unreal
Vanquish who’d exhaust your zeal!
This is excellent, Rupert!
Tower in the East
A bending cold darkness elongates forth
Ghastly howls ignite jail’s kingdom
Lightning mimics nearby onlookers
Penitentiary Quakers, Reformatory Slammer
Tuesday.
Underground.
Volatile “Willie”, XI yardbirds zip
I just saw this, R Linelle G! Very evocative!