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A Few Special Letters

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The mother goddess

The m’s the mother goddess of the letters:
Her shape exemplifies the female form.
A bosom there for some, a bottom others;
For warmth and comfort is the m the norm.

Indeed, no woman could exist without her;
Of matriarchy is she head and sum.
The m holds all of womanhood around her,
And sometimes also doubles as your mum.

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Pirouetting forever

The v is balanced like a ballerina
Who pirouettes forever on the page.
No dancer’s flowing lines were ever cleaner,
Regardless of celebrity or age.

The v’s performance staged for us is timeless:
Her pirouette eternally alive.
How strange is this her power to beguile us
Considering the v is only five.

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Most deserving

Of all the letters is the u the one
That’s most deserving of a little verse.
Without her there’d be neither sun nor fun;
No us, no ours, no glorious universe.

And everywhere the u is garbed in beauty;
In everything that’s wondrous, pure and true.
No u and all is empty, sad and gloomy—
Whatever would we do without the u?

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Paul Martin Freeman is an art dealer in London. The poems are from his recent book, A Chocolate Box Menagerie, published by New English Review Press.

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26 Responses

  1. Jeremiah Johnson

    Enjoyed these! Thanks for putting a smile on my face this morning 🙂

    Reply
  2. Cynthia Erlandson

    These are so much fun! Each line is exceedingly clever. I was laughing out loud!

    Reply
    • Paul Martin Freeman

      Thank you, Cynthia. But they’re supposed to be serious. I think I’ve failed again!

      Reply
  3. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Fun take on these three letters. I am thankful that cup has a “u” in it, also.

    Reply
  4. Cheryl Corey

    Paul, these are so witty and enjoyable. Might there be more to come? I hope.

    Reply
    • Paul Martin Freeman

      These poems are from my book, A Chocolate Box Menagerie. There are, as I recall, 47 alphabet poems in all. They make up the whole of Part Two.

      Glad you liked them!

      Reply
  5. Joseph S. Salemi

    Few of us stop to think of how beautiful the Roman letters are, especially the capitals. An inscription in capital letters is a triumph of grace and symmetry. The emperor Claudius wrote a treatise on the history and development of the Roman alphabet, but unfortunately it has been lost.

    Evan, the choice of that 16th-century alphabet for an illustration is brilliant.

    Reply
    • Paul Martin Freeman

      Calligraphy is indeed a forgotten art form. My guess is that, in earlier times in both East and West, it was regarded as a path to spiritual perfection as the artist would see in his work his own character flaws which he would seek to eliminate through daily practice.

      Reply
  6. Norma Pain

    These three poems are thoroughly enjoyable and clever. I bet you had fun writing them. Thank you for the morning giggle Paul.

    Reply
    • Paul Martin Freeman

      Thank you, Norma. In fact, I intended these three as
      serious! But there are some comic ones I hope coming later.

      Reply
  7. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Paul, these wonderfully crafted poems are huge, grin-inducing fun! I love every one of them.

    Reply
  8. Margaret Coats

    The child delights not only in rhyme and meter, but in easy-to-solve observational puzzles, such as finding and/or counting particular letters in verse. I have always been partial to M, Mr. Paul Martin Freeman, and your poem for my first initial is marvelous. Not for myself, but for the Blessed Virgin Mary, I once created a poem of about 50 lines with an M (or m) in every one. Ah, if only the Chocolate Box Menagerie had been available in my childhood!

    Reply
  9. Paul Martin Freeman

    The m was formed by the union of the two lovers, the r and the n.

    Reply
  11. Joshua C. Frank

    Love these! Too bad your book wasn’t available when I was the target age.

    Reply
  12. C.B. Anderson

    Before now, I had never considered the possibility that letters have personalities. And that means that words have incredibly complicated personalities, which is almost frightening.

    Reply
    • Paul Martin Freeman

      Indeed. In fact, it’s worse than that. Many letters have multiple personalities, and some can even change into a different letter when travelling to Australia where everything’s upside down.

      Reply
  13. jd

    Short and clever and wise. Enjoyed all three, Paul.

    Australia isn’t the only country that’s topsy-turvy.

    Reply
  14. Paul Maritn Freeman

    Thank you, jd. That remark about Australia was not meant to be taken seriously, of course.

    Reply

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