Monday, October 13, 2008

Monday Poetry Stretch - Abecedarian Poems

For this week's challenge I thought we should tackle abecedarian poetry. An abecedarian poem is one in which the verses or words begin with successive letters of the alphabet. Here is an excerpt from a poem found in America At War, poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins.
Alphabet
by Jane Yolen

What is the alphabet of evil?
Auschwitz,
Buchenwald,
Chelmno,
the names of camps
rolling off the tongue,
the tongue lolling in the mouth,
the mouth hanging open,
...
Psalm 119 (King James numbering) is also an abecedarian poem.
Poets.org has more information about the abecedarian form.

So, what kind of poem will you write? Leave me a comment about your abecedarian piece and I'll post the results here later this week.

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