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Monday, June 28, 2010

Monday Poetry Stretch - Abecedarian

It's time this week to revisit and old (i.e. - one we've already played with) form. An abecedarian poem is one in which the verses or words begin with successive letters of the alphabet. I was inspired to think about this form again because I've been reading When You Are Alone / It Keeps You Capone: An Approach to Creative Writing With Children by Myra Cohn Livingston. In it you'll find a poem written by a ninth grade boy that begins this way.
Oration

A            Mexican hat is not to
Be           undermined, especially when one can
Cee          its innate qualities which
Dee          golden color rev-
Eals.        However
F            one doesn't see the beauty:
G-           wiz- let them go to
H            or heaven but
I            do not think they should be on this earth, or
Jail.
It's really a silly little thing, but it reminded my of how many clever and interesting ways there are to write a poem.

So, your challenge for the week is to write an abecedarian poem. Leave me a note about your work and I'll post the results here later this week.

15 comments:

  1. A Little Waiting

    A little waiting is
    Basically a good thing.
    C—I was waiting for the
    D-livery of a package, an
    Eight pound baby boy
    Four-ever. Hours not centuries.
    Gee, that seemed a long time,
    Hours chugging along like days.
    I huffed and puffed my en-
    Jine, o-
    K
    Like I’d been told.
    M-phatically, I’d like to add.
    N
    Open/shut out tumbled the
    Penis package.
    Question: was I
    Right to wait
    So long before delivery?
    Too bad if
    U say no.
    V love him and are keeping him.--
    We, meaning husband and me—
    Xactly as he is.
    Yes, he’s small and
    Zzzzzzs a lot, but he’ll grow
    Alpha-to-Omega, he will.
    A little waiting is
    Basically a good thing.
    C—I was waiting for the
    D-livery of a package, an
    Eight pound baby boy
    Four-ever. Hours not centuries.
    Gee, that seemed a long time,
    Hours chugging along like days.
    I huffed and puffed my en-
    Jine, o-
    K
    Like I’d been told.
    M-phatically, I’d like to add.
    N
    Open/shut out tumbled the
    Penis package.
    Question: was I
    Right to wait
    So long before delivery?
    Too bad if
    U say no.
    V love him and are keeping him.--
    We, meaning husband and me—
    Xactly as he is.
    Yes, he’s small and
    Zzzzzzs a lot, but he’ll grow
    A-to-Z, he will.


    ©2010 Jane Yolen All rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
  2. A Little Waiting

    A little waiting is
    Basically a good thing.
    C—I was waiting for the
    D-livery of a package, an
    Eight pound baby boy
    Four-ever. Hours not centuries.
    Gee, that seemed a long time,
    Hours chugging along like days.
    I huffed and puffed my en-
    Jine, o-
    K
    Like I’d been told.
    M-phatically, I’d like to add.
    N
    Open/shut out tumbled the
    Penis package.
    Question: was I
    Right to wait
    So long before delivery?
    Too bad if
    U say no.
    V love him and are keeping him.--
    We, meaning husband and me—
    Xactly as he is.
    Yes, he’s small and
    Zzzzzzs a lot, but he’ll grow
    Alpha-to-Omega, he will.
    A little waiting is
    Basically a good thing.
    C—I was waiting for the
    D-livery of a package, an
    Eight pound baby boy
    Four-ever. Hours not centuries.
    Gee, that seemed a long time,
    Hours chugging along like days.
    I huffed and puffed my en-
    Jine, o-
    K
    Like I’d been told.
    M-phatically, I’d like to add.
    N
    Open/shut out tumbled the
    Penis package.
    Question: was I
    Right to wait
    So long before delivery?
    Too bad if
    U say no.
    V love him and are keeping him.--
    We, meaning husband and me—
    Xactly as he is.
    Yes, he’s small and
    Zzzzzzs a lot, but he’ll grow
    A-to-Z, he will.


    ©2010 Jane Yolen All rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pass the Poetry Prompt, Please
    by
    Gregory K.

    An A
    Be
    Ce
    Darian?
    Eek! Call
    Florian

    ReplyDelete
  4. A Ball

    A
    ball
    calls to a
    dog and a boy
    eagerly,
    fighting for its right to
    go high from a
    hand and then fall
    in a
    jubilant curve, like a
    kite, till the
    licking
    mouth
    nabs it, considers
    owning it
    permanently,
    quarrels with it,
    releases it
    sideways
    to be caught
    up with endless
    vigor for the next
    win, the next journey
    extending into space,
    yawing across the lawn,
    zooming once again.

    --Kate Coombs, 2010, all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
  5. Greg--you are so naughty.

    And Kate--I love :yawing across the lawn . ." The nautical image just perfect.

    Jane

    ReplyDelete
  6. Am I allowed to cheat and post one I wrote a while ago? My daughter lives a three-hour drive away from me. I collected road signs etc. and made up an Abecedarium of the trip (not in order, of course)

    Langley to Kamloops ABC (an Abecedarium)

    Avalanche area at A&W
    Bridal Falls & Box Canyon.
    Check your fuel through critical accident zone
    Dinotown to Dry Gulch.
    Exit east onto
    Flood Hope road & Falls Lake.
    Gas up for the Gold Rush Trail.
    Hope for huge savings and
    important route information at
    Jones Lake & Juliet Creek.
    Keep right except to pass Kamloops.
    Lear at Langley.
    Merge to Merritt, maximum 50
    No hitchhiking north on Nicola Road
    Othello
    Popkum, Portia, Peters or
    Quilchena.
    Rest area & road information at Rona.
    Slower traffic keep right to Skinny’s Grill
    Two or Ten-Mile Creek.
    Use winter tires or carry chains
    via 1, via 3 via 5. Vision limited
    when amber flashing & for wide load.
    X for the train then
    yield to the Yanke bound for
    Zellers.

    © 2009 Violet Nesdoly (all rights reserved)
    (poems @ http://vnesdolypoems.wordpress.com)

    ReplyDelete
  7. E-mail From A Cat-Sitter
    To It's Owner


    A
    Bout your
    Cat.
    Damn
    Enimal ate my cactus.
    F ing
    G willickers!
    How did it do that?

    I
    Just left the damn
    Kitty for
    Like,
    Maybe a minute
    N then --
    O my poor garden! Forget
    Pests. Your cat was in it!

    Q t she may be, but
    Regardless.
    She ate my cactus! And
    The fact is
    U owe me another. And the cat?
    Vomited up the spines
    With her cat food.
    X pect she’ll live.

    You really should have gotten a dog.

    Z ya.

    ---Barbara J. Turner

    ReplyDelete
  8. WANTED:

    Able-
    bodied man.
    Caring, but not
    deipotent.
    Extremely
    fun.
    Gynophobic need not apply.
    Handsome.
    Intelligent.
    Just and
    kind.
    Loving, and lovable.
    Musical--a nimble dancer.
    Obdurate and obnoxious persons will NOT be considered.
    Personable? Check.
    Quiet? Much appreciated.
    Reasonable? But, of course!
    Sophistication a plus.
    Totally
    unique.
    Venerous? A little goes a long way.
    Whiskered? Again, a little goes a long way.
    EXotic? Oh,
    Yes!--someone willing to be my sweet
    zingaro!

    © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete
  9. Gifts

    A
    Beautiful evening in the
    Country brings gifts of
    Deer. You see them
    Everywhere.
    Fawns
    Graze in your yard
    Hop
    In fields of alfalfa
    Jump
    Kicking strong back
    Legs. Deer
    Make
    No noise
    On this hill. They eat, sleep,
    Play.
    Quietly you watch them
    Run faster than you ever will.
    Swooshes of white
    Tail flash
    Under, over, gone.
    Velvet hooves
    Waltz on a silent
    Xylophone and
    You watch in wonder as deer
    Zigzag into dusky air.

    © Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

    ReplyDelete
  10. ABC Summer Break


    After the end and
    Before the beginning,
    Classes have been
    Dismissed.
    Everyone has
    Fallen under the spell of summer.
    Giving way to
    Happiness and relief.
    Ignoring the educational call
    Just waiting
    Keeping the memories
    Loving the freedom of
    Managing time differently.
    Never forgetting
    Only
    Preparing for the next.
    Quietly
    Regenerating
    Students and
    Teachers slumber
    Until the arri-
    Val of autumn
    Wakes them e
    Xcited to begin a new
    Year of
    Zany learning adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Here's mine, inspired by the surgery of a granddaughter:
    http://deowriter.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/poetry-stretch-abecederian-poem/

    This was fun.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Only You

    A nyone
    B ut you
    C ould
    D elve into my deepest secrets,
    E xtract
    F ibers of memories,
    G rab them,
    H old them to the light and
    I gnite the fragile strands till they
    J ump from the fire and
    K url and
    L ift into the
    M id
    N ight sky, like smoke sailing
    O ver,
    P ieces of my soul lost,
    Q uickly exposed to
    R eveal my un-
    S poken dreams, but the
    T ruth is, only
    U would hold those fibers tight,
    V alidating,
    W ondering, loving,
    X aulting in those precious strands,
    Y ou, only you, the
    Z enith of my sky.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Coming in a little late, but....

    "Hi de hi de hi de hi!"
    I’ve heard it so many times,
    Just that little well-
    Known snippet of the
    Luscious Cab Calloway’s
    Most famous musical moment.
    Never
    Once has the
    Person singing it to me
    Questioned his assumption—
    Really never considered that his
    Sassy little scatattempt might not
    Thrill me
    Up and down like scales on a piano.
    Vainly he (and it’s always a he)
    Waits for my approving laughter, my e-
    Xhalation of admiration. Instead I
    Yawn.
    ZZZzzz. I’ve
    Already heard that joke
    Before. Meanwhile
    Cab Calloway rolls over in his grave,
    Dying of chagrin, the
    Echoes of his genius
    Fading flatly.
    Geez, buddy—just say, “Hi, Heidi.”

    Hee! These are fab-u-lous!

    ReplyDelete
  14. And I forgot about this one...

    Pink Carpet Alphabet


    After her bath,
    cavorting diaperless
    (ever the fearsome gymnast)
    heroically
    she imitates Jiminy:

    kangaroo-leaping miles
    (nearly over her pillow),
    quaquaversal,
    repeating somersaults,
    tumbling up valiantly—

    a wiggle-limbed X
    yelling “ZOOM!”

    Heidi Mordhorst 2001
    all rights reserved

    ReplyDelete