April 11, 2011 "Poetry surrounds us everywhere, but putting it on paper is, alas, not so easy as looking at it." Vincent Van Gogh
I saw a poem once that used only words in alphabetical order, one word per letter of the alphabet. I have worked at writing a poem with this structure often, and also had students do it. In addition to personal inspiration, I believe poetry is basically word work, yet that word work is such a challenge. Finding just the word one wants to communicate a feeling is not easy, as this structure is not easy. But it's been fun to try. Since I love birds and bird watching, I thought I'd write about them.
Alphabetical Aves
Amazing Birds, Cerulean-Dazed, Elegantly-Feathered, Geometrically-Hatched—
Ibis, Junco, Killdeer, Lark, Magpie, Nutcracker, Oriole, Pigeon, Quail—
Random Selection Tallied Under Various Walkabouts--
Xylophonic Yammering Zealots!
Awesome Bird Composition, Describing Eloquently, Fowl Gazing Habits...okay, far enough for me! Nice job on the alphabetical aves!
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredible idea. I will have to give this some thought. Your poem captured so much. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful poem. I can see how challenging that must be. I'd have to get very familiar with the end of my dictionary. :) Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteVery cool, I may have to play with this structure someday. BTW - in Australia I was taking a picture of an ibis and a lady said, "You must be a tourist, these are a pest here."
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