Zed

Zed

 

The last English letter,

The last song, the final

Form

 

Evidently, the British

Like to say this letter

As a word, while

Other English speakers

Simply say zee

 

As I think through

My own alphabet

(More or less in order),

It seems most words

For letters are more

Or less the letter

Sounds,

 

Though double-u

Describes what it is

(In Spanish, double-v)—

 

And the eighth-letter

 

Name might be

Overwrought, long A

Followed by a soft chuh,

Ache with the K

Sound substituted

 

I like calligraphy,

Illumined text in Latin

Or another word—I’m

Sure I’d have no

Patience for the work,

 

Though I love the

Results

 

Would love to have a

Large single letter,

As if monk-made,

Framed, shining to

Illumine me

 

Which letter, I don’t

Know—I’ve twenty-

Six letters in my tongue

(On my tongue) from

Which to choose

 

What letters might light

Up my mind and what

Ones for you

 

CLC

 

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Zed Challenge

Y is for Yep

Y is for Yep

 

Somewhere between yes

And a dog’s yip

 

A folksy affirmative that

Often belies

 

Impulse and instinct

Something

 

Jumping under the skin

But we

 

Say something so we say

Yep

 

‘Cause we’re too busy in

Our heads

 

Mulling over possibilities

To be much

 

More than homespun

And you know

 

What might you say yep to

I already know

 

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

W is for Wisdom

W is for Wisdom

 

Wisdom sayings, wisdom verse

Aesop, the poetry of Donne

 

What Winnie the Pooh never

Learns from sticking his tummy

In a honey tree and, before that,

Rabbit’s house

 

What is wise to you, dear one?

Would you write it down?  Or do

You believe in show more than

In tell?

 

Which means I’ll learn from

Watching you more than in

Pitiless, didactic discourse

 

I will look to you for wisdom

 

Other times in the book we know

We find out back—made of living

Page-leaves,

 

Bound in round tree bark, etched

By wind and ice, illumined by

Nature’s hand

 

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

X is for, well, X

X is for, well, X

 

ten in the Roman system

 

the unknown planet in

old sci-fi films and maybe

new astronomy

 

the name of the ray the

Curies made in life and

death that we might see

below the skin

 

first letter in in the name

of the Persian warrior

on the other side of

Thermopylae,

 

same with a saint (a

university), a musical

instrument, and the

musician named Cugat

 

and, yes, the name that

gave the X to comic

books, television, graphic

novels, and films

 

first letter (transliterated

from Aztec) for

Xochimilco, the floating

gardens of Mexico

City,

 

which fed the center

of empire and now feeds

beauty for the city

 

first letter for a queen

who challenged Roman

might; her people

feared those from the

outside and for good,

tragic reason

 

her name became a

modern term, Xenobia

to xenophobia

 

it’s what we sometimes

use to correct; lefties

prefer it to writing a

check-mark

 

it starts the sequence for

both genders

 

it is a shape

 

it’s what’s used when a

whole signature is not

required

 

mostly, though, we know

what it’s for: in song, in

verse, in story—and the

human heart—it is

 

a symbol for the searcher

 

X marks this, doesn’t it?

where the treasure lay

 

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

V is for Vixen

V is for Vixen

 

A female fox, I think

Moving in from the country

To the London suburbs

 

Fox-hunting was outlawed,

You know, giving all the

Red-fur, sure-footed

Creatures and creations

 

A chance for a shopping

Life, residing maybe in

Duplexes

 

Red herring, reality before

Fallacy, was used to train

Hounds in fox-hunting:

 

What if it’s a delicacy for

Foxes now (red herring,

Not the hound)?

 

Fallacy become fact in

Reparation

 

With foxes in chaise

Lounges, leaning back

Into beneficent afternoon

Sunshine, snacking on

Salty fish

 

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Blogging from A to Z Challenge

U is for (Unseen)

U is for (Unseen)

 

What we are we cannot see

Values, mores, inclinations

Preference toward criminality

Or toward the light

 

Words make these real,

Sometimes more than actions

Actions become lessons in

Addition to what happened

And what was achieved

 

 

(môr′āz, thanks to freedictionary)

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

T is for Tarantella

T is for Tarantella

 

It’s been set to music,

And I like the story

That goes

 

That if one dances

Fast enough with zest

And spirit and need,

 

The poison will

Withdraw from out

The spider’s bite

 

Perspiration, perhaps

Perhaps reward of

Tribute to Arachne

 

Who knows, maybe

To the mischief of

Ananzi, too

 

Now let’s make our

Own tale of such

Movement and lost

Consciousness in

Dance to take us

 

To a place where

Divinity gives

Healing

 

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

S is for Science

S is for Science

 

Science is skill

Practice and progress

Discipline, consistent

Method and trial

 

So is poetry-making

Poeia in ancient Greek

(The process of

Making)

 

Both are spiritual acts

Dealing with creation

And miracle

 

Though scientists and

Poem-makers might

Not see the fabulous

Beyond amazing

Accomplishments of

People

 

In effect, the miracle

Being us

 

Well, so be it

 

I see the soul, and

That’s my science

 

Global, adhesive

Respect will keep our

World together

 

And so I will look

Forward to your way

 

And we may measure

And skillfully remake

The cosmos together

 

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

R is for Rose

R is for Rose

(requiring parenthetic subtlety)

 

Cloak filled with roses

Emblems of a miracle

At Guadalupe (in

Spanish, the e would

Get some emphasis)

 

Roses are a metaphor

For, as Catholics call

Her. the Mother of

God, met by sainted

(Both ways) faithful

Cuauhtlatoatzin (in

Aztec—try it as it

Sounds) outside of

Town, not recognizing

 

Her but treating her

With all respect, as

Women (and good

Men) are due, before

She was revealed

 

Mary is a rose, so is

Solomon when

Speaking of his love

 

I am the rose of

Sharon, having more

To say of savor for

The lover’s taste

 

Passion is a rose,

Though shades can

Change things (red is

For, white is for,

Yellow and purple

Have their meanings,

Too

 

And if a pop-culture

Color is preferred,

There’s Abby-black)

 

So, G. Stein, a rose

May not be a rose,

For discretion might

Be required and

Context for the next

Trip to the florist

 

 

(at present in USA, an orange rose is symbol for healthy birth by Every Mother Counts, http://www.everymothercounts.org/)

 

 

 

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Blogging from A to Z Challenge