ABC

Finally, here’s our prompt for the day, once again taken from our archives and, as always, optional. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write an abecedarian poem – a poem in which the word choice follows the words/order of the alphabet. You could write a very strict abecedarian poem, in which there are twenty-six words in alphabetical order, or you could write one in which each line begins with a word that follows the order of the alphabet. This is a prompt that lends itself well to a certain playfulness. Need some examples? Try this poem by Jessica Greenbaum, this one by Howard Nemerov or this one by John Bosworth.

A poem for V
Beauty that she is
Cold hands waiting for touch

Dear V
Everywhere I turn your image
Follows my gaze like a 
Ghost

How could
I have 
Jilted her 
Keen heart?

Laughing eyes
Move my soul
Now, she arrives with 
Open arms 

Please never leave again

Quiet, approaching
Ravenous but
Simmering only, until the 
Touch crosses boundary

Unheralded moment
V,
What will become of us?
Xi watches over your country now
Yes, you can come into my bed
Zzz