“Alphabetical Disorder” by Michael Penny
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Alphabetical Disorder” by Michael Penny , which first appeared in Poetry Pause in July 2020.
Alphabetical Disorder
By Michael Penny
Z, usually sleepy,
woke up agitated
at being always last.
Z did not want
to be the bottom of things
carrying the whole weight
but A said, no,
the heavy lift is in the start
tugging you all along
that mustered line
of 26 slots, each
fitting the one letter.
โIโm the only word
by myself,โ but then
I corrected A.
And X noted
it marks spots
and solves for itself.
The disorder scaled up
and the letters all argued
their strengths, and Z
regretted being awake
as the letters used up
all the fighting words.
Copyright ยฉ Michael Penny
First appeared in Poetry Pause in July 2020.
Michael Penny lives on an island near Vancouver, where he pursues his interest in sustainability as a volunteer on the island’s Advisory Planning Commission.
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