John -
This is called Alphabet-Poetry. It's an alphabet poem. I found yours quite entertaining. Below is an article about the genre:
A - B - C - D - E - F - G ~ gee, are these poetry form variations easy - or are they only deceptively simple?
~A~
The simplest variation of alphabet poetry consists of creating a twenty-six line poem using the alphabet, with lines beginning with consecutive letters of the alphabet from A to Z. If you decide to live a bit more dangerously, you could write a twenty-six line poem and begin your lines from Z to A.
This is a contemporary offshoot of the Abecedarian form. Originally the Abecedarian was created in Hebrew and had a stricter form made up of one hundred seventy-six lines grouped into eight-line stanzas. The Abecedarian was considered sacred - some even made the biblical cut.
~B~
If you'd like more of a challenge, try creating a twenty-six word poem - using the alphabet (in order, either A - Z or Z - A) as each word's beginning letter. The challenge here is to create something coherent.
Another version would be to only use vowels (in order, either frontward or backwards) as your beginning letters of each line.
~C~
An additional variation would be to create a poem (with any line count desired) using a single common letter to begin each line. For example, if your first line begins with the letter "B," then every line after must begin with the letter "B."
For a blending of this variation with an acrostic poem, you could have each stanza's lines have the same unique beginning letter, but then the stanzas would spell out something. For example (showing only the beginning letter formation):
A...
A...
A...
L...
L...
L...
I...
I...
I...
V...
V...
V...
E...
E...
E...
~D~
Finally, my favorite version is the one where a poet takes a letter of the alphabet and studies it. What does it remind you of? Does an "o" make you think of a perfect pearl plucked from the sea? Perhaps you take the point of view of a mugging victim and the end of a gun's barrel is the "o" they can see - all they can see - even long after the crime.
Before we end this article let's answer the question posed at the beginning: Are these poetry form variations easy - or are they only deceptively simple? The answer is both yes and no. The forms are relatively simple, but the challenge is, as always, to create density (layers of meaning) with each word and with each line.
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© 2007 Holly Bliss. All Rights Reserved. This document may be freely redistributed in its unedited form and on the condition that all copyright references are kept intact along with the hyperlinked URLs.
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