poetry friday roundup is here

~ jama

#65 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

Welcome to the Poetry Friday Roundup at Alphabet Soup!

So glad you’re here. Hope you’re having a good September. 🙂

Today we’re celebrating Alphabet Soup’s 18th blogiversary with one of my favorite (and oh-so-appropos) poetic forms, the abecedarian. Recently stumbled upon this gem by new-to-me poet Tom Disch (1940-2008).

A prolific award-winning author of speculative fiction as well as a noted poet, Disch was also a librettist, essayist, theater critic, and author of historical novels, computer-interactive fiction and children’s books (perhaps you’re familiar with his novella, The Brave Little Toaster (1980)). Of all these genres, he wished to excel most in poetry (Dana Gioia considered him a genius).

Love his conversational tone, sharp wit and matter-of-fact storytelling, which gives the poem a fresh, spontaneous feel. I haven’t read an abecedarian quite like this one before (so fun!); I like how his mind works.

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French Coloring Book (1925).
ABECEDARY
by Tom Disch

A is an Apple, as everyone knows.
But B is a …. What do you suppose?
A Bible? A Barber? A Banquet? A Bank?
No, B is this Boat, the night that it sank.
C is its Captain, and D is its Dory,
While E – But first let me tell you a story.
There once was an Eagle exceedingly proud
Who thought it would fly, in the Form of a cloud —
Yes, E is for Eagle, and F is for Form,
And G is the Grass that got wet in the storm
When the cloud that the Eagle unwisely became
Sprinkled our hero and all of his fame
Over ten acres of upland plateau.
So much for that story. Now H. Do you know?
H is the Hay that was made from the Grass,
And I’s the Idea of going to Mass,
Which is something that only a Catholic would do.
Jews go to Synagogue. J is a Jew.
K is for Kitchen as well as for Kiss,
While L is for all of the black Licorice
You can eat in an hour without feeling ill.
M is for Millipede, Millet, and Mill.
The first is an insect, the second a grain,
The third grinds the second: it’s hard to explain
Such a process to children who never have seen it —
So let’s go to the country right now! Yes, I mean it.
We’re leaving already, and N is the Night
We race through to reach it, while P is the Plight
Of the people (Remember?) who sailed in that Boat
That is still, by a miracle, somehow afloat!
(Oh dear, I’ve just noticed I’ve overlooked O:
O’s an Omission and really should go
In that hole – do you see it? – between N and P.
No? It’s not there now? Dear O, pardon me.)
Q is the Question of how far away
A person can travel in one single day,
And whether it’s worth it, or might it be better
To just stay at home and write someone a letter?
R’s are Relations, a regular swarm.
Now get out of the car – we’ve arrived at their farm!
S is the Sight of a Thanksgiving feast,
And T is the Turkey, which must weight at least
Thirty pounds. U is Utopia. V …
V simply Vanishes – where, we can’t see –
While W Waves from its Westernmost isle
And X lies exhausted, attempting to smile.
There are no letters left now but Y and then Z.
Y is for You, dear, and Z is for me.

~ from ABCDEFG HIJKLM NPOQRST UVWXYZ (Anvil Press Poetry, 1981).
Alphabet Cards by Paul Thurlby (1973).

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Now, please leave your links with the amiable Mr. Linky below. Looking forward to reading your original poems, poems by others, reviews, and interesting poetic musings. Thanks for joining us this week!

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Please help yourself to a cupcake and have a lovely weekend!

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Certified authentic alphabetica. Made by hand just for you with love, teddy bears, and 26 letter perfect friends.

*Copyright © 2025 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.

40 thoughts on “poetry friday roundup is here”

  1. Hi, Jama, I’ll come back to comment later. I wanted to let you know that I mistakenly linked my blog twice. The first one didn’t include my description so if you might want to delete it. I’m sorry I couldn’t figure out how to do this myself. Thanks so much! Linda

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  2. What a delight! The tone is warm and comforting, and fun too. I haven’t seen an abcedarian in a while. This hits the spot. Thank you, Jama. And, thank you for hosting our Poetry Roundup this weekend. I look forward to cuddling up with some new poems.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Jama, I think I fixed it. At least I hope so. I’m sorry for the mess. I am trying to redesign my blog, and it’s been a real challenge. : (

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Simply brilliant! This poem is perfectly wonderful. I am excited to learn more about Tom Disch. Thank you for always having a space that is so beautiful and welcoming and cozy that I just want to live inside the photographs. Take good care. xo, a.

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. Oh, Jama, pure delight. 🤗 Such a whimsical abecedarian.

    Thanks for kicking off Poetry Friday with this bit of joy, and thanks for hosting us this week!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. I’m going to savor this (and the last post), slowly like an earthy dark chocolate truffle. But I wanted to wish you a happy 18th blogiversary, Jama Darling! Your readers are the lucky recipient of all things beautiful in our world.

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. I am crazy for those alphabet cards!

    Happy blogiversary to you. Thank you for always being a bright light. And thank you for hosting.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Congratulations to you and the whole bear-y wonderful Alphabet Soup Crew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (That was 18 exclamation points.) And you made US cupcakes? Yum. The poem is delightful, and I appreciated learning a bit about Tom Disch. And – those graphics! Sigh. [I just have a signpost pointed here this week – busy with baby grands this weekend. Sawyer is in three-year-old preschool three mornings a week and is loving playing “school,” so we’ll be working on our letters, I’m sure.] xo (Robyn Hood Black)

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  13. Hi, Jama! Thanks for the clever poem: (Oh dear, I’ve just noticed I’ve overlooked O:
    O’s an Omission and really should go
    In that hole – do you see it? – between N and P.
    No? It’s not there now? Dear O, pardon me.)

    And for hosting!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. That is “some poem”, Jama! I love the part where he writes, “or might it be better
    To just stay at home and write someone a letter?” It would be wonderful to see someone read it aloud or to create a picture book with it. And, those alphabet cards are a delight, too! Thanks for hosting and for including us in your 18th blogiversary celebration! Congratulations!

    Liked by 1 person

  17. I’m wishing there was a picture book to go with this fabulous abecedarian poem. Masterful. Thanks for hosting and sharing yummy poems, cupcakes, and tea.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Congratulations on 18 years of awesome posts! Your posts are a bright spot, and I always look forward to them. Disch’s poem is so clever and want to read more of his work. Thank you for hosting. Have a great weekend!

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Wow, 18 years! Congratulations! Thanks for being my bright spot in Tuesday and Friday. Life would be so boring without your blogposts! By the way, my favorite parts of that poem are eating lots of black licorice. No one in my family ever fights me for it, because they like red vines better! And, I love the part about writing a letter. My local mailman told my husband that all he delivers now is junk mail. So sad! Happy weekend.

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  21. Jama, what a joy this poem is to read. It is a refreshing departure from today’s world. Thank you for providing that! I love his tone, as well. It’s so easy to read! Congratuations on your long standing blog and it’s wonderful success!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I haven’t had any comments thus far, which is weird with this group, I’ll admit. But, I just tried to get into my blog from goggling and can do that. I have not gotten any error messages on any of the ways I tried to get to it. I even posted to FB and my husband could open the page to the blog. I tried to send you a message via the comment section that I had a problem two weeks ago when I tried to respond to your post. I meant to let you know but I think I just forgot. I also checked all of my settings and no one is blocked or prevented from getting to my page. I’m so sorry!

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      2. The mystery deepens! There shouldn’t be a problem, especially since yours is a WP blog like mine! I just tried to click through again and got a message that says your blog might be a security risk!! Very strange. Sorry about your past comments not going through (others have reported similar issues). I’ll have to ask tech support again about this — unfortunately, WP has cut back on their Happiness Engineers so it takes longer to get help these days. It is unusual that you haven’t received any comments this week from other PF people.

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  22. When I click on the Mr. Linky link, I get a message saying the browser couldn’t make a secure connection to your server. This happened with Safari as well as Firefox, so I don’t know why it’s happening. Anyway, I’ll try to copy and paste the URL you just provided. Thanks!

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  23. Jama, I came to the Roundup late in the day. I am trying to catch up with paperwork that never ends. I am happy to hear of your 18 years of Alphabet Soup’s blogiversary. This week’s poem that you shared is a marvel because it is fun to read. It is also cleverly crafted. I did miss writing you a comment last week so know that I enjoyed it as well as this one. Have a wonderful weekend. This is a family weekend so I am eager to see everyone.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Oh boy, this makes me want to write a whole book of abecedarians! So glad you scouted and shared this–it’s playful and ridiculous and still gives the impression that there’s something deeper going on. Happy Anniversary, Jama!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Heidi. Disch expanded my understanding of what an abecedarian can be. I agree with Margaret that this poem would make a great picture book.

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  25. Happy blogiversary, Jama, and what a fun and witty poem! Definitely an alphabet poem, though I don’t think I’d personally call it an abecedarian. That’s probably because I’m too much of a rule follower–haha. Thanks for rounding us up :>)

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