ABCEDERIUM 1
A is a cathedral, a pinhole, a window that let’s through the light
B is the belly that bears beneath the breast the C, the D, and all the rest
C is a cup fallen on its side, a sea shell by the ocean asking “what lies inside”
D is a sail on the Spanish Main, a ship at sea, maybe friend, or foe
E is the wall we make about our home
F is a ruin, all alone
G — in lower case a tank, or a curved sword with a hilt, a Byzantine C in majuscule
H is a bridge between you and me
I is it one or just me on my own, who said that a single stroke is a man? I am the tower, a column, strike from sight all that is within
J the hook, the stroke, the mark of a fish
K an officer marching to war
L the architect
M the mountains
N a slide, a climb, the endless ride, a crooked smile, the final degree
O the mouth
P the false mouth
Q the wave of the world
R a man striding intro the sense of what surrounds him, great with the sense of himself
S the shape of thought, chosen to make many of one
T the rise of man
U the cup redeemed
V the moment, the peck of the beak, the valley, two sides joined that don’t want to be
W the peck of two, the mountain in the valley, the join of rivers
X the mark that was replaced by I
Y the moment of truth
Z the slip, the fall, the slide on its side, the rotation of everything you thought, the shape of light seen from inside the needle’s hole, a dot in the sky, the dot, the light, your eye, what you see
ABCDERIUM 2 (POESY)
is poetry Animosity? perhaps … poetry might be
Beauty, or Blindness, a grey gull flies through thunder it believes is night though it is day.
is poetry Cocaine? cocaine is a drug.
is poetry a Drug? poetry does not sell on the streets for a half million a pound.
is poetry an Effort? effervescently!
is poetry a good Fuck? always spell it phonetically — phuck
is poetry a Greeable? Green bulls are either impossible or the bilious spew that emanates from a liar — yes, probably.
But a gree a bull is a syntax error! strike any Key to continue
What happened to hij? poetry should be like a Honky-tonk, or at the very least unpredictable
is poetry Ineffable?
what is poetry doing in a Joint like this? Choose one:
1) trying to look respectable,
2) moving uptown, looking downtown,
3) letting loose like a wild caboose;
pick all or one;
poetry is None.
poetry is Kissing my girlfriend! We already did K
poetry is ruining my Life (sorry, talking to myself again)
poetry is Metronomic Myself Madness — in a stroke, in a strophe, on a stick
poetry is not Of or from or is, only in
poetry is a Pen, deep steep’d, beaded with ink so black, I love it like the jungle
Quiet? never!
poetry Rationale redux
senseless Sutural attack on reality, order and or chaos as you choose to experience it
nature excepted for romantics on Tuesday
terrible what I am doing to the alphabet isn’t it? I’m not done yet! r U? no way! (close
Very close)
poetry is Warm and Wet on Wednesdays
poetry is full of eXcess — writing this is eXhilarating!
Why? whY not? because no one has the correct or even one good answer
you fill in the final blank (note to self: complete with Zygote)
ABCDERIAL BESTIARY
ANTS
will never wear pants
ANTELOPE
if an antelope can, it will
if it can’t, then it cantelope
BEAVER
loves to eat trees
it’s surprising
beavers aren’t bigger
BABOON
invite to dinner a baboon
I’ll be gone by noon
BILGE RAT
in every harbor, a girl
in every man, a bilge rat
BOXER
dog that fights clichés
CAPON
General Custard’s revenge
CAT
invention of the pet food industry
the litter no one wants to talk about
CATFISH
how could something so ugly
live so long
must be a lesson here
CROW
crows walk through fields
too lazy to fly
crows walk through corn
torn pages from a book
COYOTE
underappreciated
North American fast food
COW
before sanitization and pasteurization
only way to keep milk fresh
DOG
invention of the pet food industry
the litter no one wants to talk about
DOLPHIN
smart as a man?
insist it isn’t so
DUCK
makes great cartoon characters
due to innate bad manners
DWEEZIL
little known bug
needs higher profile
ELEPHANT
brain, subject of poetry
trunk, object of curiosity
shit, enormous
EAGLE
on American money
an armed predator
EEL
metaphor
ELK
Loyal Order, or herd,
hard to tell the difference
FENDER BENDER
not necessarily an animal
but can create one
FISH
our national disgrace
FOX
more
than just a piece of tail
FIELD MOUSE
venerable
keeps on surviving
FROGS
builders, you hear them
at night, riveting
GOAT
as in old
as in eats anything
not necessarily human
only acts that way
GEESE
reek of dignity
GEEKS
more than human
less than goats
GOLDFISH
sound better than they taste
HAROLD
a friend of mine
even though he is human
Harold belongs in a zoo
HONEYBEE
sweets for the sweet
the sting comes later
INSECT
representative of the insect kingdom
IGUANA
fictitious reptile name coined
by Central and South American poets
to rhyme with marijuana
JAGUAR
there are some things
you don’t want to ride in
JELLYFISH
something even Bill Cosby
couldn’t sell
KANGAROO
purse mounted on
a pogo stick
KOALA BEAR
and God created:
a tourist industry icon,
endless National Geographic moments,
posters that say, “Hang In There, Buddy”
LION
meat tenderizer
LOON
Canadian laugh track
in the wild
MINK
doesn’t walk
minkses
MONKEY
no matter what you do
don’t make no monkey of me
MOUNTAIN GOAT
Anthony Weiner syndrome:
climb as high as you can
make a goat of yourself
NERD
secret ambition to be a wild animal
secret fate: poodle
NIGHTCRAWLER
what is on your foot
when you fall asleep
OCTOPUS
another metaphor
most times, clichéd
OWL
night bird
great for Scrabble
PENGUIN
a compass
my proof:
the only bird that cannot fly South
therefore,
the only bird that always flies North
PORCUPINE
somebody’s aunt’s pin cushion
just waddled by
and we would appreciate it if
it would return to its owner
it’s eating our porch
RACCOON
strong argument
for inherited character defects
(doomed to rob the moment
they put on the mask)
SHARK
natural tax
STEER
mighty big cow
lotta hamburger on the hoof
looks good enough to eat
can’t wait to kill ya!
UNICORN
legends walk
myths ride unicorns
VOLE
thoroughly obnoxious animal
electric razor with fur
WALRUS
Old Man of the Sea
with gumboots
WOODPECKER
undercover forest spy
always losing its job
X
extinct
more animals than any other letter
YAK
silent herd mentality
ZEBRA
fashionable
even before being discovered
ZOO
another human project
Peterborough Poets 
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