As we arrived to class we started to talk about the reading that was assigned. It was to read Zulus in Re:f(gesture) by Percival Everett. We then split into groups and started talking about what the poems are and our interpretation of them. They were abecedarian poems but they were not exact like an actual abecedarian poem. Percival Everett had his own way of creating poetry. An Abecedarian poem is a type of acrostic poem that is arranged by alphabetical order, the initial line beginning with the first letter of the alphabet. When I first heard of this it reminded me of the alphabet song that we all used to learn in elementary school.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF-pZPvr2tY
I found it interesting that we have been learning about abecedarian since a young age without the knowledge of it. This then got me thinking that an abecedarian does not have one format. poetry itself is still poetry no matter its context, therefore and abecedarian poem is still one if it is arranged alphabetically no matter the format. An example is…
Apple blossoms in abundance; sweet aroma in the air.
Begonias burst with brilliance. Blue bells pop up everywhere.
Cherry blossoms cheer with pink; corn flowers cluster blue.
Dandelions dance with wind; Dutch Spring flowers (Daffodils) dance too.
Easter Lily, always early, blooms exquisite white.
Forget-me-nots, fresh-picked by tots, are a Mom’s delight.
Geraniums, garden-fresh, are growing graciously.
Hollyhocks I plucked when young my heart is blessed to see.
Irises with leaves like swords paint rainbows on the lawn.
Johnny-jump-ups have their purple yellow clothing on!
Kangaroo paws, so exotic – come to us sun-kissed.
Lilac bushes, lush with lovely flowers can’t be missed!
Marigold, like its friend the Sun, is glowing too.
Narcissus, so many types of it, now bloom anew.
Orchids of the warmer climes, one-of-a-kind are they!
Peonies, so pretty, and perky poppies are at play.
Queen-of-lace with gracious face, how elegant is she!
Ranunculus, a Buttercup, greets us radiantly.
Sweet pea, looking precious, up the trellis climbs
Tansies, yellow buttons, also love the temperate times.
Uva-Ursi, on long stems, in late spring’s breeze will sway.
Violet’s vibrant color gives its name away!
Wax flowers help fill up bouquets on spring wedding days.
Xeranthemum, a sunflower, flaunts her sunny ways.
Yellow wood anemone starts flowering in May.
Zinnia comes later. For Zinnia and others, the sun just has to stay!
Copyright © Andrea Dietrich | Year Posted 2016
On the other hand Percival Everett does not follow this format. He does start his poem alphabetically but then he goes off track. In Zulus he creates a poem for each letter. For example
“XY is for xylography
Cut the flesh and
leave the wood alone.
And for xylophone–
The night’s are wholesome;
then no planets strike”
This is his poem for X and Y. It does not follow the format of an abecedarian poem but it is one. After talking we were told to write one ourselves. I did not have any experience with creating abecedarian poems but I found them really fun to make. My poem had the same format as Everett’s except that I used different words. My poem went:
A is for Adventure
B is for Beauty
C is for Caring
D is for Dashing
I decided to write about the first words that came to mind when I thought about the letter. I noticed that most of them related to each other in some sort of way. Like beauty and dashing both describe the appearance of a person, while adventure and caring both have to do with an action that a person could take.