with apologies to Edward Gorey

The Unlucky Twenty-Six
04/04/2008 - National Poetry Month post #4
I remember seeing my brother's Gashlycrumb Tinies poster when I was a kid and being utterly fascinated with it. To this day, I think it's had a strong influence on my sense of humor and my approach to verse. And, with 26 posts remaining in National Poetry [Writing] Month, I had the epiphany of coming up with my own knock-off of the Gashleycrumb Tinies, and then writing one poem for each of them for the rest of the month. I hope you enjoy them. And I hope Mr. Gorey, from the Great Beyond, understands that I am simply engaging in the Sincerest Form of Flattery.

A is for Annie who jumped off a bridge
B is for Bart who got locked in a fridge
C is for Charlie whose hair caught on fire
D is for Donna who bit through a wire
E is for Elgin thrown under a train
F is for Farrah left out in the rain
G is for Gus who fell into a moat
H is for Hattie with hands round her throat
I is for Iris, allergic to nuts
J is for Jim who had too many cuts
K is for Karla who drank the wrong brew
L is for Lenny with one day too few
M is for Morris, done in by a bully
N is for Nate who got caught in a pully
O is Ophelia who took the wrong path
P is for Peter who drowned in the bath
Q is for Quincy blown off in the wind
R is for Rob, by a bus was he pinned
S is Samantha found under some rocks
T is for Timmy, his mouth stuffed with socks
U is for Unis who swam with a dolphin
V is Veronica, struck dead while golfin'
W is for Wendy, assaulted by kids
X is for Xena stabbed in the eyelids
Y is Yolanda who fell from the sky
Z is for Zeta who has yet to die.

One of my writing goals for 2008 is to write at least one light verse or poem every week in addition to my haiku wednesday and fiction friday posts. I will try to do this on Mondays.