alphabet soup
© 1998 Devon Koren

what am i missing?
a letter? a noun?
pronounce me --
what do i sound like?
am i dotted with stressed syllables -- do i carry
a silent e?
is there an "ach" or an "och"
that makes me sound
distinctly scottish
if but for a moment?
is there a bit of a german growl, or a rolling
bit of green in
the spanish r?
is my alphabet phonetically recognizable
in greek, in russian, in japanese?
slapstick radiance -- it's only for monday, anyway
i braid a rainbow afternoon and pick out all my favourite parts
a soul and a sole? both need shoeing
(at least we never threw a horse)
and the world stands out in highlight
blanketed down, the chill coming from within
the winter of my womb, still bleeding
from the tender kiss of autumn, leaving little
elm droplets beneath
another spring -- i'm growing from within
but on mornings like these it
gets
difficult to tell --
don't touch my wings, don't bend them back
i am not paper mache, and i'm not
malignant
(usually)
i'm only teething
and it gets better
(like wine)
with age.