A poem by Michael Stewart

The way you used to stand among your peers,
Tetrasyllabic, vaguely Arabic, not Greek,
No commonplace like i, j, k would do
But only elemeno, sonorant, significant.

Of what, of course, I never knew
I thought you were involved (still do)
With pimento, an exotic fruit
Suitable for stuffing olives with.
Hence olive oil and fig trees,
Date palms, caravans,
Silken tents upon immeasurable sands.

School has eliminated you, but not your spell,
And well they might say, hell, ‘em ain’t no olives.
Still, I hold, no elemenory education
Is complete without you.

EDITORS NOTE: Michael Stewart, PhD, taught linguistics at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, in the 1970’s. He was a brilliant man and probably still is. He disappeared around 1976, moving with his wife Barbara and son to Germany, rumored to be on the condition that he would not have to work. We hope he and his family are doing well, and will re-appear soon. Until word to the contrary appears, we will continue to publish work from The Michael Stewart Alphabet Book.