A War in Tawara
Add “A,”
A nut for a jar of tuna,
A Santa at NASA.
Borrow or rob,
Boston did not sob.
But sad Eva saved a stub.
Cigar? Toss it in a can. It is so tragic.
Don did nod,
“Dogma, I am God;
Devil never even lived.”
Evil Olive,
Ed is on no side.
Ed is a trader, cast sacred art aside.
Flesh saw Mom wash self.
Flee to me, remote elf!
God lived as an evil dog.
Go, do, dog!
Harass Sarah!
I prefer pi.
I, a man, am regal; a German am I.
If I had a hi-fi . . .
Jar a toga, rag not a raj.
Jar bar crab, raj.
Kayak salad, Alaska yak.
Key lime, Emily—ek!
Late, fetal,
Leon sees Noel.
Live, devil,
Laid on no dial.
Ma is a nun, as I am,
Mirror rim
Murder for a jar of red rum;
No lemons, no melon,
Never even
Noon.
No sign, in evening, is on.
No slang is a signal, son.
Nurses run—
Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo.
Oh, who was it I saw? Oh, who?
Poor Dan is in a droop.
Pull up if I pull up.
“Q,” said Dias, “Q.”
Rise to live, sir.
Rats live on no evil star.
Stack cats,
Solo gigolos.
Swap paws,
Step on no pets.
Sexes, exes,
Too hot to hoot,
Tug at a gut.
Tell a ballet
Tulsa night life: filth, gin, a slut.
U.F.O., tofu,
Vanna, wanna V?
Wow!
Was it a bar or a bat I saw?
Won’t lovers revolt now?
We panic in a pew.
Xerox orex,
Yawn a more Roman way!
You bat one in, resign in evening. Is Ernie not a buoy?
Zeus was deified, saw Suez.
ZZZZ, Otto, ZZZZ.
Ed. Note: Paul Hoover gave himself the challenge to write an abecedarius in which every line is a palindrome. The result, "A War in Tawara," is a tour de force. It is from his new collection-in-progress, The Windows. When Paul posted the poem on Facebook -- as part of the "8 poems in 8 days plus 8 invites" project -- he included the image below "When Paradise Arrived" by Enrique Chagoya.
Outstanding poem.
Posted by: Jill Newnham | October 07, 2020 at 02:39 PM