friday feast: letter perfect

#30 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet.

“Think about it. Every word that has ever been invented belongs to you just as much as it belongs to the most famous author, poet, fairy tale teller, or song composer.” ~ Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Thefancyladygourmet/flickr

Some of you may know that I am stark raving mad about have a teensy obsession with the alphabet.

The mere sight of those 26 letters — singly, in groups, edible or inedible, gets my pulse racing, my heart thumping. I’ve always believed each letter has its very own personality (X is risqué and mysterious, B has an inferiority complex). You gotta admire something that comes with its own sound effects, is open to mingling freely with all its counterparts, and is so versatile it can lend itself to countless words.

In our old house, I stenciled the alphabet in one of our hallways, and every time I saw those letters, I marveled that different combinations of those 26 symbols gave us all the works of Shakespeare, E.E. Cummings and Dickens, the Bible, Pooh and Paddington. Like Rebecca says in the opening quote, we all have equal access to those letters and every word ever invented. Tremendously exciting and humbling at the same time.

Heinz Alphabetti and Numberetti by Leo Reynolds/flickr

Last month, Rebecca and I got to talking about alphabet pasta and soup and favorite words (she and I both love “pudding”). You probably know she’s a champion word collector, part of the reason she’s such a brilliant poet. Imagine my surprise and delight when she sent a poem written just for me! Somehow, I’ve managed to stop cartwheeling around the kitchen just long enough to share it with you today. Thank you sooo much, R!

ALPHABET COLLECTOR
by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

The A’s are always plentiful.
What would a word collector do
without them, tell me . . .
and the o’s, let there be a ton
(see? Needed one) and the c;
please stack up the t’s, too;
throw in an x here and there
for interest, for spunk.
Dunk these letters in soup
and let them float, call it art,
that’s what it is; a letter biz.
What better way to spend an hour
or a day; a lifetime, really.
Alpha, alpha, alpha, betcha
can’t do it like she does.

Back to cartwheeling . . .

What’s better than admiring the alphabet? Eating it, of course!

Uber cool edible alphabet set by Don Moyer/flickr.

So, what’s your favorite letter and why? (These days, I’m favoring Y — so strong, it can ask a question even if W and H don’t want to cooperate. “A” gets far too much attention being first, and sometimes is decidedly haughty at being the only letter who’s also a complete word all by itself.)

♥ This post is brought to you by the letters R, K, and D, a beautiful poet with a child’s heart and quite possibly, cute toes.

♥ Today’s Roundup is being hosted by Terry at Family Bookshelf. Enjoy all the cool poems being shared around the blogosphere this week and don’t forget to:

“When I was having that alphabet soup, I never thought that it would pay off.” ~ Vanna White.

Certified authentic alphabetica. Handmade for you with love for perfect poets. ♥