Twenty Six

This is a song I have been working on. It was inspired by the Fred Rogers quote I posted earlier. It’s not quite finished. It needs a bridge but it works OK as a poem.

It’s called “Twenty Six”

Aa Bb Cc

Dd Ee Ff

Gg Hh Ii

Jj Kk Ll

Mm Nn Oo

Pp Qq Rr

Ss Tt Uu

Vv Ww Xx

Yy

Zz

Ink and paper

Truth and lies

Twenty-six letters

Make you laugh and cry

Twenty-six letters

All rearranged

Black and white

Joy and pain

History lessons

The power of the pen

Will we ever learn

Or just do it all again?

Twenty-six letters

In all the Holy Books

Will we turn away

Or take another look?

Twenty-six letters

In all we write

Declarations, constitutions

Civil rights

The same letters used

By the KKK

Give us promises to keep

And blessed words to pray

The twenty-six letters

In our vows of course

Are the very same used

When we file for divorce

The same twenty-six

In different combinations

Can declare a massive war

Or peace between nations

Words of redemption

The birth of a nation

Words of hatred

And condemnation

Obituaries, eulogies

Those twenty-six are used

To clarify, distill

Obfuscate, confuse

To grant restitution

To write a bald-faced lie

To describe a brilliant sunrise

Or a baby’s first cry

Only twenty-six letters

In all we write and read

Describe any situation

All we want and need

Texting, emails

In the dirt with sticks

It all comes down to

The same twenty-six

Those twenty-six are used

Day after day

To write a love letter

A lullaby, a play

To write a love letter

A Dear John or Joan

No looking in the eye

No talking on the phone

To create a wanted poster

To announce a baby’s birth

In a last will and testament

To calculate one’s worth

Some four-letter words

Carry massive weight

Like EVIL, KIND, PAIN

Also LOVE and HATE

Words can hurt you

Just like stones and sticks

And they’re all put together

With the same twenty-six

Twenty-six symbols

Used in different ways

Give us everything we write

And everything we say

Ink and paper

Truth and lies

Twenty-six letters

Make you laugh and cry

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs.