The Prince of Vowels
‘A’ distinguishes book from chair
though not without a fight
we watch them duke it out
four legs vs a thousand pages
jab sting hook stun head-butt
fighting for that heavyweight A singularity
they try to pry A’s legs apart
discover they cannot
‘E’ does it’s act slow, nearly silent at first
lips barely parted stepping over
a Cockney-dropped H
insisting it’s not male exactly
screaming itself hoarse at an androgynous
rock star, making ears buzz
E is common as dirt, now CO2
your all-purpose pollutant
‘I’ is everyone’s favorite
not U definitely not
I is the all-vowel vowel
prince of vowels first among unequals
‘U will have no other vowels
before me’, the creator
of intelligible sounds before whom
there are/were only grunts and hisses
no agents, no subjects; only objects
ignorant of their objectivity
O dear O my O four-letters
and sometimes Y as in the trendy chant:
YOU! YOU! YOU!
are the cause of all I-suffering
The Dog Star 
Leave a Reply