Letter Appreciation

The other day's exercise apparently put me in a sonnet-writing mood, because I wrote another one this morning, though the composition took much longer than an hour this time. It's a silly, tongue-in-cheek sort of poem, a love sonnet addressed to the letter U. Truth be told, I have no deeper adoration for that letter than I do for any of the other twenty-five characters in the alphabet; it's just that I couldn't resist the (admittedly shameless) pun that the poem hinges on.

After writing it, I couldn't help but think of Smokey Robinson's appearance on Sesame Street back in the 80s, where he sang "You Really Got A Hold On Me" to a giant U-shaped puppet with feminine eyes and lips that was intent on permanently attaching itself, by way of a vise grip, to the Motown star's struggling person. I saw the segment many times as a kid, and remember feeling at once captivated, amused, and more than a little concerned for Smokey's welfare each time it came on. The picture I posted above is one artist's tribute to that strange and passionate man-letter union.



I Love U

Without you, nothing would be unctuous,
only oily. Urns would be simply pots.
Usage: a wise person. Utah: a no-fuss
goodbye. The umlaut, sadly, a pair of dots.
On the upside, we’d have no ulcers and urine,
no unmannerly urchins, no unease.
Yet, we could never uplift, unify, underpin.
Utopia? Unthinkable—even more of a tease.
O you, most guttural, uncommon, unsung
of all vowels—unless, that is, we count Y—
let us pronounce you, easy on the tongue,
and write you: curved underbelly, with sides
upright, top uncapped. Undoubtedly true:
our universe would be unnamable without you.