Here's a ditty

To a smitty

Teller, tinker

Indian inkler

Irish genie

English meany

Ice in a hot wind.

Nile and blue Algonquin

Sing in Greek to Aphrodite

Potawatomi to me.

Muezzin, give an Indo-European hoot

Lo, the alphabet's back in my soup.

(I think of Mnemidis, who ate letters,

Swallowed a watch, and knifed his betters.)

Hail fuller, swager, maker of new

May your pound resound and your bang ring true.

May your words be mine, or for the dustbin,

Laughing-stock, Love's husband.