A

A is for artichokes,

Asparagus, and

Anchovies.

Can you believe

Grown-ups not only

Eat, but sometimes

Enjoy these?

The ‘Oxford comma’ is an optional comma before the word 'and’ at the end of a list:

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It’s known as the Oxford comma because it was traditionally used by printers, readers, and editors at Oxford University Press. Not all writers and publishers use it, but it can clarify the meaning of a sentence when the items in a list are not single words:

These items are available in black and white, red and yellow, and blue and green.

The Oxford comma is also known as the 'serial comma’.





Bully

Bully of mine,

I have no time

For your harmful words today,

Because I am strong,

And can get along

Without you, anyway.

If you’re mean, it can be forseen

You’ll end up alone in the end,

But if you choose to treat me nice

You just might earn a friend.







Crayons

Don’t eat the crayons, mom says, but geez,

They sure do look good enough to eat,

With names like Cotton Candy and Macaroni and Cheese.

Don’t eat the crayons, mom says, but geez,

I want to give Plum, Melon, and Mango Tango a squeeze,

And don’t Pink Sherbet and Neon Carrot look like a treat?

Don’t eat the crayons mom says, but geez,

They sure do look good enough to eat.

A triolet is a poem of eight lines, typically of eight syllables each, rhyming abaaabab and so structured that the first line recurs as the fourth and seventh and the second as the eighth.





A, B, and C from the new book by Journal of Outsider Poetry editor Thomas L. Vaultonburg’s new book Atrocious Poems A To Z