Eating Alphabets


This is a riddle:

I have eaten all the alphabets in the world.
My father's words,
I ate them.
And once I started I couldn't stop
Until I felt sick.
So I spit some out.
I left the rest inside.
For those spewed were misused.
Great floods overtook my homeland.
Birds bloated.
Now I hold too much inside.

What do I do?

I have eaten all the alphabets in the whole world.
And my father's words...
Well, I ate them too.
I have eaten all the alphabets in the whole world.
And now I am so full
I don't know what to do.

If I open my mouth all the words will come out.
And I don't think you're ready for what I might shout.

I have eaten all the alphabets in the whole world.
And my father's words...
Well, I ate them too.
I have eaten all the alphabets in the whole world.
So I'll swallow them once again,
For I cannot talk to you.



(From performance piece, "Eating Alphabets", 1994. See photo gallery.)



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©1994 Marjorie Morgan