Friday, October 28, 2011

Top 20 Word Poems

Several months back New Scientist printed a list of the twenty most frequently used words. From top to bottom, they are:

I the and to a of that in it my is with he me on but

This list seemed to me to resemble a modernist poem , especially if you write it in short lines like this:

I the and
to a of that
in it my is
with he me on
but

But though this is modernistic in sound, still it wants for sense. I desired rhyme, rhythm, passion and wit. So I played around with word order, and in the end converged upon the following bouncy number, which I call the Love Song of the Top Twenty Words:

Have a that of my;
On but in was he;
You for and with I
is the it to me.

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