T is for TROUBLE

by Monty Edwards

T’s always starting Trouble as we very clearly see,

In Trains it must sit at the front, as selfish as can be,

Then when it comes to Taking Turns, of course it must be first,

As Time and Time again, in this, it really is the worst.

Its influence is very bad, of that there is no doubt,

For when there’s work for it to do we find it backing ouT.

A man named Ben was joined by T and instantly was BenT,

So gained a reputation that was never his intent!

Now people sometimes tell you, you should “mind your Ps and Qs”,

But when it comes to letters there’s another that I’d choose.

Its awfully bad behaviour’s bound to lead you into error,

So I’d advise: “Beware of T!” It truly is a Terror.

• Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #2

 

 

 

Monty says: My basic idea for the poem was to work with the actual letter T: its position in words and how it could be taken from or added to words to change them into new words. Although I could find lots of examples, for me it proved difficult to shape these into any sort of coherent narrative that could be taken literally, and also had a consistent rhyming scheme (which was my goal). I nearly gave up, but I found giving the letter T a personality helped focus my effort and gave the poem unity.