G

Keys
(General Alphabet)

I was a listener,
a doodler,
a kindergartener impatient to know
what the bigger kids knew,
to understand the lines and squiggles
they used .

I'm seven.
The teacher stands at the blackboard,
chalk in hand,
and begins to draw lines, shapes and say sounds.
She is mysterious and magical --
the marks she makes,
I want to make, too.
She shows me how to form the letters,
join letters to make words,
then sentences.
Ideas.

The universe unlocked in dusty white on black.

Pam Jessen

She knows a writer isn't supposed to have favorites, but Pam Jessen must confess to a preference
for loopy Ls and Es, gangling Gs, and sinuous Ss.