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Lipogram Compositions

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This page contains lipograms composed by myself and other folks who have sent their submissions to me. Send me an e-mail with your submission. No worthy submissions will be omitted. The rules are as follows: The poem, paragraph or whatever must omit completely one or more letters of the alphabet, including the title of the work. Only the author's name may contain the offending letter(s). You can send as many submissions as you wish, of course. Lipogrammatists of our world, conjoin!

A Chiliastic Conundrum

by Steve Chrisomalis

In sixty-six AD
(Actually, it was August ninth, but who's counting?)
A clock struck nil
And upon its chiming, struck us dumb.
I don't think anybody was around
Who saw its import.

Two thousand circumvolutions
(Actually, 1900 and thirty-four, but who's counting?)
Of a world circling about a sun
A cosmic winding of that said clock
Marks an important instant, for now
But what is missing?

A world awaits in anticipation
(Actually, mostly just Anglophonic parts, but who's counting?)
A bug? Y2K? Why not, I say?
Significant? I should say so!
Janus turns about, just to look for
A missing symbol!

January first, two thousand
(Actually, at midnight, in Kiribati, but who's counting?)
Anno Domini - and what an anno! Who can say -
Horribilis? Mirabilis?
What all prior to it had, it lacks -
I shouldn't say it!

And amidst all this a cynic
(Actually, just a dull and stubborn man, but who's counting?)
Said, I'm counting, digitally
And don't fancy your conclusions
So just you wait; I'll still show you in
2001.


Rhapsody

by Steve Chrisomalis

Nothing can match
A saxophonic symphony
In rhythmic synchronicity
Swinging in fantastic harmony
Chromatic, with an omission (or two and two)
Improvisation - ad-hoc compositions
Of a Chicago or Kansas City jazzman (a trio?)
"Mood Indigo" at midnight, and "A-Train" at dawn
No sign of compact discs, not a hint of staff-notation
To imprison art in binding chains of its own making.


I hope you have found this site to be useful. If you have any corrections, additions, or comments, please contact me. Please note that I am not able to respond to all requests. Please consult a major dictionary before e-mailing your query. All material on this page © 1996-2021 Stephen Chrisomalis. Links to this page may be made without permission.

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