Saving The Alphabet

The A's were

the first to go...

We searched for them in

our pocket alphabets, and

tried to say them out loud,

but they were gone...

We were taking

a cat nap when

B went...

We asked for it

back, in triplicate,

but the

Corporations

denied our request.

Without C, the Corporations

have no first letter for

themselves, and no identity.

Now we know who they aren't.

D is dead, departed,

defunct. The nation

mourns its loss, and all

words containing D are

removed from print and

web...

Another

vowel is missing.

We are trying to

express our

outrage, in written

and oral form, but

we are at a loss for

words.

Of all the letters,

F will be missed

the most...

Our favorite

words: FONT,

FORM, FOOT,

FABRICATE, will

be struck from

the sacred

songs.

With the loss of G, the Corporations'

plans are clear. Once they have I

and N, the other verb forms will

submit. The Corporations will own

the engine of language...

Today, H was lost...

The President was

notified, but he works

for the Corporations

and had nothing to say.

We had

hoped I

would

never be

stolen.

We had

always

understood

I's

importance,

hidden it

away,

protected

it...

We

no

longer

have

separate

identities.

With J

gone,

we rarely

sing the

sacred

songs.

There is

no joy

in the land.

With K's loss,

the nation's

mourning

deepen-

ed.

At

mem-

orials,

since the

letter could

not be spoken,

or even remem-

bered, a respectful

silence replaced

each consonant.

To protect our

freedom of

expression,

the

Corporations

have taken

L.

The words

LIFE, LOVE

and

LIBERTY

are now

trademarked.

Today, our lawyer tried

to say the word

MALFEASANCE.

He tried twice,

groping for the word,

and gave up...

He was first in his class

at Harvard.

N

was lost

at noon...

The National

Guard was called

out, but they forgot

what they were looking

for.

Today, the Corporations took

O. We consulted our pocket

alphabets, but the letter had

been replaced with a blank

space, an inkless zero.

With P, the

Corporations

have access

to pi and our

secret codes.

They are so

secret, no

one has ever

spoken of

them before.

Query:

Are there

questions

without

words?

To protect

against

unauthorized

use of the

language

the

Corporations

ask for our

Responsibility

and

Restraint.

S is

often used

to denote

the plural.

We believe the

Corporations

and the

Government

are allies...

T is gone.

A missing

letter report

has been filed...

U should have been

taken at the same

time as Q...

An oversight like this fills

us with joy; the

Corporations make

mistakes.

It was a few days before

we noticed V was lost.

Someone found a missing

letter in the New York

Times crossword puzzle

and checked with the

editors.

The word was

VERITY.

We sang songs,

pinched each

other, and

took uppers

to stay

awake, but

W was

taken at

dawn...

We stared dumbly

at the sun,

trying to

remember the

Who, What,

When,

Where,

and

Why.

The letter X

went without

notice....

The

Corporations

thought it

too insignificant

to mention.

Why Y?

Why not.

Z is

the

only

letter

left...

Who

will save

the alphabet?