Guy--Part Forty-Four

Splog # 184

Forty-Four

 "I'm not quite sure what an acrostic is, Bugs. But I liked that poem a whole lot. I liked it when you said we were like brothers and we had one brain and that you had a heart even if you didn't have a body. I think it was very lovely and I'm glad you told it to me."

 "Well, it's quite gratifying to have one's efforts appreciated and I, in turn, am moved very deeply by your wholehearted and warm reception of my sincere, if not exactly exceptional, offering. Let me produce for you, if you will, a small example of an acrostic. I shall employ, if you will permit me, your own modest appellation, Guy. Now just give me a moment."

 Having left Hel's and Eden's establishments in the distance behind, Guy and the Ling Lings were now traversing an area of ordinary ocean bottom but Guy found himself gazing at an area far ahead that seemed to be emitting light into the darkness. He assumed they must be approaching their destination.

"Giraffes may be tall but they don't make a sound

Unless as they run their hooves pound on the ground.

Yesterday one passed me in a single bound."

 Guy found this piece of doggerel to be quite different from Bugs' usual output and waited patiently for an explanation.

 "You see, the opening word of each line, Giraffes, Unless and Yesterday, commences with the letters which spell out your name. Giraffes with a G. Unless with a U. And Yesterday with a Y. G-U-Y. So if you look at the poem written out, you can read the name written downwards in the initial letter of each line. An acrostic."

 "That's quite clever, Bugs. Did you make that up?"

 "Oh, no, no, no. Well, yes. I made up the poem, though it's not really clever, although I did manage to squeeze in that internal rhyme, 'pound on the ground'. But I didn't make up the form. Acrostics are recognized forms of poetry, like sonnets or - or - I don't know. Limericks! Yes. 'There was an old lady from Cork' and all that. Now, you see, I took the long form of my name - But, Our, Rising, In, Alone, Such and you have B-O-R-I-A-S. I won't go through the whole thing. You obviously get the picture."

 "Oh, yes. You mean that whole long poem all started with the letters of your name! Oh, Bugs! That's wonderful! Say it over, so I can see where each letter comes in."

 A modest chuckle came from Guy's mouth. "You really want to hear the whole thing again?"

 "Oh, yes."

 There was a momentary pause as Bugs went over the structure of the poem in his mind.

 "Wait! Wait!" Guy said. "Can you tell me each name before you do the poem of it and I'll say 'B' and then you do the B line and 'O' and then you do the O line. I remember Borias so let's do that one, OK?"

 "As you wish," Bugs complacently replied.

 "OK. B" Guy said quietly.

 "But ere this boy we come to know..."

 "O."

 "Our own acquaintance let us grow..."

 "R."
 "Rising from the sand we met..."

 "I."

 Suddenly, a concussive force pushed through the water, lifting Guy slightly off his feet and moving him backwards a little. The Ling Lings stopped circulating around him and drifted down to the sandy floor where they floated aimlessly in a small tightly-packed herd. Complete silence encompassed him and the light in the distance seemed to have vanished. Guy started to ask Bugs what had happened but as soon as he opened his mouth, he began speaking involuntarily.

"Is this the tower where dwells a boy alone?

Where be the others who with him have grown?

Are there no sires, no father or no mother?

Are there no siblings, sister or a brother?

A window faces east to the sunrise.

Does that sun warm as do two loving eyes?"