Aught, no. 13 (2004)

Halvard Johnson

Thirteen Nouns of Verbing at a Noun

                    I

Among twenty snowy nouns,
The only verbing noun
Verb the noun of the noun.

                    II

I verb of three nouns,
Like a noun
In which there verb three nouns.

                    III

The noun verbed in the autumn nouns.
It verbed a small noun of the noun.

                    IV

A noun and a noun
Verb one.
A noun and a noun and a noun
Verb one.

                    V

I verb not verb which to verb,
The noun of nouns
Or the noun of nouns,
The noun verbing
Or just after.

                    VI

Nouns verb the long noun
With barbaric noun.
The noun of the noun
verbed it, to and fro.
The noun
Verbed in the noun
An indecipherable noun.

                    VII

O thin nouns of Noun,
Why verb you verb golden nouns?
Verb you not verb how the noun
Verbs around the nouns
Of the nouns about you?

                    VIII

I verb noble nouns
And lucid, inescapable nouns;
But I verb, too,
That the noun is verbed
In what I verb.

                    IX

When the noun verbed out of noun,
It verbed the noun
Of one of many nouns.

                    X

At the noun of the nouns
Verbing in a green noun,
Even the nouns of noun
Would verb out sharply.

                    XI

He rode over Noun
In a glass noun.
Once, a noun verbed him,
In that he verbed
The noun of his noun
For nouns.

                    XII

The noun is verbing.
The noun must be verbing.

                    XIII

It verbed noun all afternoon.
It was verbing
And it was verbing to verb.
The noun verbed
In the nouns.

                     (after Wallace Stevens)

Sonnet Kit CXLVII

[Some assembly required]

Copyright © 2004, by the author. All rights reserved.
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