The Abecedarian
National Poetry Month|Day 10| April 10 | Prompt #10:
Abecedarian—is a poem in which each line (or section) begins with successive letters of the alphabet. The form dates to ancient Hebrew poetry; Psalm 119 is a massive abecedarian. The constraint is playful yet surprisingly generative, and the alphabet forces you to go places you wouldn't otherwise. Edward Hirsch, Carolyn Forché, and many others have used it. The abecedarian also has elegance as a shape, a complete traversal. A to Z. Beginning to end.
Prompt #10—Write an abecedarian, all 26 letters, or a section of the alphabet, on a subject that matters to you. Each line begins with the next letter. The challenge is to make the poem feel inevitable rather than mechanical, and to let the letter discover something rather than force a word to fit. Consider grief, a city, a relationship, a year, a body.
Poem of the Day— “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation” by Natalie Diaz
(Drop your poem in the chat or tag me when you’re done.) Happy Writing!!!
Saint Trey Wooden is a New York–born poet, essayist, organizer, and strategist based in Brooklyn. His work focuses on Black life, queer experience, political memory, and the everyday practices of care and resistance that shape how communities survive and imagine forward. He is a 2026 Lincoln City Fellow; a Spring 2026 Brooklyn Poets Fellow; a staff writer at Gaye Magazine; and a contributing columnist at Iansá Magazine, where readers can find more of his published work. You can also find his work here on Substack and on Instagram, and threads @sainttreyw . For inquiries, please email: sainttreyw@gmail.com