For ABC Wednesday’s E Post, I picked the form,the epigram as well as the epitaph.

The epigram is a form that makes me smile and is definitely fun to write as well. From the Academy of American Poets website, here is the definition of the epigram:

An epigram is a short, pithy saying, usually in verse, often with a quick, satirical twist at the end. The subject is usually a single thought or event. The word “epigram” comes from the Greek epigraphein, meaning “to write on, inscribe,” and originally referred to the inscriptions written on stone monuments in ancient Greece.

Defining the epigram by example, Coleridge offered the following:

Life is certainly short and even those short lives can teach many a lesson, create many memories. Over the past three days (including today), we got and buried three gold fish. Well, we actually got five fish and buried three. It is amazing how attached one can get to another living being so soon. My DD brought home one goldfish to keep from her class and her friend lent her another one (her take-home fish from the class) on Friday. Dad decided to get fish food along with three more fish to keep the first two company from the pet store on Saturday. The kids were excited to have five fish to show off but as we read more, we learned we needed a way bigger fish tank than we had for these fish and we started looking around for the same. With a birthday party on Saturday (for my DD) and back-to-back basketball games for the kids on Sunday, we had a packed weekend and Monday morning dawned with, sadly, three dead fish – the ones from the store. The kids were sad, feeling disappointed and felt they should have taken better care. While they were at first reluctant to go near the dead fish (mainly because they were sad), they rallied around soon enough, decided it was not humane to flush them down the toilet, dug a hole in the backyard and now they are buried with due honor and a small stone that says ‘RIP The Three Bigsters’. Now, we are hoping to ensure a longer life for the two that made it past this weekend and have been named Mort (after You-Know-Who) and ‘The Survivor’ – hard lessons learned over a weekend.

Here is an epitaph for them: also linked to ABC Wednesday’s letter E

I am going to continue working towards my goals this year. My DD had her 10th birthday party this past weekend and it was definitely a wonderful experience planning, organizing and being a part of it. More to come on this shortly