Twenty Six - by Tim O'Keefe

I wrote most of “Twenty-Six” in the Albuquerque airport, and on my flight home to South Carolina. I was sharing space in the terminal with a man reading the local newspaper, when he closed the paper, put his head in his hands and cried. I don’t know what upset him, but it made me consider the many ways that the twenty-six letters of our alphabet, and by extension, all alphabets, record the best and the worst of us. Obituaries, eulogies, baby announcements, love notes we put in the lunches we pack, our vows, etc. This was one of my mother’s favorites and she asked for it whenever we got together. I hope you like it too.
The last line of the song only means something to those of us of a certain age - who took typing.
Ink and paper
Truth and lies
Twenty-six letters
Make you laugh and cry
Twenty-six letters
All rearranged
Black and white
Joy and pain
History lessons
The power of the pen
Will we ever learn
Or just do it all again
Twenty-six letters
In the holy books
Will we turn away
Or take another look
Twenty-six letters
In all we write
Declarations, constitutions
Civil Rights
The same letters used
By the KKK
Give us promises to keep
And blessed words to pray
The same letters used
In our vows of course
Are the very ones we use
When we file for divorce
The same twenty-six
In different combinations
Declare a massive war
Or peace between nations