Zorro, with his signature “Z” and his faithful steed Tornado, was one of my childhood favorites—swift, clever, and always leaving his mark. I take inspiration from Zorro today in my poetic attempt, imagining a different kind of swashbuckler: one who works not with swords, but with syllables.
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A Swashbuckler of Words
This year’s final NaPoWriMo prompt takes inspiration from Russell Edson’s poem, “Angels,” where he speaks of these spiritual warrior-messenger-guardians as if they were a type of endangered animal. Brief as it is, the poem is disorienting in its use of flattened diction, odd similes, and elliptical statements. Today, we are invited to write our own poem that discusses a real or mythical being or profession (demons, firefighters, demonic firefighters) with the same sort of musing yet dispassionate tone.
Swashbuckler of Words
Subject: a marginal creature.
Evidence: paper Zs. red, black, red again.
Sleep: a rearranged spell.
He lives in the margins of old dictionaries,
feeding on half-noted thoughts
and abandoned definitions.
His tools: Z-shaped spoons—
red, then black—
lifting half a doodle,
never a whole idea.
He leaves sleep marks,
letters displaced,
then set back—unchanged
He edits without motion.
A line finished
before it is read.
He writes in pairs of letters.
The rest remain in the margins,
unwritten.
Undisturbed.
No verbs.
No becoming.
The page fills.
The margins hold.
Red. black. red again.
One turns from the missing notes
and finds the spell
rearranged again—
on a sleepless-nonday.
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites
Z Marginal Lexicon (Recovered from Old Dictionaries)
Zaftig
A word with weight.
It settles into the line, rounding what follows.
Zorro
A fox that signs with a Z.
He arrives after the act, the mark already in place.
Zymurgy
Fermentation in closed margins.
It continues in the footnotes, altering what was set aside.
Zarf
A holder for a handle-less cup.
It supports what cannot be held, leaving a ring when removed.
Zeitgeist
The spirit between pages.
It is felt as they turn, though nothing is written of it.
Z Books
Zooni Tales: Keep It Up, Plucky Pup: A lively rhyming graphic novel where Zooni the dog and friends tackle small mishaps with humor, teamwork, and optimism, helping early readers build confidence and phonics skills.
Zooni Tales: A Friend Till the End: Book two in the series, this one is as playful and rhyme-filled as the first one, and celebrates friendship, cooperation, and problem-solving through Zooni’s cheerful escapades.
And Now, the End of This Post
Dear reader, which “Z” word speaks to you the most? And if you were to imagine your own marginal creature, what rules would it follow? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
I am linking up to A-Z, Blogchatter, UBC, NaPoWriMo.
And you can find all my A-Z posts (this year and previous years’ as well) here:
