A New Year venture awaits
Begging towards taking up pen
Calling projects forth from fevered mind
Dickens started it all
Energising my adolescent Curiosity Shop
Fanning flames that fired imagination
Great Expectations glowing with anticipation
Hard Times intervened
I reluctantly laid pen aside
Just as I had given up all hope
Kilburn school opened an opportunity
Leaning into new learning
Mastering turns of phrase
Never looking back
Opportunities began to beckon
Positioning myself anew
Questioning old paradigms
Revising tired old plans
Stimulated by fresh calling
Travelling into brand new territories
Unpacking stale expectations for new expectancy
Vexations aplenty
Worries about untried trails
Xenos of spirit hosts me through
Yearning towards completion
Zephyrs urge me on.
(c) January 2026 Dennis Ryle
Our host today at dVerse – the Poet’s Pub is Laura, inviting us to try an Abecedarian and write a 26-line poem, each line starting with the next letter of the alphabet. The letter “X” is always tricky—it’s tough to go beyond X-rays and xylophones without reaching for something unusual, but I’m fond of “xenos,” a word that captures the spirit of ancient hospitality.
Wondering Pilgrim 
An interesting abecedarian, Dennis, especially as I am a Dickens fan. Great to see those zephyrs too!
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Thank you, kim881. Dickens is someone who still inspires me.
Shalom
Dennis Ryle
0411 062 593
Blogging at Wondering Pilgrimhttp://www.wonderingpilgrim.com/
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Me too!
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Well hope this year meets your literary expectations, very well done.
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Thank you, pandemoniumcat. Much obliged.
Shalom
Dennis Ryle
0411 062 593
Blogging at Wondering Pilgrimhttp://www.wonderingpilgrim.com/
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like every Dickens novel this has its sense of hopelessness and then its upturn moments – long may “the xenos of spirit” host you through 2026. You are off to a great start with this abecedarius.
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Thank you, Laura, much obliged!
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I really enjoyed reading your acrostic … making it personal worked beautifully.
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Thank you, Helen
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Dennis, an uplifting poem. I look to authors for that same inspiration.
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