Acrostic 1

Time at last for a new form, and it's one that can be both childish in its simplicity as well as dizzying in its complexity. Cute or mechanical, obvious or secretive, obvious or mysterious. It is the acrostic.

In it's simplest form, this type of poem, (designed originally to help pilgrims easily remember religious truths) consists of lines the first letters of which spell something. Usually that which is spelled relates to who springs from the content of the poem itself, though not always. At other times, it is the first world of each line that spell the message. Or the second word. Or basically any number of complicated ciphers can be involved in the creation of an acrostic.

It can rhyme, but need not. There are no official limitations on syllables per line or stanzas or any such thing. In short, an acrostic can be as little or as much as the poet wishes.

I will be experimenting with both the easy and the complex during this exploration of the acrostic and I'm looking forward to it. The form has enough freedom to allow me a relief from the specific complexity of the villanelle, but offers the potential of complexities that allow it to be a challenge to me at times.

So, enjoy my first simple example. Not as straight forward as it could be, as I don't use uniform meter in each line. But the "hidden" segment should be obvious to you.

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Tell
Your friends
Until they understand
(Not merely hear) that
Given the particulars of his
Life, he will almost never have
Enough patience to accept or ignore
Bouts of their rapid verbosity,
Or any assumed intimacy
With such people.
Extroverts prevail
Rarely.