The February 21st prompt in The Daily Poet, by Kelli Russell Agodon and Martha Silano, is to write a poem about something that makes you angry. Well, I don’t feel a whole lot of anger these days, so I went with the merely annoying. It’s kind of a silly poem, but I figure I’m allowed once in a while…

I don’t jet why people pronounce it ‘giff’
even the juy who invented the format
says you pronounce it like the peanut butter

I juess when these folks jo home
they’re jreeted by their jorgous spouses
with guyant smiles on their faces

When they jet anjry, they have arjuments
but they always fight fair
and always forjive each other before joinj to bed

On weekends, they take their kids to the zoo
where they visit the gearaffes, jazelles, and jorillas
and those genntle guyants, the elephants

When they jet back home
they help their kids with their geeojraphy and geeometry homework
before tuckinj them in with a genntle jood night kiss

Then it’s time to join the spouse in bed
for plenty of hujjinj and kissinj
before joinj to sleep for the night

In the morning, they jet out of bed
and jo to the kitchen for breakfast and coffee
before they jet in their cars to jo off to work

They hate their jobs
and how much the jovernment takes out of their paychecks
but they need the money, so they jo

At the end of the day, they jo back home
to another jlass of ginn
to help them forjet the day they just had

After dinner, they loj onto their computers
to post on Facebook for a while
then maybe click on an animated giff or two

Until someone starts arjuinj with them
over how you say the name of the file spelled G-I-F
Is it or is it not said like the peanut butter?

Sides are taken: giff vs jif®
until someone links to the Webby Award video…
and everything falls into place

General order is restored to the universe
now that the guessing game is over for good
and all is right with the world at last

Now we just have to settle this whole ‘jigawatt’ thing…

(21 February 2015)