Alphabet Genealogy Poem by Roger Gerald Hicks

J:
You may wish to deny
you were once an I,
buti, j.See!
And you both came from |.
Who wants to be
straight as a stick?

Q:
Banished by the Greeks,
you nearly became dinosaur,
but grew tail curved
and the Romans took you in.
Good thing, too.
If you were extinct
we'd spell quincunx, kwincunx.

R:
You use to be a "9" then a "P."
What curious evolution!
How did your parents
ever explain you
to their friends?

U:
You were always difficult
to distinguish from
vee and double vee
until you grew a tail.
(Were you observing Q?)
How resourceful of u.

Z:
AKA zayin, zeta, zee
like the shark,
you were formed so perfectly
you've not evolved
since antiquity.