Fifteen Alla Barnens
Steven Kent

All the children stayed away from magnets

Except for Eric

(He was ferric).

All the children hail from San Diego

Except for Dino,

Who came from Chino.

All the children here in Greece eat gyros

Except for Stavros

In Epidavros.

All the children gave up sweets for Lent

Except Louise;

She gave up cheese.

All the children mind their manners

Except for Carol,

Who's frankly feral.

All the children paid in cash

Except for Joan;

She took a loan.

All the children simply guessed

Except for Felicity,

Who loved specificity.

All the children own Corollas

Except Loretta

(She's got a Jetta).

All the children swept the floors

Except Aloysius,

Who cleaned up the dishes.

All the children tell the truth

Except for Claude,

A total fraud.

All the children shunned roulette

Except for Frances,

Who took her chances.

All the children fled that rotting deer

Except for Marcus

(He found the carcass).

All the children carry MasterCards

Except for Lisa,

Who uses VISA.

All the children live in small apartments

Except Ignatius--

His digs are spacious.

All the children were conceived in vans

Except the youngest, Winnie,

Whose mother drove a Mini.

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Steven’s notes: “I learned about the Swedish poetic form called the alla barnen in the pages of Light a while back, and I immediately wrote a batch of them just for fun. These are my favorites from that experiment. (For some reason I haven't written any more since then.) The formula is pretty straightforward, and much easier to navigate than, say, the villanelle!”

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Steven Kent is the poetic alter ego of writer and musician Kent Burnside (www.kentburnside.com). His work appears in 251, Asses of Parnassus, The Dirigible Balloon, Light, Lighten Up Online, The Lyric, New Verse News, The Orchards Poetry Journal, Philosophy Now, The Pierian, Pulsebeat Poetry Journal, The Road Not Taken: A Journal of Formal Poetry, Snakeskin, and Well Read. His collections I Tried (And Other Poems, Too) (2023) and Home at Last (2025) are published by Kelsay Books.

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Fifteen Alla Barnens Steven Kent

Fifteen Alla Barnens
Steven Kent