Bridget, Midge, Gidget, Rutledge, Rodger, and Madge
Bridget cadged a ride to the lodge with a badger in a Dodge
And trudged to put wedges of fudge in the fridge
Midge was a lodger on a budget with a ledger and a gadget:
A hodgepodge of kludges and widgets made by a hedgehog named Gidget
Rutledge, a fidgety curmudgeon with knowledge of didgeridoos
And Rodger the judge, a full fledged midget with a badge and a grudge
Nudged budgerigars with cudgels and pledged not to budge
Not even a smidge
From a smudge on a hedge made of sedge on the ridge
But Madge grabbed a sledge from a ledge by the kedge of her dredge
And bludgeoned both drudges off the edge of a bridge…
Into sludge
* * *
A fairly new form of poetry came along a few years ago: the really fun Refrigerator Word Magnet Poem. In a family or roommate or visiting friends setting, a poem or story created becomes ever evolving; anyone who comes to the fridge can be an instant editor or co-creator, just by swapping or rearranging words.
As a writing tool, the basic premise is intriguing: starting with a preset limited, finite vocabulary, move those few words around until some sort of narrative emerges. During a period of reading mostly murder mysteries set in the UK and written by British authors, I noticed how many words and names there were that had the consecutive grouping of three letters: d, g, and e.
With an initial gathering of 39 "dge" words, combined with a bare minimum of others thrown in, a very short story emerged. Eventually this became 56 words, in one of which the grouping occurs twice; every time a new dge word was added, the plot changed a bit. The funnest part was creating and describing the villains, and the heroine that saves all in the end, using only those few words.
Probably there's a lot more "dge" words in our basically English language, and as they make themselves known this pretend word magnet poem done on an imaginary refrigerator will grow.
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