In Competition No. 3186 you were invited to supply an acrostic poem praising or dispraising a public figure, in which the word/s spelled out by the first letter of each line directly contradicts what the poem is saying.
In an era of fake news, rampant conspiracy theories and ever-spiralling paranoia, acrostics are having a moment: resignation letters written to Donald Trump, into which the words ‘Resist’ and ‘Impeach’ had been smuggled, subsequently went viral.
I enjoyed Adrian Fry’s double-edged hymn of praise to Adam Curtis (‘Pretentious tripe’). Other messages lurking in what was an excellent entry included ‘Lying toad’, ‘-Tartan ineptitude’ and ‘Certifiable’; I’ll leave you to guess who they are aimed at.
Commendations go to David Shields, Richard Spencer and Alan Millard. The winners take £20 each.
Bold champion of folk who have no say,Our voice when powerful people think we’re dumb —May he be always there to start the dayBy kicking so-called experts up the bum!A man who knows so many and so much,So up-to-date with all the latest news;Tweets presidents yet has the common touch:In every sense regarded for his views.Cool,
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