Up.
A small word. Two letters,
Yet behind them is a world of meaning.

Up.
A necessity to the English language
Without which, communications from our lips
Would be utterly useless.

For, without you, up,
When the sun comes up,
I would never wake up.
Without you, up,
I would not sit up
And open up the window
To an empty world without you.

If you were up on a shelf
I’d never stand up to reach you.
My lost keys would never turn up.
I wouldn’t start up the car
Buckle up
Or turn up the music.

If I don’t speak up about you now,
The world will never appreciate your usefulness.
Without your two fine letters
The world would lack
Fine upstanding citizens
And upholstered sofas
Lying face up on the carpet upstairs.

How dull the world would be
If we could never crack up
And waiting in lines would get awfully long
If there were no “next up”

Oh, dear up, you are so uplifting
My spirits are up in the sky
Each time I think of you.
I could stay up all night just coming up
With new ways to use you.
Up.

I’d never keep up
With my schoolwork without you
And my burger would be bare without ketchup.

I’ll try to never flip you around
I’ll keep your letters in order
Because if I slip up and accidentally
Read you backwards
You suddenly become
“P.U.”

I’d probably throw up
And get all worked up
If you didn’t exist at all.

I need to hurry up now, my time is almost up
But if I look you up in a dictionary
Your uses are pretty high up in numbers
(Ninety-three, in fact).

So, dear audience,
Next time you sneak up
Or hiccup
Upon a puppy
Or greet with a “what’s up?”
Or burn up a log
Or get fired up for the game
Or speed up
Or climb up
Or even suppose
The superb supreme supply
Of uses this word has to offer,
Remember, as I finish my ode,
That these two letters
Have lived up to their potential.

How you use them is up to you.