I wrote Tall Tales in the Hall while halfโdazed by the heatwave currently flattening London. It was all I could muster for Davidโs W3 Poetry Prompt #219, where Violet Lentz (Jodi), our brilliant PoetโofโtheโWeek, challenges us to write a Golden Shovel.
A Golden Shovel takes a line from an existing poem and uses each word, in order, as the final word of each new line. I chose Dickinsonโs line โTell all the truth but tell it slantโ as the quoted spine: Tell / all / the / truth / but / tell / it / slant.
I blame the 35โdegree delirium entirely for how my poem turned out. I hope you enjoy it.
Tall Tales in the Hall
As far as I can tell,
I was born extremely tallโall
in a hurry in the hall. The
king was there to tell the truth
Oh yes, he was. I never lie, but
so was William Tell
together they sang a Gregorian chantโI remember it
well, as I recantโthe king wore his crown, slipping, sloping, at a slant
โLesley Scoble, July 2026
Audio โ Tall Tales in the Hall
Acknowledgements
My thanks to Violet / Jodi for her wondrous Golden Shovel prompt.
My thanks, as always, to David for his constant inspiration and encouragement.
Thanks to Emily Dickinson for the quoted line โTell / all / the / truth / but / tell / it / slantโ.
And my thanks, of course, to you, the reader, for being here.
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