The Disappearing Alphabet

"The Disappearing Alphabet," by Barbara B. Blumenthal. Part of ABeCedarium: An Exhibit of Alphabet Books, nicely summed up here.

If the alphabet began to disappear,
Some words would soon look raggedy and queer
(Like QUIRREL, HIMPANZEE, AND CHOOCHOO-TRAI),
While others would entirely fade away.
And since it is by words that we construe
The world, the world would start to vanish too . . .
//Richard Wilbur