19 MARCH 1988, Page 51

No. 1517: Alphabet allegro

was an Ibis, asleep on the Nile./ J was a Joke which made nobody smile,' are two lines from a jolly alphabet poem by Maurice Baring. Sixteen lines of your own poem, please, covering a consecutive part of the alphabet. Entries to 'Competition No. 1517' by 31 March.