The Cockroach
I found a cockroach in the sink
when I began to do the dishes—
looking for food, perhaps a drink
and I decided to grant his wishes.
So as I rinsed him down the drain
I said to him, “Here’s my proposal.
There’s lots of food — you can’t complain.”
(My hand at the switch for the garbage disposal.)
I said, “Now I’ll count up to seven
while you enjoy Mom’s chicken stew.”
He thought he’d died and gone to heaven.
A moment later it was true.
Primarily a visual artist, John Langdon focuses almost all his graphic design work on words (logos and ambigrams), and words are the subject of almost all his paintings. Writing words falls naturally within his purview as well. John’s book Wordplay was published in 1992 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and again in 2005 by Broadway Books. Wordplay features about 60 of his ambigrams, each accompanied by a brief essay that ties together the word’s definition, usage, and etymology, and the duality inherent in its meanings. Dan Brown commissioned several ambigrams for his book Angels & Demons, and named his perennial protagonist Robert Langdon in John’s honor.