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Monday, July 23, 2018

"As you haul coals to Newcastle..." The Zweisodes of Pippindar: A Nonsense Alphabet in Rhyme

A 

As you haul coals to Newcastle, 
might you, por moi, 
amass aardvarks to sell 
in Abel-Beth-Maacah? * 
    * Biblical sources mention a wise woman who dwelt there but make none of a live-animal market. 
B 

Be he t(hr)ower of babble? 
Blame (sob!) my bum habit, 
my culpa! But Barrymore's bro’s 
been a babbit!”

C 

Encore, Jorge Luis Borges! 
Cor de l'Argentine eez Jor: Heez 
cris de coeur enhances stories 
cach'd een Chechen Cacci'tores! 

D/E 

When AM added Daddy-O,* 
deft DJ, to my rahd-i-o, 
they proved: extending feelers 
yields emcees instead of spielers.
        * Chicago radio personality Holmes Daylie (1920-?) 

F 

Affairs o' the fart 
felt in far-off terrains
fetch foul redolence and 
faintly visible stains.



Giggl’ing, one Googles, 
“three gaggles o' geese,” 
crying, "Larry* and Sergey*: 
please leave me in peace!"
      * Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google 

H 

High-hat,’ ‘high-hand,’ ‘high-
horse,’ ‘high holy days...’ 
'high-'…HAH! (A case of 
“damn'd with tainted ‘frase’”)

I 

Invoking my μους-,
(no Greek) sue for news: 
“Ανδρα μαλαπολλ' εννεπα μοι” 
It's Achilles? Nope! Showies- 
and-tellies insist Hellene 
Ilii* (Helen of Troy).
        * Genitive singular of 'Ilium.' 



My menage during haj during 
Raj (just for fun) 
stanched my stutter. Of "...jej-jej...jej-
june…" all heard none.

K 

let's kill the tax on 
Nico’s Delft or Spode. 
Just kick Nic’s knickknacks' taxes 
down the road.

L 

Aboard the good ship Lollypop, all’s good. 
(Such sacch'rin smarm's the stuff of songs of Shirl's.*) 
Let's, suckers, cease! Let's stop all Sucker Suck-Ins! 
Such sucking leaves obese, balloon-like girls.
     * Shirley Temple

M/N 

Your pharaoh dies, befriends my goat -- 
the pair grows fairly chummy. 
Then Nurse and Mommy make a film: 
"The Nanny Meeps The Mummy."

O 

The Fool shall not 
for Mongoose vouch, 
but Cobra choose? 
That's odd. that's...OUCH!

P 

Pollute Pa's porridge?
Prime Pop's pot? 
Please stop! Put in plu- 
'pepper'...not! 

Q: Go west? Not if you know what's m-m-m, m-m-m, good for you. 

Quick! Go east on that 
Qarghaliq-Qaraqum Trail!* 
Get fair Bar-B-Q'd Coq...
and good Bar-B-Q'd Quail.
     * The direction travelled (ENE, roughly) between two Chinese cuisine hotspots.

R 

I.S.O. route 
or ring road warrior? 
Best request 
the Brothers Boyer!* 
        * S. James, 9, and A. Zane, 7 1/2 (ages, not jackboot sizes)

S 

All at sea in Seas Sargasso, 
sailors may request a lasso. 
Sassafras's gas shall pass, 
but schlusselfiedels?* "Such a ass!" **
       * Kinds of hurdy-gurdy     **Pace, Mr. Dickens.

T 

Kitt's kit? That pattern’s 
known as tattersall. 
But I’ve left torn 
these knit togs -- tatters, all.

U: 'Uacuus'? Ablative singular for something, surely. 

I'd figured I'd bagged me 
a gnu, up until 
I'd looked under the fur 
and found you, Uncle Phil!



"Vav-vav-...vav...a vav-...va-v-...vavoom!" 
We hear this stutter! But from whom
It’s Dr. D-cup, I presume -- 
she of the fabulous ba-zoom.


W: Perhaps the window washer did it. 

Who? 'Twas Woodrow Wilson's widow. 
Where? Near Wicklow West. What? Dead.
When? The clues suggested Wednesday. 
Whew! (We won't ask, "Why?") How? Bled. 



Mix xanthoma with rosacea: 
the resulting skin disease 
is what -- when six xiphopagi repaint 
the xerox room -- one sees.

Y 

To marry your mother 
so many years back? 
My mistake (don't talk back!): 
blame my yackety yak!

Z 

They sang "Zizzi-zizzi-...!" yesterday 
and "...boom-boom-aay!" today. 
What shall zyzzogetons* sing tomorrow? 
None but they can say.
        * The very last word -- in South American leaf hoppers and in my pocket dictionary.

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