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Thursday, July 30, 2020

Black Lives Matres: a Fantasia on Founding Mothers of Color


Ida Wells (‘B. Wells,’ some spells)

was dubb’d “race agitator”

because she wrote against the rope,

opposed that segregation trope

then spoke, "Can't cope...? Life's hopeless...? Nope!"

A one-trick pony, she…? No soap!

A Founding Black Lives Mater.


Sojourner Truth, grown long o' tooth,

remain'd a truth curator.

Her swell “Ain’t I a Woman...?” spiel,

one pitch'd with underdoggéd zeal,

urged activists to "keep it real,"

thus making Truth, from head to heel,

a Founding Black Lives Mater.


Harriet Tubman, born enslaved,

heard words from her Creator

(poor gal'd got hit upside the head):

“If thou ain't free, thou’d best be dead.”

Inspired, she slaves to freedom led.

That's why she’s since been styl'd (I've read)

a Founding Black Lives Mater.


Daisy Bates, black hist'ry states,

when but a second-grader,

was told her mother had been kill’d,

her blood by three white rapists spill’d.

But Daisy curbed her hate...to build

a movement, and become a skill’d

(and Founding) Black Lives Mater.


Rude remarks rate Rosa Parks 

a tot. (Tho' not a tater.)

Still, Parks defied bus driver Blake

to take her seat for freedom’s sake.

She sit-ins, too, did undertake.

All this, and more, does Rosa make

a Founding Black Lives Mater.


Famous Hamer, Fannie Lou:

of Jim Crow she’s a hater.

Still, Fannie read and Fannie wrote.

While white folks tried to gag her throat,

she black folks register'd to vote,

did Fannie Lou, a name to note,

a Founding Black Lives Mater.


(More Matres to come: a work in progress.)

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Of Souls and Asouls

Callooh, callay! Just yesterday,

I asked, “Of U.S. souls erased

by rogue corona, what’s the toll…?”

     “One hundred fifty thousand lay

defunct,” said they. “Nor none replaced --

all down to one who lacks a soul.”

      (The prefix 'a-' -- as “ah-h-h...” pronounced --

denotes, on English tongues, ‘without,’

nor known be aught to contravene.

     T’will do for him herein denounced.

‘Tis Drumpf! Of that there dwells no doubt.

‘Tis Drumpf the Asoul whom they mean.) 

"D. Drumpf, Asoul"
pencil on copy paper,
digitally modified,
by Ulysses Poe

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

"Poisson of Interest" Post from the Past #1

      Preface 

     As regular visitors to PlaysWell are aware, the original "Berracuda" couplet appearing in the "Poissons of Interest" series ran as follows:

     "Ask'd to i.d. baseball's Buddha,
     Yanks yell, "Yogi Berracuda!"

     It proved but the work of a moment for friend-of-the blog GR, long an authority on America's national pastime, to conclude that surely it must be famed Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench who would and should be the more accurate choice as baseball's Buddha, even if understandably non-impartial Yankee fans were the respondents polled. 
     GR's comment, submitted in a nonsense versification featuring a delightful pun on 'Bench' and references to Bench's Reds club and his position as catcher, though somewhat metrically irregular -- a trait issuing, no doubt, from his post-modern approach to poetry -- appeared to encapsulate his conclusion. 

     Red-legged scofflaw 
     Caught red-handed. 
     Johnny Bench Warrant* 
     Soon to be remanded.

     * In a later communication with the editors, GR offered 'Benchmark' as an improving substitution for 'Bench Warrant.' The editors are currently awaiting responses from regular readers of the blog before declaring the substitution official.

     In the meantime, Ulysses Poe, author of the "Poissons of Interest" series, has created an entirely new take on 'Berracuda,' for which see below:  

     Ask'd to i.d. line-caught food, a
     Yank* yells, "Yogi Berracuda!"

     * A later communication from Poe wonders whether 'Basque,' as substituted for 'Yank,' in addition to having the merit of partially rhyming with the 'Ask'd' of the opening line, significantly widens the universe of the couplet -- as well as drawing attention to the noted expertise of Basque fishermen.

"Berracuda"
charcoal pencil on copy paper,
digitally modified,
by the author 


Monday, July 27, 2020

Threespoons

Trumpet great (without disclaimer)

phones a gospel Hall of Famer:

Miles Davis dials Mavis.*

     Moral:

Mavis. Miles. One sulks.** One smiles.

     * Mavis Staples boasts membership

in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 

and the Blues Hall of Fame.

     ** Davis was chronically choleric.


Mormons celebrate their dead:

Pioneer Days.*

Princess hit upside the head:

Diane ear pays.

     * On July 24th Utah celebrates

the founding of Salt Lake City.

 

Poems shared on bathroom tissues: 

Verse on TP.

POTUS air'd some mental issues:

“Person…TV.”

"Daffy Donald" 
colored pencil on illustration board,
digitally modified,
by Ulysses Poe







Saturday, July 25, 2020

The 2020 Pepi Katona Anagramadness Pageant & Triennial "Talk Like a Tracy" Competition

     We here at PWWL have tested positive for the Katona virus 
and we don't care who knows it. As Pepi might say, "Draw your 
own conclusions!" (As Pirovitch might comment,"Who did this 
dreadful thing...?") 

Pepi Katona                 Matuschek and Co's former errand boy.
Po' Kate: "I nap!"         Li'l Orphan Katherine does little but sleep these days.
A peak pinot.               A '12 or '14, probably. 
Oink, eat pap!             Plunk your magic... Slurp your lovely swill, Piggy.

Oink ate Pap.              Hog gobbl'd up Daddy.
Kapitän Poe                Commander of the Starship Ulalume.
Nappie OK...? Ta.        My diaper in place...? Thanks.
EPA: not Paki!             One agent is sure she was dink.

I kept a p'ano.            I kept a gu'tar as well, didn't I.
Kent, IA: pop. A.         A certain Mr. A. is the sole inhabitant of Kent, Iowa.
A pinko pate.              Marxist intellectual.
A pinko pâté.              Marxist hors d’oeurvre.

Pa Pio taken.              Italian stigmatist kidnapped. 
Apia knot PE               Samoan “pretzel” calisthenics.
Pepin to a Ka              Letter from Frankish king to a subject's soul. 
Opa! Pink tea!            This stuff's even better than ouzo...well, almost.       

Take no pipa!             You're allow'd a single liuqin, however.       
Aka one Tipp.             The scoundrel uses several aliases.
An okapi, Pet.            It's a kind of antelope, my dear.
Ape a inkpot!             You're already a ebon incorrigible, aren't ya. 

Opiate knap.              Remedy-in-a-rucksack, eh...?
A knot; a pipe.           A gnarl; a corncob.   
"P" Ape ain't ok.        Tho' "O" Ape and "Q" Ape seem perfectly fine. 
A poet; a pink.          Second line of the poem "A bard; a carnation."

Tap on a kepi.            Hi, there, legionnaire! 
A pea pint...? Ok!       I've never tried legume-hopp'd beer before.
Note I Kappa...?         Is the Japanese water demon here...?
Patina poke.              Rust caddy.

No pike tapa.             Lack of fish scale textile.
Appoint Åke.              Surely the best Swede for the job.
Pa’O pink tea.             An acquired taste, even in Mandalay.
A. Pope, I. Kant.         Wise guys.

Shenanagram: Don't Tell Don!

PERSON...MAN...WOMAN...CAMERA...TV

NO "WARP" CAN MEAN SMART MOVE. 

"Remember These
5 Clouds &
Repeat 'Em Back
to Me in 15 or
20 Minutes"
colored pencils
on copy paper,
digitally modified,
by Ulysses Poe

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Person And So On: a Moronic Mnemonic

Admitted: as maladies worsen,

one forgets ev’ry thing, place 'n' person.

We're inform'd stable geniuses can

reap their recall. I’m not such a man.

Not one soldier (I’d guess) in a tuman*

wields such memory -- much less one woman.

Half a mo! My old ex-, name of Tamara,

took a cognitive test once, in camera.

It reveal’d she’d contracted VD!

(You'll not view this on cable TV.)

     * 10,000-person Mongol military unit

"My old ex-,
name of Tamara"
pencil on copy paper,
digitally modified, 
by Ulysses Poe


Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Asstounding!

     Butt, Montana; The Yucatan's Cheeksen Itza;Crackow, Popoland; 
Biggerta, Cobumbia (not to mention the Pampass of Arsengentina and 
the Outback of Asstralia) are also nominees to asstounding spothood. 
"World's Most Asstounding Spots: Malibooty Breach, Callipygia;
Bethleham, Bunsylfannya; Dallass, Texass & Keister Island"
chemical marker on copy paper, digitally modified,
by Ulysses Poe

Monday, July 20, 2020

Show A Little!

Who pens such patent prattle airs a droll imagination.

Who covets Kim in “Picnic” bares a soulful Madge-ination.
Who chuckles “What, me worry...?” vaunts a gleeful Mad-ination.
Who votes for Drumpf in spite of Drumpf flaunts lethal MAGA-nation.

              Who howls at Hawkeye’s hijinks shows his silly M.A.S.H.-ination.
Who dines on sushi roll’d in seaweed poses maki-nation.
Who welcomes wizards bearing myrrh disports Three-Magi-nation.
Who pre-dawn prayer prefers exhorts a vig'lant Matin'-ation.

              Aristotelia chilensis knows a maqui-nation.
Who ne'er sails west without stout charts sows careful map-ination.
Who Sammy Davis Jr stalks displays Will Mastination.
Who’s nuts for Dallas basketball sprays avid Mav-ination.

             Who screens films 53 feet tall supplies IMAX-ination. 
Who's heard retelling tales -- in Welsh, yet! -- plies the Mabinogion. 
Who dips into “The Prince” wails Machiavellian machination.
D'you not agree: whoe’er he be, he nails 'imagination'…?

"I Must Dress / Mister Suds"
A shenanagram
in colored pencils on illustration board
by Ulysses Poe

Runcibl'd Spooner: Strictly Ballroom

     Aristotle famously observes: "Words are equivocal." 
Ps-Aristotle, reading the runciblosity below, agrees: 
“'Keen Jelly'...? Just a dram one takes 
to lubricate wild Irish wakes."
 
Gene Kelly:
God o' Dance, he sings in the rain.
Keen Jelly:
Gotta dance...? It stings...? Use for pain.

     Moral:
Some feet don't have it;
others have.
All feet, though, now and then,
need salve.

"Feet Possibly Requiring Salve II"
(detail)
colored pencil on illustration board,
digitally modified,
by Ulysses Poe

Sunday, July 19, 2020

The Song of an Asylum Seeker

     Nota bene: asylum seekers sing more than one song, e.g.,

"I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls, but woke up in detention.

My new plan is to fly these walls into the Fourth Dimension."

 
I’ll never dwell in Cozumel,
in Lagos or Lahore.
I’ll ne'er call ‘home’ Mumbai or Rome,
nor Seoul or Singapore.
     I’ll rent no flat in Gujarat,
in Lima or Taiwan.
I’ll say, “No way!” to San Jose,
to Delhi and Milan.
     No pied-a-terre in Buenos Air-
es, Bangor or Shanghai.
Shall I break groun' in London town
or Istanbul…? Not I!
     I’ll share no pad in Hyd’rabad.
or Guatemala City.
Sans domicile -- ancestral pile --
I'm homeless...more’s the pity.

"Genuine / Ingenue"
A shenanagram based on Little Buttercup from Gilbert & Sullivan's
"H.M.S. Pinafore," in colored pencils on illustration board,
digitally modified, by Ulysses Poe




Saturday, July 18, 2020

Twospoons

Round heels

Pre-Code slang applied to sluts.

Hound reels

Class of films highlighting mutts.


     Moral:

Cavé die kinder canésque les cunts!*

(“Work not with hookers or beasties 

or runts!”  -- ps-W.C. Fields)

     * In Latin with some German and 

soupçon of French.


"Rhonda Roundheels"
colored pencil on
copy paper
by Ulysses Poe



   











Buster Keaton

A comic (deadpan). Talking…? None!

Custer Beaten

Anomic dead man walking, done!

    

     Moral:

While shy man shoots “The General,”

wild Cheyenne shoots the general.

Friday, July 17, 2020

Pivot: Vanishingly Improbable Pronouncements from Tom Thrumbpf, Citizen



     















N.B.: Several late versions of this episode in the strip, none 
authoritative, replace 'pussy' in panel #2 with 'pinky.'  -- U.P.

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Matres Tribus (Three Mothers): Imaginary Biopics in Meter & Rhyme by Ulysses Poe with Images by the Author

Below's deploy'd a trio of socio activists -- all actual or
potential moms -- whom you ought to know a lot more
about. But you will need to research them yourself. In
the meantime, here are three thumbnail portraits -- 
and this reminder: there are many more than three BL
maters(And plenty of paters, too: cf last line of poem.)
 
Sing out, "How-DEE!" 
to Opal T.,
the well-known Black Lives mater.
Tometi fights
for human rights
as writer, educator,
as agitator, 
organizer...
(More 'bout Opal later.)

Now meet Ali-
cia Garza. She...?
Another Black Lives mater,
who strives to teach
the soul of each
'n' ev'ry woman-hater
to "apogee"
their enmity:
one BLM creator.

One more: Patrisse
Kahn-Cullors, peace-
ful envoy, Black Lives mater --
fine artisan. 
(Me...? I'm a fan.
My cousin wants to date 'er.)
Three Black Lives Matter 
matriarchs.
There protest no "moms" greater.

But ask your housemaid or your waiter:
Harriet...?* A Black Lives mater.
      Ask calypso's Lord Invader:
Fannie Lou...?** A Black Lives mater.
     Ask James Banning, aviator:
Rosa Parks...? A Black Lives mater.
     Ask the Pequod's navigator:
Daisy Bates...? A Black Lives mater.
     Ask your fire pit's excavator:
Dorothy Height...? A Black Lives mater.
     Ask that quiz show moderator:
Diane Nash...? A Black Lives mater.
     Ask each Tot you're sure's a Tater:
S. P. Clark...? A Black Lives mater.

     John R. Lewis...? Advocator,
freedom fighter, Black Lives pater!

     * Harriet Tubman   
     ** Fannie Lou Hamer


     Notes on Opal, Alicia and Patrisse 

When but a second grader, young Opal hops a freighter,
one bound for the equator -- nor do her bros dissuade her.
     Garza's radish grater's deploy'd for Shabbat seder --
all so she need not cater that meal...nor none upbraid her.
     A Marxist incubator, a former Oakland Raider
and honorary 'Gator, Patrisse once plump'd for Nader.

Sunday, July 12, 2020

You Bet! And Yet...: a Specious Surrender in 700 Shrugs or How's Such Dreck Still Chief Exec...?

     Whether McSweeney's "Horrors" list of 796 (and counting) so-called "corruptions" is used, or WaPo's lie tally (20,000+ and counting) is employed (and that's not to mention any reliance on Mary Trump's new book), the author will run no risk of running short of material for his new "You Bet/And Yet" iambic pentameter stanzas. 

D
oes Drumpf ignore his PDBs...? 
You bet! 
(Can't see the forests or the trees.) And yet...
this factophobe is still the presidet.*

Does Drumpf display unbridled id...? You bet!
He acts out -- like a monster kid. And yet...
this sociopath is still the presidet. 

Claims Drumpf, "Obama's Kenyan-born!"...? You bet!
(Such heresy now's grown forlorn.) And yet...
this heretic is still the presidet.

Does Drumpf fan further birther myth...? You bet!
(If press'd, I guess he'd plead the fi'th.) And yet...
this pantload POTUS still's the presidet.

Employs Drumpf fronts to take his tests...? You bet! 
Nor none those rigg'd results contests. And yet...
this charlatan is still the presidet.

Does Drumpf cry, "Mexicans...? All thugs!"...? You bet! 
Drones Don, "They're bringing sex 'n' drugs." And yet...
this slanderer is still the presidet.

Does Drumpf vow, "I will build a wall!"...? You bet! 
"Plus, Mexico'll stake wherewithall." And yet...
this fake-believer's still the presidet.

Does Drumpf deceive to dodge the draft...? You bet!
(I read that, afterwards, Drumpf laughed.) And yet...
this spurious bone spur's still presidet. 

Does Donald diss his own top docs...? You bet!
He Fauci through indictments mocks. And yet...
this saboteur is still the presidet.

Drones Drumpf, "I am The Chosen One"...? You bet!
(Though Donald's not Jehovah's son.) And yet...
this sophomaniac's still presidet.

Does Drumpf employ the sucker punch...? You bet!
(Still, wimp at heart -- so's Nancy's hunch.) And yet...
this swagger stick is still the presidet.

Are pussies grabb’d by Don de D*…? You bet!
Boasts Drumpf, “The sluts enable me.” And yet…
this s.o.D. remains the presidet.

Does Donald’s White House wax a mess…? You bet!
(Ple-e-ease: pace, Mies*-- seems less is less.) And yet…
this empty vessel's still the presidet.

Are Donald’s tweetstorms for the birds…? You bet!
Asks Drumpf, “What dude has better words.” And yet…
this narcissist persists as presidet.

Dares Drumpf religious values smirch...? You bet!
The GOP's D's megachurch. And yet...
this hypocritter's still the presidet.

Does Putin price each G.I.'s head...? You bet!
Still, nyet is all Shef Drumpf has said. And yet...
this Arnold (Benedict) still's presidet.**

Does Drumpf at golf his partners cheat...? You bet!
Much publicized is his deceit. And yet...
this bogiemeister thrives as presidet.

Does Drumpf admire the Stars 'n' Bars...? You bet!
He just ignores all Jim Crow's scars. And yet...
this South'ner's Comfort's still the presidet.

Does Drumpf dishonor John McCain...? You bet!
(I can't imagine what's Drumpf's gain.) And yet...
this base disgrace is still the presidet.

Does Drumpf draw Megyn Kelly's blood...? You bet!
He wars with women...in the mud. And yet...
this chauvinist is still the presidet.

Does Donald ridicule the Khans...? You bet!
That anti-Muslim bent...? 'Tis Don's. And yet...
this xenophobe is still the presidet.

Does POTUS pose with taco bowls...? You bet!
A ploy to woo Hispanic souls...? And yet...
this foul fanatico still's presidet.

Does Drumpf attack Judge Curiel...? You bet!
Thus Don secures his place in hell. And yet...
this white supremacist still's presidet.
(More horror to come: a work in progress.)

Opticalloozza #1/2: Pickin' the Prolixer POTUS


Which Chicster-in-Chief at 
left is sporting the lengthier 
cravat...? Surprise, surprise!
Both ties (though not both
guys) are exactly the same
length. (Think of this whole
illusion as a kind of Trump
l'oiell. In fact, you might well 
consider the last four years 
in much the same way.)

Saturday, July 11, 2020

Opticalloozza #2020: Say What You See...?





Some viewers insist they see the
beautiful chalice of carved redwood
which is used as part of the
paraphernalia in Holy Communion
service as celebrated at Saint
Stravaganz parish in Eureka,
California. Others imagine they spot
the figure of Snowflake, the white
kitten hand puppet and star of
"Snowflake 'n' Friends," part of PBS's
lineup of children's early-morning
programming. What do you see...?

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Slink Shot: a Photograph of a Digital Enhancement of a Drawing of a Slinky by Ulysses Poe


Colored pencils on illustration board, digitally modified: 12" by 10" by Uly Poe


The "Gh"ost in the Machination: New Nonsense from PlaysWellWithLetters


                                                                       Ab...c, d...e, f…gh. 
                                                            ABCs plus nonsense…? Ugh!
                                                       Abbreviated alphabets…? Ouch
                                                     You despise truncation…? Tough!
                                              Objections...? Filed in yonder trough
                                    Those folks who keep objecting...? Through
(Our inquiries are stringent. Our interrogation methods...? Thorough.)

Friday, July 3, 2020

Wolaly on 'OLD' > 'NEW'

Line six, the sixth rung in this wolaly 
ladder, may seem to certain readers 
as at best a stretch and at worst a 
catastrophe. For the poet, however, 
this choice of word is, in fact, the 
clinamen which guarantees the 
integrity of the piece -- or so he 
would insist. In the end, of course, 
you decide.

     Septet
"Lamps new for lamps old"...?
The whole bus'ness rings odd:
ought the Sorcerer add
perks -- small off'rings to aid
a swift wrap...? And how did
young Aladdin's woke d(j)in(n)
spring our lad from that den...?

     Volta 
(Rare Arabian dew:
never old, ever new.)

Current Events Q&A: It's a Grand New Flag

     

"Bracken, Chive 'n' Madder"
chemical marker and colored pencil
on copy paper, digitally modified,
by Ulysses Poe

Hooray for the Red White and Blue!
  
  Which 
hues imbue brave battle flags 
unfurl'd by Black Lives
Matter...?     
     Tri-colors only Opal* wags, 
dyed bracken,** chive*** 'n'
madder.****

     * Opal Tometi, one of three
co-founders of the movement.
     ** Bracken is a dark orange.
     *** Chive (PMS 19-0323) is
medium-dark yellow-green.
     **** Madder (PMS 19-
1331) is a red-brown hue.

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Opticalloozza #1865: Black or White?

You may find this hard to
believe but research subject
#1 at left -- let's call him
Lindsey -- is actually white.
Lindsey seems black because
he appears against an all
white background. Research
subject #2 at right -- we'll
call him Cornel -- seems
white because Cornel
appears against a black
background. This is a
phenomenon called luminosity, i.e., a measure of the number of photons
radiating from each subject's skin. Try playing this skin game at home with 
neighborhood friends.

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Opticalloozza #1776 The Phantom Phrankphurter

Hold your hands in front of you, at
20- to 30-cm distance from you, at
eye level. Point your index fingers
towards each other and slowly move
them closer together.


As your index fingers draw closer to
each other, gaze "through" your
fingers into the distance behind them.
The illusion works best when the
background is homogenous and has a
color much different from your fingers.

A hot dog will appear now between the
tips of your index fingers -- pork or all
beef, on a standard bun or Kaiser roll
and with an array of fixin's, depending
upon your religious and gustatory
preferences.

Christmas Day: A Mare Egg...

     "A Mare Egg, Her Wrist, "Miss Two 'U'"