Manfred (9.17.1886) (Unpub)

Before there lived
a Herbert Marx
(inflate your zep,
O Herbert Marx!)…
...before there lived
a Milton Marx
(bedpost your gum,
O Milton Marx!)…
...before there lived
a Leonard Marx
(eyeball that chick,
O Leonard Marx!)…
...before there lived
an Arthur Marx
(restring your harp,
O Arthur Marx!)…
...before there lived
a Julius Marx
(you’re such a grouch,
O Julius Marx!)…
...at first God hatches

Manfred Marx…
     Hold!
 Tocsins toll’d.
‘Twas oh-h-h, so cold.
(Was Manfred Marx’s fate
foretold…?)
     Five Marx of silver;
one of gold,
one soul whose tale’s
till now untold.
     From day one,
Mannie’s jumping sharks.
(Min never scolds
her Manfred Marx,
nor goes for strolls
through city parks
nor ever holds
her Manfred Marx.)
     This tale – so droll –
of Manfred Marx
now’s told: Min weeps
as Mann embarks,
though, as he leaves
on Min his marks,
he leaves for good,
does Manfred Marx.
     With Pip and Joe
he’ll know no larks
(misunderstood
be Manfred Marx),
nor borrow books
of Muriel Spark’s
(misunderstood, he:
Manfred Marx),
nor hunt for
Rev'rend Carroll’s snarks
(misunderstood,
wee Manfred Marx),
nor search for Jones’s
long-lost arks
(misunderstood, see…?
Manfred Marx).
     He’ll split
no element’ry quarks;
he’ll walk alone
through dawns, through darks.
Was ever cold,
was Manfred Marx.
Was never old,
was Manfred Marx.