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Saturday, August 29, 2020

'Bruno' Sans Sylvie: A Relentless Nonsense Carrollian Shenanagram in Eight (8) Double Distichs and a Single (1) Double-Distich Coda

     ('Bruno'…?)
Lewis Carroll’s Sylvie, Fairy 
Princess, brags 'bout brother. 
     ('O’Burn'…?)
Sev'ral names in Gaelic open
"O'-." O’Burn’s another.
 
     ('UnBro'…?)
Know what makes a brother...? Cop the 
opposite o' that. 
     ('‘U’ Born'…?)
'I' Born, 'Me' Rais'd, 'We' Wed, 'Us' Dead.
No third-person chat.
 
     ('Bourn’'…?)
Back again be Jason. He’s the 
universal spy.
     ('No Rub'…?)
Shake the can three times. Then spray it 
on and let it dry.
 
     ('Run, Bo!'...?)
Outta here, Ms. Derek! We sus-
pect your cover’s blown.
     ('…Or Bun'…?)
Comes in pastry – muffin, cruller,
sweet roll, doughnut, scone…
 
     ('Orb Nu'…?)
Thracians sought this thirteenth sphere, 
sort of Üsküp Tao.
     ('Bou, RN'…?)
 Nurse she be -- one register'd -- and 
something of a cow.

     ('Buron'...?)
Element in chemistry, though 
missing from the table.
     ('"O, Urn..." (B)'...?)
Poem to a vase. Read version 
two, a Keatsian fable.

     ('Our BN'...?)
'Tis the nation's library. 'Tis 
ours, for we're from France.
     ('B U Ron'...?)
Be you Ronald...? Be you Donald...?
Be you Fartypants...?

     ('On, Bru'!'...?)
“Take Five,” Mr. Brubeck, won't you...?
Hit it! One…two…three… 
     ('Norbu'…?)
Diff'rent kind of kombu. (I crave 
kelp: eats from the sea.)

     Coda
     ('R U B 'n' O?'...?)
F U R, U B oldest 
railroad in the land.
     ('Urb'n O'...?)
Ring road 'round the regnum...? Right! Though, 
on the other hand...

Friday, August 28, 2020

Where's Walrus...? T & S

The Walrus and the Tamarin

Advance to Marvin Gardens.

"Mein Herr," touts Tam, "I bear fruit jam.

Enjoy some, 'fore it hardens."

"Unless it's plum," responds her chum,

"I'll leg it, begging pardons."


The Walrus and the Scorpion,

Two guests at Mobile's Ball,

Sit, by some chance (strange circumstance),

like flowers 'long a wall

When blurts the bug, "Let's cut a rug...

'Less y'all prong'd palps appall."

The Ocelot: An Anagranimal in Five Quats and a Coda

To Cole…? Mr. Porter, this verse is pour vous.

Let Coo…? You are hereby allow’d to bill, too.

El Toco…? A matador famed for his grit.

C’e’t Loo…? “’Tis a bog” – one half Frog, one half Brit.

 

T. E. Cool…? One more Lawrence clone -- this one’s a rapper…

Et Loco…? …and crazy, too – albeit dapper.

Oleo Ct…? The amount of faux butter.

Ol’ Cote…? Ancient ke-keep for bi-birds. (I stutter.)

 

Oct. Leo…? The Lion in Fall, not in Summer.*

“Celt…? Oo-…”…? This stuff’s Gaelic, a wa-a-ay diff’rent drummer.

Toe Loc…? Your pinkie’s location (in brief).

'Lo et Co…? J.Lo’s new corporation’s motif.

     * Leo's dates are 7/23 to 8/22, smack dab in the middle of 

Summer. An October Leo occurs sometime in the Fall. (Nor, of 

course, is he The Lion in Winter.)

 

Col. Eto...? The Japanese Charge D'affaire.

Co-'otel...? A twin inn nextdoor. Aren't they a pair...? 

Le Coot...? Some old bird boasting feathers...or not.

To Cleo...? Hey, Nile Queen! Look what all I've wrought!


CEO Lot…? Bible’s first chief exec.

O’Tolce…? Irish fam’ly -- not Chechen, not Czech.  

Cot Olé…? Cheer for bullfighter, bray’d from your bed.

Ocelot…? Careful! That cat’s not been fed.


     Coda 

This postscript I add as a brief afterthought:

My bolt, anagram-wise, on 'ocelot''s shot! 

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Where's Walrus...? V & U

The Walrus and the Valdosaur

Travers’d the Isle of Wight.

Said Valdo, “Gramps hung out near here --

I think I’ve got that right.”

(What Valdo guess’d was manifest

In bones spread ‘round the site.)


The Walrus and the U-spot Wrasse

galumph'd where none before

had dare galumph -- though Barron Drumpf

let slip, "When I was four,

you'd spot us there: a tot (me, Bar-

ron) and his Albacore." 

Where's Walrus...? X & W

The Walrus and the Xanthochroid,

Caught milling ‘bout the Mall,

Explain’d, “Black guys with sky-blue eyes

Are not allow’d to loll.”

(“Indeed, such lads,” the Walrus adds,

“Are thought Neanderthal.”)


The Walrus and the Whip-poor-will

Stroll’d Sarasota's streets.

The Walrus wore his Wellies;

The poor Whip-poor-will wore cleats.

“On lengthy routes,” said she, “no boots:

My instep overheats.

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Where's Walrus:...? Z & Y

The Walrus and the Zebrafish

Removed to Bangladesh

Where they devised, then subsidized,

A small non-profit creche.

“The waifs we house we’ll skin, delouse

And salt, to keep ‘em fresh.”


The Walrus and the Yodeler

Sashay’d the Appenzell.

This Yodeler, though kin to

Alexander Graham Bell,

Refused to own a telephone.

"I yell," said she. “I yell.”


Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Emily's Lament


"Death the Surveyor Viewing 
the Country Surrounding Amherst"
chemical marker on copy paper
by Ulysses Poe














"Because I could not shop for Death,

He bought Himself a shroud.

Because I could not mop for Death,

He gamer chars allow’d."


"Because I could not bop for Death,

He blew in cooler style.

‘Cuz I could not 'chop-chop' for Death,

He whisper'd, 'Sit awhile.'"


"I could not agitprop for Death,

so He said, 'Stick to facts!'

I could not play the fop for Death,

so stall'd till second acts."


"‘Cuz I’m no Zinken Hopp for Death,

He let her channel me.

One can’t do shit in Amherst, Mass,

alas," pouts Emily.

Monday, August 24, 2020

Numbers of "The...Snark" or For Dodgson: A Deferential Differential Dezett in Doggerel


"Lewis Carol Channing"
from the graphic series
"AmalgaMates"
graphite pencil
on illustration board
by Ulysses Poe

One is the ship, 

one the ting-a-ling bell,

one the map lacking latitude lines:

'tis a sea-chart from hell, 

lacking tropics as well.

"Tried 'n' true," ev'ry crewman opines.


Two are the policies 

bought by the Baker

to augment his dagger-proof coat:

number one's against fire; 

number two's against hail damage.

Boom! Each a Doom Antidote.


Three totes the number 

of times he (the Bellman)

recites some slick saw to the crew:

"What I tell you three times..."  

(what he tells 'em three times -- 

note the rhymes) "...told three times...? 'Tis true."


Four notes the number 

of tongues by the Bellman

employ'd to the Baker chastise:

"I, in Hebrew, Dutch, German

and Greek, have berated you.

Must I throw dust in your eyes...?"


Five tallies marks

of all genuine Snarks:

their ambition, their lateness in rising,

their affection for bathing machines,

their reluctance to jest... 

and a taste quite surprising.


Six pegs the number

of times the refrain

which commences "They sought it with thimbles..."

gets express'd. Each repeat

prompts ambiguous images,

smoke signals, figures and symbols.


Seven's the total

of coats he (the Baker) 

had on as he stepp'd 'board the boat.

At least that's what Dodgson

(the amateur shutterbug Carroll) 

insists that he wrote.


Eight counts the fits

in this Agony. There appear

eight portmanteaus, too, alright...?:

'jubjub,' 'frumious,' 'mimsiest,' 

'uffish,' 'galumphing,' 'out-

grabe,' 'beamish,' 'bandersnatch.' (Quite!)


Nine...(count 'em: nine)...quatrains

fill Fit the Eighth (call'd 

"The Vanishing" by Rev'rend Carroll).

Therein fades the Baker --

post waving his hands --

after wagging his head...at his peril.


Ten are the crew

(each initial'd with B)

who elect on this hunt to embark.

(It remains to point out:

I was never in doubt

that two Snarks did not board Noah's Ark.)

Runcibl'd Spooner: If Hooks Could Kill...

"Amazing Grace," Obama sings. 
His eulogy proves apropos.
A grazing mace: my battle-axe 
delivers Drumpf a glancing blow.

     Moral:
A fitter POTUS shall antidote us.

Sunday, August 23, 2020

Uly* Does Jane** Does Lewis***: Last (Probably) in a Series of Alternate Poetastical Takes on Various Poets' Possible, However Improbable, Poetical Takes on "The Hunting of the Snark"

      * Ulysses Poe, author of "What A's Not For" and other books of nonsense

      ** Jane Taylor, English poet and composer of "The Star"

      *** Lewis Carroll, creator of "The...Snark"


Tingle, tingle, 

Bellman's bell.

You of Snarks turn'd 

Boojums tell.

Toll'd three times, what's 

told c'est vrai.

Fie!: the Baker 

dies away.

(Tingle, tingle, 

Bellman's bell.

Blare you "Cats Do 

Carroll"'s knell...?)

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Antic Anagranimals: The Elephant

     Friend of the blog GFH kick-started this series, 

but as James Durante famously exasperated, 

"Everybody wants to get into the act!"


‘Leeph ant’ is the Urdu term

for insects who eat plants.

Planet He…? An asteroid

whose denizens wear pants.

     Ph: Ten Ale…? Hydrogen

now carbonates your beer.

T. E. Phalen…? Lawrence of Arabia’s 

late peer.

     “Leap, then!”…? What negotiators cry 

when jumpers bug ‘em.

Neat help…? Sibs agree to clean your room…

or else you’ll slug ‘em.

     The telePhan’s a telephone

in Saigon, Vietnam.

The elephant's an animal

with infinite aplomb.

Litany Chanted Over Schrödinger's Box

Is he dead yet...? 'Yes' or 'No'...?  All'd 'God Bless!' if 'Yes,' you know.  Is he dead yet...? Don...