Spring Song, Or Vernal Verses
by Gwillim Law
In spring a young man's fancy turns
To thoughts of Eastertime sojourns.
Since travel broadens, so they say,
To Lauderdale they'll go away.
In spring a young man's fancy turns
My stomach; for he often yearns
Toward females, and it gives me pain
To see my friends become insane.
In spring a young man's fancy turns
In dancing class, where oft he learns
To do the "Twist", remind one of
A hand forced in too small a glove.
In short, in spring the flowers bud;
The buds, they flower; rivers flood;
And floating on the torrents lazy,
Most young men are going crazy.
-The Purple Pennant, student newspaper at
Cortland (N.Y.) High School, Feb. 9, 1962
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REFLECTIONS ON A BROKEN MIRROR VI
R. G. "Anonymous" Law
Quincuncial quondam equity,
Quiescent in its quiddity,
Acquitted the acuity
Of quick quixotic quackery.
Quiescent in its quiddity,
Quadratic inequality
Of quick quixotic quackery
Created quaint cacophony.
Quadratic inequality,
Quintessence of liquidity,
Created quaint cacophony,
Ubiquitous iniquity.
Quintessence of liquidity,
The quizzical cold quantity
Ubiquitous iniquity
Concatenated quietly.
-The East Campus Intruder, dormitory
newspaper at M.I.T., March 24, 1966
Note: this verse form is a pantoum.
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Great Epoch Poetry Despoiled
She Was a Phantom of Delight
by William Wordsworth
She was a phantom of despair
When first she got into my hair;
A type of pixilated sprite
With insect wings, and painted white.
Her eyes like phenolphthalein which
Has floating in it, from a ditch,
Unearthed by workmen who proclaim
In letters wreathed in purple flame,
A clod of earth; her nose so big
It's like the rudder on a brig;*
A writhing witch, enraged withal,
She tried to choke me with her shawl.
*If this rhythm leaves you cold,
try one of these alternates:
...her nose so large
It's like the rudder on a barge;
...her nose so great
It's like the rudder on a freight;
...her nose so wavy
It's like the ladle in some gravy;
...her nose so fine
It's like the wrinkles on your spine;
...her nose so huge
It's like the rudder on a junk;
etc. etc.
-Neighborhood News (mimeographed
newsletter), December 15, 1961
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Fluorescent Thoughts in a New lIGHT
by Steven Inglis Law
Xerxes Schlorg is dead.
His dandruff marks his grave.
Lifetime companions crowd around
To see the peculiar sight, and rave,
"I saw him the day he died,"
Then return to the background
While the others cried.
It was then that I came,
And laughed at Xerxes' bloody fate.
I saw twelve eyes and thought
Xerxes will never see the pearly gates.
As others left I sat down
And noticed the wind-blown
Clouds gathering in the sky
Then I heard a noise of voices
Coming nearer; it rejoices
Finding me at my seat
Something tempted me to move,
But I dared not stand.
Footsteps jounced the earth below.
I found out, but was not quick to know
That they were mourning me!
-Neighborhood News, Feb. 30, 1961
(I can't help it, that's the date at
the top of the page.)
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Down There in the Arroyo
Gwillim Law
Down there in the arroyo
You sweat in the evening chill.
It's love that's making you boil
And hate that makes the night so still.
But who's to love? What's to hate?
Why should I sit here and curse my fate?
Where can I go to get a date,
When the nearest town is Propriedad and it's seventy-nine miles away on the other side of the Cuhuacas River?
It makes me shiver.
With eighty head of cattle
The llano is perfumed.
They bandy ceaseless prattle
Till your train of thought has resumed.
But what's to say? what's to think?
What's that running up my trousers leg, a skink?
Where can I go for a good stiff drink,
When there's nothing but a few prairie dogs and if I'm lucky a coyote between here and the Continental Divide?
Makes me want to hide.
Late 1969
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Heptameters
by Gwillim Law
Heptameters run in a stream, in a fluent denial of other existence,
Advancing, receding, but never advancing within a consid'rable distance.
They captivate, relegate other sensations. Reality has no resistance
To help it withstand, undergo such an onslaught of fiery poetic persistence.
ca. 1962
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The FishermanThe boy was fishing.
The boy who was fishing owned the dog.
The dog the boy who was fishing owned bit the farmer.
The farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got the gun.
The gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed the dog.
The dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased the cat.
The cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught the rat.
The rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate the cheese.
The cheese the rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate sickened the rat.
The rat the cheese the rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate sickened sickened the cat.
The cat the rat the cheese the rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate sickened sickened scratched the cow.
The cow the cat the rat the cheese the rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate sickened sickened scratched kicked the maid.
The maid the cow the cat the rat the cheese the rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate sickened sickened scratched kicked spilled the milk.
The milk the maid the cow the cat the rat the cheese the rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate sickened sickened scratched kicked spilled splashed the man.
The man the milk the maid the cow the cat the rat the cheese the rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate sickened sickened scratched kicked spilled splashed kissed the maid.
The maid the man the milk the maid the cow the cat the rat the cheese the rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate sickened sickened scratched kicked spilled splashed kissed slapped the man.
The man the maid the man the milk the maid the cow the cat the rat the cheese the rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate sickened sickened scratched kicked spilled splashed kissed slapped cursed the darkness.
The darkness the man the maid the man the milk the maid the cow the cat the rat the cheese the rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate sickened sickened scratched kicked spilled splashed kissed slapped cursed swallowed him up.
Oh, the darkness the man the maid the man the milk the maid the cow the cat the rat the cheese the rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate sickened sickened scratched kicked spilled splashed kissed slapped cursed swallowed him up.
Yes, the darkness the man the maid the man the milk the maid the cow the cat the rat the cheese the rat the cat the dog the gun the farmer the dog the boy who was fishing owned bit got missed chased caught ate sickened sickened scratched kicked spilled splashed kissed slapped cursed swallowed him up,
While the boy fished on.
ca. 1978
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