GILGAMESH IN GILEAD

In Camelot one camel in a camisole
Wore a cameo on her neck for camouflage,
Ate camembert &
Drank camomile.

Another camel from Cameroon also
Wore a cameo for camouflage,
Ate camembert &
Drank camomile.

GNU KNOWLEDGE

The gnu knew it was not gneiss
To scare all the blind mice;
Nonetheless, he had to knash his teeth
On all of the nasty Gnostic Gnats
Who had been gnawing upon
His gnarled gnocchi.

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A platoon of platypuses
Played platform tennis with
Plato and Titus Maccius Plautus.
Sylvia Plath stared
Through a plate glass and
Platitudinized about plate tectonics.

PAGEANT OF PRIMAVERA

A prim and priggish priest,
Who was neither Priapus nor Joseph Priestly

Was the priceless pride of all the prima-donnas
During the pageant of Primavera

But after a prim priestess pried the prim and priggish priest
Off of his proud and private prie-dieu

All of the the prima facie primates from the Primate Prison
Gave the prim and priggish priest his first primal therapy

But not until their feasting was done
Upon all of the delectable prime numbers
Of the Celestial Universe.

NOT A SONNET

William Shakespeare
Never felt shame
Never became a sham
Never was shallow
Never wrote the word shalom
Never shambled
Never sailed in a shallop with a shaman
Never shampooed on Sundays.

ZACATECAS LADIES

Zagros Mountains

A bumblebee is
Not in the bull's eye
At a bullfight,
Nor is the bullfrog
As bulletproof as a bum who uses his bumboat---
But a bump in the road can be a bummer.
Was a bull snake ever violet?
Was the bullfinch ever a segregationist?
Did Bulwer Lytton ever have a bulwark?
Can a bullroarer stop the chat at a bull session?
Can a bully bullwhip his burro until it walks to Bull Run?
Do the Zagros Mountains ever zigzag across the blue-dyed sky
Like the lovely blue-eyed zaftig ladies do from Zacatecas?

ON THE TWELFTH NIGHT

In the twilight glow of the twilight zone

Twenty-one twice-born twerps in tuxedos

Ate their TV dinners and tutti-frutti

In their twin beds with twilled sheets

Waiting for Tweedledum and Tweedledee

To reappear from the Twilight of the Gods.

AZTEC BOSS

Quetzalcoatl by Zaradei

Quetzalcoatl did not quibble about gods, but
Liked to eat quiche and quesadillas with queen olives.
Quetzalcoatl quenched his thirst with quince (& grew quiescent)
After his quickie in the quicksand
With a quivering princess.

LIFE

Life
Is
Not
A
Long
Hollow
Tunnel
We
Race
Through.

BUBBLE GUM POEM

June 14, 2003. Today I bought my 3.7 oz box
Of Bazooka bubble gum at Walgreens
And it cost me 96 cents.
I counted 25 pieces.
Every piece had the same IPS code number:
4116 00329.
Bazooka is made in Duryea, PA 18642
By the TOPPS COMPANY INC.
I couldn't find any expiration date.
On each piece it says 'original flavor'
5 cents Bazooka.
Now I must go chew.

THE Y2K BUG

The Y2K Bug came & went
Like Yankee Doodle on his yak;
Yahweh yapped & yapped
About Yin & Yang;
William Butler Yeats
Yelped and yelped about
Yesteryear and yesterday;
A yogi ate yoghurt, yolks & yams
But yearned for his yellow yo-yo hams!

I GOTTA GO TO THE STORE

I've run out of poems
I've got to go to the store & get some more
What will it be
A poem about Heaven from Seven-Eleven
Or a simile from Wal-Mart to dry my tears?
I need some poetry
I'm in sad arrears
There's no Lake Como here
Like there was for Byron & Shelley
In that Romantic era
Or an Innisfree like there was for Yeats
Or a lot of grass like there was for Walt & the
Beats
I've run out of poems
I've got to go to the store &
Get some more!

THE FOURTH OF JULY

The beautiful face of the child
Looked across the open world
And saw the sky and ocean turn upside down
All the myriad stars fell into the hair
Of the beautiful child
And he burned like a sun
And on another intelligent planet
The face of another beautiful child
Smiled as he saw in the dark heavens
A huge brilliant explosion
Of ten billion stars
Disappearing
It was the Fourth of July.

SONNET ON TIME UNFINISHED

Lady of Shalott by Atkinson Grimshaw

In the simple silence of honeyed Time

When the clock’s rounded seconds go to sleep,

Heaven’s ancient treasures begin to shine

Upon the simple silence that we keep.

Then the pendulum’s ticking seconds wake

Up sleeping-dreaming lovers under sheets

As dark and closed curtains begin to shake & open

To let in the morning sunshine

Of

Death!