Extra Perturbations

Pound's Orthographic Perturbations

To Extra Pound, that word disturbed,
that weird word massedurbation,
which reached his inner ear, where curbed,
like the misspelled misterbation!

Much better were the made-up word
that he called disturbation,
and made-believe he'd never heard
of a word like masterbation.

Extra Pound's Sentimental Verse

Extra's Song

Help me not fend
or fetch this clock!
I'll fix it to the wall!

Just stand, defend,
with wretched Glock,
the aviator's call!

Dust heap, forfend,
nor watch that flock
march goose step down the hall!

All youth, befriend,
Each door unlock,
watch goslings, eager all!

Now, that's a strong call to action in the tradition of fascist farce-force songs!

A Little Foolishness

Fooled

Full full of himself
felt old Extra Pound;
Of that could one quite
well expound, profound,
for full of himself
felt old Extra Pound.

I cannot fathom whence some rhymes have come, but who cares?

Give or Take Eternity: Re-Visited

I left something out of this poem, so here the poem is again, very slightly altered:

Our Eternal Wages

If the wages of sin is truly death,
God owes to us each one a final breath-
taking moment that he might then recall
the nefesh of life he gave to us all,
the psyche of soul, a foretaste of spirit,
the pneuma of life, the ruach within it.

It now truly says a lot: Saint Paul's glorification of the resurrected body in a nutshell!

Give or Take Eternity: Getting Paid

Our Eternal Wages

If the wages of sin is truly death,
God owes to us each one a final breath-
taking moment that he might then recall
the nefesh of life he gave to us all,
the psyche of soul, a foretaste of spirit,
the pneuma of life, the abundance within it.

And that says a lot: Saint Paul's glorification of the resurrected body in a nutshell!

Update: See next blog entry.

More Non-Limericks

Ship's Hold

Our Extra Pound
has grown quite old,
and yet's renowned
as good as gold,
but should be bound
by four walls cold.

We don't want to forget the ceiling or the floor, of course:

Ship's Hold

Our Extra Pound
has grown quite old,
and yet's renowned
as good as gold,
but should be bound
by four walls cold.
Two more redound
and all's a-told.

Not a Limerick

Extra Pound

was up on down,
soon on late,
to on fro,

and more or less straight.

Serpentine Old Man

The Serpent?

Silent slithered snakelike the old man from his tree,
and coiled his scaley legs below one scaley knee,
where there lurked a knotty knotty naughty problem,
not that the man were lost of thought or fallen dumb,
but that this knot awaits: the Alexander "Key."

Memories are Short, but so is Time

Timely Memories

Once had a good time by all,
but whether by autumn or fall,
or springtime or lent,
some calendric event,
I do not recall now at all.

"Ruby, Don't Don't Take Your Love to Town"

The great Mel Tillis wrote the lyrics to this song, and several performing artists have tried their hand at it, but seems to me that Kenny Rogers has given us the definitive cover.

I'm not entirely sure of the lyrics below, for there's some slippage in the 'verbiage,' but I've put together a plausible version:

Ruby, Don't Don't Take Your Love to Town 

You've painted up your lips and rolled and curled your tinted hair.
Ruby, are you contemplating going out somewhere?
The shadows on the wall tell me the sun is going down.
Oh Ruby, don't take your love to town.

It wasn't me who started that old crazy Asian war,
But I was proud to go and do my patriotic chore.
And yes, it's true that I am not the man I used to be.
Oh Ruby, I still need some company.

It's hard to love a man whose legs are bent and paralyzed,
And the wants and the needs of a woman your age, Ruby, I realize,
But it won't be long, I've heard them say, until I'm not around.
Oh Ruby, don't take your love to town.

She's leaving now 'cause I just heard the slamming of the door,
The way I know I've heard it slam one hundred times before,
And if I could walk,* I'd get my gun and put her in the ground.
Oh Ruby, don't take your love to town.

A great song. One little flaw, though. When the man said, "And if I could walk, I'd get my gun and put her in the ground," I thought, "Well, if you could walk, you'd be able to meet Ruby's needs, and you wouldn't need to put her in the ground, 'cause she wouldn't be taking her love to town."

But I've heard some versions that say "If I could move,* I'd get my gun and put her in the ground." That might resolve the logical conundrum. Maybe my friend Bill Vallicella could drop in and clear things up.