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He bent right down to pick up his valise
Since Elgin left his nostrils in the stone
Forms shadowy with indecision wheeze
And loudly sang off-key without a tone
They both are right not untamed mutterings
That metred rhyme alone can souls enslave
Such merchandise a melancholy brings
Victorious worms grind all into the grave
When dried the terrapin can naught express
With quill white-collared through his life will jog
To prove mamma an adult with a tress
Southern baroque's seductive dialogue
Where no one bothered how one warmed one's bum
Soliloquies predict great things old chum


Raymond Queneau

Translation to English by Stanley Chapman
found in "Oulipo Compendium"
Atlas 1998, ISBN 0-947757-96-1

Idea and implementation by Magnus Bodin 1997
Produced in the wonderful country of Sweden.