100,000,000,000,000 poems

At five precisely out went La Marquise
His nasal ecstasy beats best Cologne
Her native chauffeur waited in the breeze
The thumb- and finger-prints of Al Capone
It's one of many horrid happenings
Signalling gauchos very rarely shave
Such merchandise a melancholy brings
That every verbal shock aims to deprave
Platonic Greece was not so talentless
In indian summers Englishmen drink grog
While homeward thirsts to each quenched glass say yes
Southern baroque's seductive dialogue
Do bank clerks rule their abacus by thumb
A wise loaf always knows its humblest crumb


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.