100,000,000,000,000 poems

The wild horse champs the Parthenon's top frieze
When masons clutch the breath we held on loan
Replies like this the dumbstruck brain may tease
Normal one aims to be and share the throne
The roundabout eats profits made on swings
That metred rhyme alone can souls enslave
A daring baron pockets precious Mings
Etruscan words which Greece and Rome engrave
Poetic licence needs no strain or stress
In indian summers Englishmen drink grog
While homeward thirsts to each quenched glass say yes
We'll suffocate before the epilogue
Poor reader smile before your lips go numb
The best of all things to an end must come


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.