100,000,000,000,000 poems

The marble tomb gapes wide with jangling keys
Since Elgin left his nostrils in the stone
Old corned-beef's rusty armour spreads disease
The thumb- and finger-prints of Al Capone
They both are right not untamed mutterings
Whose ocean still-born herrings madly brave
In salads all chew grubs before they've wings
For burning bushes never fish forgave
When dried the terrapin can naught express
In indian summers Englishmen drink grog
Watching manure and compost coalesce
Southern baroque's seductive dialogue
The Taj Mahal has trinkets spice and gum
In cognac brandy is Bacardi rum?


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.