100,000,000,000,000 poems

From playboy Chance the nymph no longer flees
His nasal ecstasy beats best Cologne
The showman gargles fire and sword with ease
One gathers rosebuds or grows old alone
Oh how oh how he hates such pilferings
Rejecting ermine to become a knave
In salads all chew grubs before they've wings
To break a rule Britannia's might might waive
Staunch pilgrims longest journeys can't depress
One tongue will do to keep the verse agog
And played their mountain croquet jungle chess
We'll suffocate before the epilogue
With marble souvenirs then fill a slum
Fried grilled black pudding's still the world's best yum


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.