100,000,000,000,000 poems

From playboy Chance the nymph no longer flees
That horders of crooks felt they'd more right to own
The understanding critic firstly sees
And empty cages show life's bird has flown
To one sweet hour of bliss my memory clings
Were pots graffiti'd over by a slave
An icicle of frozen marrow pings
Till firemen come with hose-piped tidal wave
Staunch pilgrims longest journeys can't depress
A bird-brain banquet melts bold Mistress Mog
And played their mountain croquet jungle chess
Lobsters for sale must be our apologue
Where no one bothered how one warmed one's bum
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.