100,000,000,000,000 poems

At five precisely out went La Marquise
Licks round carved marble chops on snails full-blown
Replies like this the dumbstruck brain may tease
The thumb- and finger-prints of Al Capone
To one sweet hour of bliss my memory clings
Filching the lolly country thrift helped save
Th'outrageous Thames a troubled arrow slings
In purest cradels tha's how they behave
The fasting fakir doesn't smell the less
Or grinning like a pale-faced golliwog
Watching manure and compost coalesce
Bard I adore your endless monologue
And let you off from your opinions glum
And lessors' dates have all too short a sum


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.