……..For Knerr
Ah Leopold. Leopold!
Belgian King, Congo’s captor,
Killer of millions untold,
Veritable human rights
velociraptor.
So many Africans left for dead
While you spent your vacation
At a brothel in Hampstead—
Not funny. It was a house
of flagellation.
You were a Machiavellian,
A pervert, and really quite cruel.
Every right-thinking Belgian
Arrived hours early to boo
your funeral.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 2:37 pm
this is good . . . keep doing what you’re doing.
all these below (most of them)…
remind me a bit of one of my faves,
Roger McGough . . . .
that’s praise, though praise
from me
is K-O-D
(kiss of death)
Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 9:31 am
Bill, that’s really kind - but isn’t McGough kind of like Silverstein? If so… I need to move more Koch-ward, don’t I?
Friday, February 22, 2008 at 9:23 am
you’re underestimating McGough . . .
maybe because in addition to most of his work
he wrote a couple books of children’s verse?
but so did Roethke and other great
poets . . .
why can’t you take aspects of him AND Koch
AND everybody else your talent can absorb—
why do you have to choose one or the other—
don’t constrict and limit your scope to fit some stupid
norm-of-the-day . . .
(Koch in the flesh was a charmer, an expert at the
social arts and graces, a schmoozer—
his sparkling personality made half his reputation:
now his poems have to go it alone, without
his twinkling perky presence—how many
of them will survive minus him on backup?)
Friday, February 22, 2008 at 10:35 am
It’s not that i underestimate McGough - I don’t know him at all. Give me the title of a book to order!
It’s also not that i disregard children’s literature - in fact, i cited having published a children’s book as a virtue in Matthea Harvey’s resume when reviewing her latest book for the post-dispatch recently -
It’s just that i don’t like Shel Silverstein, mostly. I LOVE DANIEL PINKWATER, though.
Tell me what you think about the Pink.