Albert of Norway and Simba the lion
Elvis, and David, the conqueror of Zion,
Kong, and that one out of Lord of the Rings
These are a few of my favourite kings
That movie where Redford’s a con artist stuntman
Scorpions’ barbs and the ex-Police frontman
Whose bedroom Olympics belittle Beijing’s
These are a few of my favourite stings
The Fountain of Youth, so beguilingly fabled,
Beppu, and Lourdes, where they cure the disabled,
Velingrad, Breitenbush, Sungai Lembing
These are a few of my favourite springs
When the dog farts
When my Nan rings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply compose some arbitrary lists
And then I don’t feel so bad
Black studded leather and garish green dayglo
Coarse woven horsehair unfastened with velcro
Pink ones you pull out your arse crack with tongs
These are a few of my favourite thongs
Point-bearded merciless despotic traitor
Ex-Lib Dem leader more ancient than paper
A vase from an era before Den Xiaoping’s
These are a few of my favourite Mings
Late Mr Crosby, his crooning harmonic,
Chandler from Friends with his wryly ironic
Middlebrow, liberal, agnostic zings
These are just two of my favourite Bings
Jimmy McCulloch and Thaddeus Richard
Geoff Britton drumming and Macca on keyboard
Linda McCartney (except when she sings)
These are my favourite members of Wings
When the milk’s gone
When the golf’s on
When I get mauled by an Irish setter
I simply remember that Bernard Manning's dead
And then I feel much, much better
When the dog farts
When my Nan rings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply compose some arbitrary lists
And then I don’t feel so bad
Comments
Enzo | January 15, 2008 - 13:01
"Point-bearded merciless despotic traitor
Ex-Lib Dem leader more ancient than paper
A vase from an era before Den Xiaoping’s
These are a few of my favourite Mings"
Bloody hell. Genius.
Enzo..
www.thedevilbetweenus.com
Kropotkin38 | January 16, 2008 - 07:51
Much, oh so much better than the original. The Sound of Music is the only film I have ever watched that makes me want the Nazis to win.
Coarse woven horsehair unfastened with velcro - And now I begin to realise what a sheltered life I have led.
edmund allos | January 17, 2008 - 16:31
yeah when the dog farts...like it...love it!
blackjack-davey | January 18, 2008 - 15:39
Tim is obviously an accomplished poet, his use of rhyme etc. I'm a fan of rhyming poetry from Don Juan to In Memoriam to Derek Walcott. However, I'm going to be devil's advocate. This poem is constrained by its own cleverness.
Constraints work brilliantly in focusing the mind but this poem is in danger of becoming little more than its set of constraints. The point of the poem is about arbitrary lists keeping depression at bay- this is the insight. And to me that's worthy of development.
Margharita | January 19, 2008 - 00:08
I found the cleverness exhilerating. And very, very, very funny.
Sooz006 | January 26, 2008 - 13:58
Absolutely brilliant, if this hadn't been cherried I'd have asked for one.
Because it's so good I'd lose the 'When I'm feeling sad,' line and substitute it with something that means the same but is original, and again with its rhyming partner if you can without losing the point.
Loved this. But I warn you if that bloody tune doesn't get out of my head....
gristo | February 16, 2008 - 09:46
I was laughing all the way through this.
It would be great for performance. I like the way it would keep the audience guessing on what the category of the stanza is - ie, those are a few of my favourite Kings, those are a few of my favourite thongs etc. Also got the best reference to Bernard Manning that i've seen in a poem to date! Just loved the whole thing.
HaiAnh | February 16, 2008 - 20:26
POW! This is wicked. I've been singing it for days.
beef | March 14, 2008 - 18:17
I love this Rokkit, it makes me so so happy.