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OMG i love me.
May. 8th, 2008 07:23 pm...which is, I suppose, fortunate. Lookit:
Of the self-destructive tendencies of humans
The Union of 'yon marmoset and Baird's tapir
Can only end in strife, genomic disarray,
And wanton waste of life. We study what we fear
(Rather than what we are), hoping that each assay
Will help to light the far and dusty corners where
The monsters are most rife. And yet the reptile brain
Would fain take up a knife and forcibly impair
Mammalia's shining star with serpentine disdain.
So: was it ever thus? Back in the mythic garden,
Who was it really did the perfect world bespoil?
By suspect circumstance the snake receives no pardon,
Yet pax hominibus is only ours to foil:
If that's the way us kids is going to behave,
We'll have to take our chances out in Burma Shave.
This is two sonnets in one: each verse is an alexandrine, and most (though not all) of them observe the caesura in the middle (e.g., between "Can only end in strife" and "genomic disarray"). The verses taken as a whole form a Shakespearean sonnet (rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG). But the third stressed syllable of each verse contributes to a Petrarchan sonnet (rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA CDECDE, or mar, strife, life, are, far, rife, knife, star, thus, did, stance, bus, kid, chance).
I win.
Oh, and while the reference has nothing whatsoever to do with the gist of the poem, this was inspired, once again, by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
peregrin8, who earlier expressed her total lack of interest in learning how "Myanmar" is pronounced. As it turns out, it's pronounced without much of an initial "m" so the ruling junta's name for the country sounds very much like "Union of Yon Mar"(moset). The last line is, of course, hommage to Tom Waits, whom P8 adores.
I'll shut up now.
Of the self-destructive tendencies of humans
The Union of 'yon marmoset and Baird's tapir
Can only end in strife, genomic disarray,
And wanton waste of life. We study what we fear
(Rather than what we are), hoping that each assay
Will help to light the far and dusty corners where
The monsters are most rife. And yet the reptile brain
Would fain take up a knife and forcibly impair
Mammalia's shining star with serpentine disdain.
So: was it ever thus? Back in the mythic garden,
Who was it really did the perfect world bespoil?
By suspect circumstance the snake receives no pardon,
Yet pax hominibus is only ours to foil:
If that's the way us kids is going to behave,
We'll have to take our chances out in Burma Shave.
This is two sonnets in one: each verse is an alexandrine, and most (though not all) of them observe the caesura in the middle (e.g., between "Can only end in strife" and "genomic disarray"). The verses taken as a whole form a Shakespearean sonnet (rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG). But the third stressed syllable of each verse contributes to a Petrarchan sonnet (rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA CDECDE, or mar, strife, life, are, far, rife, knife, star, thus, did, stance, bus, kid, chance).
I win.
Oh, and while the reference has nothing whatsoever to do with the gist of the poem, this was inspired, once again, by
peregrin8, who earlier expressed her total lack of interest in learning how "Myanmar" is pronounced. As it turns out, it's pronounced without much of an initial "m" so the ruling junta's name for the country sounds very much like "Union of Yon Mar"(moset). The last line is, of course, hommage to Tom Waits, whom P8 adores.I'll shut up now.
