[George Simmers]

At Percival's effusive 'There you are!'
A nervous shudder ripples round the bar.
In seconds now, he'll start; guts clench in fear,
Knowing how he'll unleash, so we must hear
One dreary lumbering stream of words, extending
Without a break, or any sign of ending,
Meandering on and on from clause to clause
To phrase to clause to phrase without a pause,
Unstoppable, because to interrupt
Mid-flow would seem ill-mannered and abrupt.
We fume, but manfully resist the urge
To hit the mouth exuding verbal splurge.
Pity the man! Poor Percy's education
Included no firm drills in punctuation
To teach him that it's stops give utterance shape,
And to just jabber is to be an ape.