[Brian Allgar]

This 'nonsense' being called for is indeed a bit difficult to define, IMO. I don't know whether to write something that is just out-and-out nuts... or whether to write a poem that appears to make sense, but doesn't. (Heck, that sentence doesn't even make much sense, does it? I think I know what I was trying to say there.)

Jayne, as you know, the LitRev usually allows a pretty wide interpretation of the subject of the competition, and I imagine that there will be room for all shades of nonsense verse. My own preference is to write something which, like Lewis Carroll, makes perfect sense on its own terms, but where the terms themselves are nonsensical.

'Nonsense' need not be meaningless, e.g. "The Walrus and the Carpenter".

[Jayne Osborn]

Brian,
It's good of you to retract your 'hasty posting'; I'm sure Williamb is a lovely, forgiving guy - and I hope your ratty mood has desisted. (I'm also sure the copy of The Oldie that I've sent you [from my temporary residence this week in Germany] will put you into a very happy frame of mind!)

When it comes to nonsense, I've decided I prefer 'proper' words to invented ones - so my attempt at this comp (which is still in kit form at the moment) will be in that vein.

Doug,
As far as "I am not sure if this is proper nonsense" is concerned, I'm not either - but I think your poem's great, all the same! It made me laugh.
Years ago I wrote a '--tion' poem, for the benefit of the kids I was teaching, some of whom were in the habit of writing things like 'stayshun' and 'fashun'. I'll PM it to you.

Jayne

[Roger Slater]

Absent Minded Professor

A man who climbed a tree one day,
arriving at the top,
allowed his thoughts to drift away
and so forgot to stop

and then he climbed the air so long
at such a rapid pace
before he knew that he'd done wrong
he'd climbed through outer space,

and then by force of habit he
climbed so far that he found
himself beneath the starting tree
and proved the cosmos round.

[Brian Allgar]

Very nice, Roger. And an excellent example of what I meant by verse that makes perfect sense on its own terms, which are themselves nonsensical.

[Ann Drysdale]

Ah, the swoop and the sea
of the bank and the brie
and the pip on the page of the poor
and the guttural goose
of the lemma-go-loose
and the coat on the back of the door

With the weaselly sneeze
of the knobkerrie knees
as they hirple like holes in the head
it shoogles and shakes
with whatever it takes
till it grows like a poem instead

On the through and the thrill
of the hole on the hill
to the park in the pick of the pole
and the harp and the hat
of the bobblesome bat
and the multimelodious mole.

For the rough and the thick
of the quire and the quick
will betoken the broken before
and the bibulous bend
will return in the end
to the coat on the back of the door.

[Mary Meriam]

It's a winner whether it wins or not, Annie. Love it!

[Ann Drysdale]

Thank you, Mary. I'm chuffed you like it - and if the LitRev don't, who cares? Wheee!

[Brian Humeniuk]

I love the way the words trip off ones tongue(ones?? lol)( I sound like a toff! lol) It has style, it has rhythm, and I love it! Thank you for this. B.

[Lance Levens]

I've Seen You Before

I've seen you before
in a painting of yore
on the Rhone with that cone on a raft.
You were humming a tune you'd picked up in Rangoon
and it drove the poor woman daft.

I've seen you before
by that shimmering shore.
You were spooning your soup in a sieve.
You slurped like mad while a moon-faced lad
sliced up your vice with a shiv.

I've seen you before
where the penguins yell: Fore!
You were watching the weatherby sway.
You danced the fandango while eating a mango
and wept when they led you away.

I'm sure you're the fella
whose wild tarantella
brought down the rafters in Nice
they still tell the story it's stylish but gory
of the dancer who just would not cease

[John Whitworth]

Now this is what I call a nonsense poem, and a very good one too. Bung it in, Lance, there are three hundred pounds which may well have you name on it. I wouldn't go to the stake for it but I think you may have misspelled tarantella.

At least I think Belloc spelt it otherwise.