[Michael Cantor]

Gregory -

Funny, I have a vague recollection of that also, but when I did a Sphere search under "Nigeria", no poem emerged - which means it could have been a link.

I did find this old exchange of mine with Kevin Murphy, from a July thread in General Talk (Kevin is speaking of various spam letters on other topics.)

Kevin -

Originally posted by Kevin Andrew Murphy:

Just delete them, along with all the letters from Mrs. Mariam Abacha (the widow of General Sanni) from Nigeria and all her barristers and poor relations.

Mrs. Abacha does not exist? There is no $35 million in the Swiss account? No need for a $50,000 temporary deposit to open a "shadow" account? No need for the $4647.87 expenses to prepare and process my funds?

Oh dear.

Michael


Hardly a poem, but could this be what you remember?

Michael Cantor

[Gregory Dowling]

Lo, thanks for pointing me to these threads, which I must have missed at the time. They weren't what I was thinking of but I'm glad to have come across them now. Thanks too for your great contribution to the spam-fest; looks like we'll have to do that anthology now.

Michael, I do remember that thread but it isn't the one I was thinking of. I begin to think you're right and it must have been a link. I have vague memories of someone talking about a satirical poet, who may have been from New England; whoever it was who introduced the subject may have put in a link to a relevant website. Does this ring any bells with anyone?

Gregory

[Janet Kenny]

Gregory,
I remember laughing my head off at it. I even have some nightmare that I may have posted the link. But I'm not sure. In fact I doubt it. I too would love to read it again.
Janet

[Henry Quince]

I can’t help you with a Nigerian spam poem, Gregory, although I can tell you there are people doing their bit to mock and deter Mariam Abacha and all her cohorts. I once wasted a Nigerian scammer’s time myself (and my own) with elaborate misunderstandings, but the fellow running the 419eater site has taken it a lot further. Look at this page (one of many there) where he gets the scammer to jump through all sorts of improbable and hilarious hoops.
http://www.419eater.com/html/olu_martins.htm

I get quite a few mails with subjects such as “Every mans needs this” from people using names like “Winifred Carbaugh” or “Gavin Villalobos” and offering pharmaceuticals. Often the product on offer is “Cialis soft” — what marketing genius thought that name up?


Spam Triolet

Those pharmacy hucksters — I’m heartily sick
of their “Please her all night!” and their “Save save save!”
“Arsenious Bobo,” “Floyd Babbit,” “Jane Thwick” —
of those pharmacy hucksters I’m heartily sick!
It’s the personal way they refer to my dick
and assume that it’s flagging, or shy, or concave!
Those pharmacy hucksters — I’m heartily sick
of their “Please her all night!” and their “Save save save!”


I’m reliably informed that Flann O’Leary’s <A HREF="http://quince.netpublish.net/CloaksAndCapers/SpamDiptych.html" TARGET=_blank>
Spam Diptych</A> was constructed from a random word list found in a spam message.


[This message has been edited by Henry Quince (edited October 12, 2005).]

[Rose Kelleher]

Are you thinking of this? It's Zaire, not Nigeria, but a similar theme: http://bilge.seablogger.com/archives/004113.php (scroll down)

[Janet Kenny]

Rose

YESSSSSSSSSS

Thank you!

Janet

[Gregory Dowling]

Rose,

As Janet, says, YESSSSSS! And many many thanks. And many thanks to Fresh Bilge too, of course.

Henry, thanks for the link and the fine triolet. I suppose forms with repetends are eminently suitable for Spam poetry. So I'm just waiting for the Spam villanelle and the Spam sestina now...

Gregory

[Gregory Dowling]

Now I'm left with another nagging doubt: as Mike Stocks is clearly British, who is the satirical New England poet with whom my fuddled memory confused him?