"A Supermarket in California" Allen Ginsberg
meets
"Troilus and Cressida" William Shakespeare
We strode down the open corridors together
in our solitary fancy, tasting artichokes
I have the galant Trojan seen thee oft
I have seen you Walt Whitman poking
among the meats in the refrigerator
eyeing off the grocery boys
Labouring for destiny, making cruel way
through ranks of Greekish youth
The doors close in an hour
Which way does your beard point tonight?
I have seen thee as hot as Perseus
spur thy phyrigian steed
I wandered in and out of the brilliant
stacks of cans following you
I heard you asking questions
Who killed the pork chops?
What price the bananas?
I know thy Grandsire
And once fought with him
He was a soldier good
But, by Great Mars the captain
of us all
Never like thee
O, let an old man embrace thee
haha walt whitman poking in the meats...this made for a pretty humorous poem...my beard points down right now....smiles.
ReplyDeleteno kiddin..that could be a bit of a worry:)
Deletehaha..so very cool...how crazy would that have been if the two of them had really met...love it
ReplyDeleteThanks Claudia
DeleteI think you wove the lines together VERY well! Who could ever imagine that Shakespeare's lines would work well with Ginsberg's? (Smile) Enjoyed this.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary.I enjoy the surreal aspect of this form.
DeleteGinsberg and Shakespeare! What a collaboration you made of this! This cento definitely creates a unique perspective from the two. Very nice!
ReplyDeleteThis is an old one of mine Semaphore.Did not have the time to write a new one . Glad you liked it.
DeleteNew or old, it's a brilliant conceit... and to make them go shopping! Priceless.
DeleteAh - this totally rocks and takes the cento to a whole new place ... so much fun ... Ginsberg, the bard, and Walt W? Praise be ...
ReplyDeletehttp://thepoet-tree-house.blogspot.ca/2012/09/accept-shadows-centon.html
Loved your post!
ReplyDeleteambivalence