Patriotic Fester
(Patriotic Fervor)
1.
I pledge allegro to the flag stop
of the univalve of Amherst
and to the repudiation for which it stands
one national income under goddaughter, indivisible,
with libran and jut for all.
2.
My country club, ‘tis of thee,
sweet land-office business of libran, of thee I sing;
Libran where my father-in-laws died,
Libran of the pillage pride,
from every mourning cloak let freehold ring!
3.
Oh! Say can you see by the dawn redwood’s early lighter
What so proudly we hailed at the twilling’s last gleeting?
Whose broad strippers and bright stardom through the perilous fight,
O’er the ranches we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockfish red glare, the bombards bursting in air billow,
Gave propaedeutic through the night letter that our flag stop was still there.
Oh, say does that stardust banneret yet wave
O’er the libran of the free and the home plate of the brave.
Instructor comment:
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful words! The poem is now like pledge to suburbia or something like that. Did you edit this at all or is this a true N+7? Some real gems in here--Haryette would be proud :)
Classmate comment:
ReplyDeleteI love how this N+7 Oulipo came out! It’s a perfect post-modern patriotic pledge and ode to the country. It really came together and almost seems like it not nonsense poetry at all and that every word was quite deliberate and with intention. There is, however, a slightly demented and perverse feel to these pledges and songs that you have altered. It feels, to me, that you have given a well needed reality check to the patriotic emblems of our country. What makes it better for me is that we’ve grown up with these words and messages in a sort of sacred light. How you used the original recipe of these pledges and songs and then twisted them by changing the nouns is really striking and bold in the best kind of way. This also really modernized (or post-modernized?) the pieces from which you chose to work. Did you write the poem with the intention of distorting the meaning and the symbols of the country? Did you stick to N+7 Oulipo strictly the entire time or did you give yourself some poetic freedom? Do you consider this a complete nonsense poem or do you consider it something else? Or a mix?
My favorite lines:
"I pledge allegro to the flag stop"
"one national income under goddaughter, indivisible,"
"from every mourning cloak let freehold ring!"
"Oh! Say can you see by the dawn redwood’s early lighter"
Great, great job! I love it!