Strophe
O! Let the poet ruffle feathers far!
When, wallowing in mediocrity,
Men mock ‘wyrd’ ways, the voice of vanity
Effected, like the gasp of Balthazaar
When first he saw messiah – Halley’s star,
He’d follow’d blindly since Chang’an City,
Shone on that lone barn – or the gritty gulp
When Brendan left this Earth by flying car;
This bedrock fog, this bog of grunting sland,
Where squirms opinion in the wormy dirts,
However clever, ‘credible’ & scann’d –
If ignorance be taken for a wit,
Best poets might as well rip off their shirts
& smear steel chests in festergripe & shit!
Antistrophe
O mumbling Mumbler,
You’re a fumbler.
Your cherished theories
Are whigmaleeries.
You would do best
To read M.L. West
On Helicon’s hill
And keep your pen still.
If that aim’s too high,
You may choose to try
Finkelberg (Margalit),
On Greek and Pre-Greek.
In heavier prose
Václav Blažek shows
How to play your games
With particular names
(Athena, Apollo,
And other A.s follow;
He does not get far on
Beyond gloomy Charon).
Much of what he’s said
Would be over your head,
But marking his methods might give you a glimmer
How callow and shallow your present approach is.
Epode
From: The Mumble
Date: Monday, 17 February 2025
To: Peter Kitson
Subject: Using your poem
Damo
Yo dude
So I’m having a bit of a golden year at the moment
My WW2 epic’s nearly finish’d for example
https://mumblewords.uk/
I’m also putting the finishing touches to my Hyksos Chronicle – omg it solves everything ! Anyway your cute poems in my notes – I’d like to take part authorship of that & put in my collection I’m working on this year – it’s a bit like when your lovers gush lyricism when you’re asleep near them, if you know what I mean
So thats cool yeah?
x Damo
Peter Kitson (LDC – Staff)
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No Dude. Bugger Off!
Damo
It’s too late. Ive woven it into an ode. It’s the antistrophe –
& mate. I’m the best poet since Dante, you should be proud x
Peter Kitson (LDC – Staff)
Go boil your head you clown!
Damo
When I’m back from Ravenna
Just off for the final read through of Axis and Allies where Dantes last ink dried and Byron wrote his best canto (V if you were wondering) x best
themumble.uk 