Grex Writing Conference

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Grex Writing Item 12: The WOMBAT
Entered by mitton on Sat Oct 5 02:44:10 UTC 1991:

I found this in the journal of the Hobart (Tasmania) walking club

THE WOMBAT
by Denis Alexander

As you splash along the track,
Eyes alert and ears pinned back,
You might have seen those queer square turdes
And thought, if not expressed in words,
The stress of such a defecation
Baffles ones imagination.
But it's not done to enterain us -
The WOMBAT has an oblong anus.
So if your slumber is disturbed
By cries and screams, don't be perturbed.
Eyes closed, teeth clenched and racked with pain -
A wombat's gone and crapped again.

13 responses total.

#1 of 13 by richenda on Sat Oct 5 18:09:56 1991:

Shakespeare it isn't, but I think I like it.

#2 of 13 by mulberry on Sat Oct 5 20:08:25 1991:

       Where the bee sucks, there suck I.

                              -William Shakespeare (from The Tempest)



 Is that better?

#3 of 13 by richenda on Sat Oct 5 20:34:51 1991:

Well, actually Shakespeare is far from my favorite poet.  Have you ever
read anything (in translation) by Yevgeny Yevtushenko?  Admittedly a
somewhat more obscure poet, but much more interesting to my mind.

#4 of 13 by keats on Sat Oct 5 22:59:02 1991:

then read shakespeare again. i'm sure translation doesn't do justice to
your poet, either.

#5 of 13 by richenda on Sat Oct 5 23:30:38 1991:

We seem destined to disagree.  I am sure that Shakespeare has his 
virtues, in fact I like quite a bit of his work.  I do not, however,
deify the man. (Unlike many English lit people.)  Regarding Yevgeny
Yevtushenko:  yes, his work is probably better in the original Russian,
but my command of the Russian language is currently only sufficient for
purely practical purposes.  It is difficult to appreciate the artistic
merits of a poem while looking up every third word in a dictionary.
Besides, my original question (to mulberry) was whether she had ever 
read anything by him, in any language.  If you have read anything of
his in the original Russian, please let me know.  I would like to 
discuss the merits of the various translators and translations.

#6 of 13 by keats on Sun Oct 6 00:55:40 1991:

i merely get tired of people dismissing shakespeare because he's so
expected on any list of "greats." most people who discuss him, even
many of us in english literature, are only dealing with as little as
five to a dozen plays and not really thinking about him closely anymore.
i haven't read yetushenko (yet). i'm limited (and virtually all in
translation, by the way) to tolstoy, goncharov, chekhov, dostoevsky,
pushkin, and a small remaining list of authors encountered mostly in
short fiction. very conventional, i must admit, but since russian
literature is only a pleasure for me, not an active academic field,
i haven't been able to read around a great deal beyond those writers.

#7 of 13 by remmers on Sun Oct 6 12:03:40 1991:

Hey, can the drift, folks!  This item is about wombat shit.

#8 of 13 by reach on Tue Oct 8 01:16:20 1991:

I thought it was about bee sucking?

#9 of 13 by om on Tue May 18 02:06:41 1993:

respo


enterstop

passdddddddddddddddddddddddddddstopzzx,v,medo
respond
read 45
writing
stop
join writing
oh god, this is my first time on the BBS!

#10 of 13 by remmers on Tue May 18 05:18:37 1993:

Hey, I like it!  :)

#11 of 13 by rcurl on Tue May 18 05:49:54 1993:

Its very free form writing, with an existential flavour; the climax is
very dramatic, with an appeal to a deity. I think it has promise.

#12 of 13 by danr on Tue May 18 12:01:54 1993:

:)

#13 of 13 by jkrauss on Sun Jun 12 20:18:05 1994:

and  passdddddddddddddddddddddddddddstopzzx,v,medo just says
so much about man's role in the universe

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