Foul Vowels

FOUL VOWELS

An Agha Khan, at an ashram
that has grand, gala bacchanals
calls a vassal at hand
and asks that all staff
plan a ball.
An Arab lass
can draw a bath
and wash a man's back
athwart an altar,
a dwarf flaps a palm branch
fanning a fat maharaja.

Westerners retell the Greek legends;
the resplendent scenes, where,
hellbent free men seek revenge.
Restless Helen, the empress
weeps when she deserts
her fleece bed
where the regent sleeps.
She feels wretched, left here,
her needs never met.
Nevertheless, her demented fevers
render her cheerless.

King finch flits in gliding flight,
skimming limpid springs
which brim with living things -
fish with gilt fins
shrimp, krill.
Might I mimic whistling shrill chirps,
High pitch chirps
inspiring writing gimmicks?
Might I find bliss
grinning in mirth with misfit whims,
implicit in primitivism?

Books form cocoons of comfort.
Provosts who work for proctors
show tombs to hold bookworms.
Oxford profs show post-docs
how to gloss Wordworth's works,
Lolling on dorm-room cots.
So look for bookshops
known to stock lots of top-notch goods;
how-to books for jocks (how-to box, or how-to jog),
old colophons sport two sorts of logos;
oblong whorls or rococo scrolls.

Surf lulls us.
Bucks plus bulls running thru brush,
burrs clutch fur tufts.
Cubs plus pups hunt skunks,
thus, church nuns pluck uncut mums.
Such tumult upturns unsunk hulls -
gulls churr, ducks cluck.
Such scuds hurl up cumulus suds,
gusts murmur humdrum susurrus,
furls unfurl, curls uncurl.
Bulls pull up.


This poem is a puzzle, in that each stanza contains 11 lines, and only uses one vowel per stanza.

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