The Special Category

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An optional explanation about the anagram in green, the subject is in black, the anagram is in red.


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901

The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God
An Ode by
John Milton Hayes

There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Khatmandu,
There's a little marble cross below the town;
There's a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew,
And the Yellow God forever gazes down.

He was known as "Mad Carew" by the subs at Khatmandu,
He was hotter than they felt inclined to tell;
But for all his foolish pranks, he was worshipped in the ranks,
And the Colonel's daughter smiled on him as well.

He had loved her all along, with a passion of the strong,
The fact that she loved him was plain to all.
She was nearly twenty-one and arrangements had begun
To celebrate her birthday with a ball.

He wrote to ask what present she would like from Mad Carew;
They met next day as he dismissed a squad;
And jestingly she told him then that nothing else would do
But the green eye of the little Yellow God.

On the night before the dance, Mad Carew seemed in a trance,
And they chaffed him as they puffed at their cigars:
But for once he failed to smile, and he sat alone awhile,
Then went out into the night beneath the stars.

He returned before the dawn, with his shirt and tunic torn,
And a gash across his temple dripping red;
He was patched up right away, and he slept through all the day,
And the Colonel's daughter watched beside his bed.

He woke at last and asked if they could send his tunic through;
She brought it, and he thanked her with a nod;
He bade her search the pocket saying "That's from Mad Carew,"
And she found the little green eye of the god.

She upbraided poor Carew in the way that women do,
Though both her eyes were strangely hot and wet;
But she wouldn't take the stone and Mad Carew was left alone
With the jewel that he'd chanced his life to get.

When the ball was at its height, on that still and tropic night,
She thought of him and hurried to his room;
As she crossed the barrack square she could hear the dreamy air
Of a waltz tune softly stealing thro' the gloom.

His door was open wide, with silver moonlight shining through;
The place was wet and slipp'ry where she trod;
An ugly knife lay buried in the heart of Mad Carew,
'Twas the "Vengeance of the Little Yellow God."

There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Khatmandu,
There's a little marble cross below the town;
There's a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew,
And the Yellow God forever gazes down.

The Odd Man

There's a Spanish chalet-restaurant north-west of the Walworth Road,
Where they make the finest eggnog anywhere;
There's a fellow at the table by the window all alone,
And on Monday nights you'll catch him seated there.

A chap of little rank, a lowly teller in a bank,
He was chubby, middle-aged and shy as well,
All his days felt just the same; Donald Michael was the name
And the place was called the Casa Annabel.

When he'd sat that night at eight, chasing tacos round the plate,
He'd thought wryly of his impact on the world,
In the forty years of life, he had never had a wife,
To tell the truth, he'd never had a girl!

One final lager quencher then he'd wend his lonely way,
To that tatty, squalid bedsit in the town,
To bed to turn the light off on another faded day,
Then he'd wrap himself up in the eiderdown.

But at length his thoughts were jarred by the strum of a guitar,
That played the strident intro to Granada,
Through the curtain made of net came the clack! of castanets,
And Donald found his heart was beating harder!

Then she burst into the room, like a Spanish rose in bloom,
With her lovely lips a luscious ruby-red,
Stomped both heels then threw some shapes, twirled her long dress like a cape,
And each sensual move she made begged "come to bed!"

She swayed across the floor toward the place where Donald sat,
Her eyes, two burning jewels were locked on his,
And Donald sat there stiffly like a terrified meerkat,
With his head and heart a'flutter, and a'tizz.

Then Donald slowly felt that frozen fear begin to melt,
As he looked into the hot depths of her eyes,
Something strange was now occurring, and he felt his loins a'stirring,
And that tingle now had gone down to both thighs.

As the glow within him grew, all at once for sure he knew
He was the chubby bank teller no more,
Then he flew up from the seat, clapped his hands and stomped both feet,
Now he was Don Miguel the strong, tall toreador!

Their eyes were locked, both bodies arched, he matched her every move,
They generated sexual heat galore,
They strutted, writhed and wriggled, now both totally in the groove,
Ah, he was Don Miguel the toreador!

When the music stopped her eyes stayed locked, her warm hand touched his cheek,
"Wow, that was the best!" she sighed. "Wow!" he growled, and "Whew!
"Now I somehow know that you're the one, my legs have both gone weak!"
And the senorita said, "I feel that too."


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902

[As a tribute to the late Robin Williams, the song Send in the Clowns is anagrammed into a poem about depression that contains a unique acrostic constraint detailed below:]

Isn't it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air.
Send in the clowns.

Isn't it bliss?
Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can't move.
But where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.

Just when I'd stopped opening doors,
Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours,
Making my entrance again with my usual flair,
Sure of my lines,
No one is there.

Don't you love farce?
My fault, I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.

Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer,
Losing my timing this late
In my career?
And where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns.
Well, maybe next year.

The Pain Down In My Tortured Heart

Beyond the haunting roars of the abyss -
A well of woe that swallowed me each season -
One worthy memory of ancient bliss
Intruded on my nightmares for no reason.

The queer occurrence was a nightly thing,
When quiet thoughts try to ignite a spark -
Yet I learned how to numb their hurtful sting;
I'll never let it penetrate my dark.

Why promptly set one yearning spirit loose
When I, instead, can wallow in the muck
Or use one constant ache as an excuse
To curse my never-ending horrid luck?

I wait and greet, with no inherent soul,
The sun that rises in my window now.
I did have will once; now it's just a hole -
It's pacified beneath my weary brow.


[If we isolate one word from each line, we discover that this poem actually contains a shorter free-verse poem about Robin Williams with a relevant acrostic:]

The Pain Down In My Tortured Heart

Beyond the haunting roars of the abyss -
A well of woe that swallowed me each season -
One worthy memory of ancient bliss
Intruded on my nightmares for no reason.

The queer occurrence was a nightly thing,
When quiet thoughts try to ignite a spark -
Yet I learned how to numb their hurtful sting;
I'll never let it penetrate my dark.

Why promptly set one yearning spirit loose
When I, instead, can wallow in the muck
Or use one constant ache as an excuse
To curse my never-ending horrid luck?

I wait and greet, with no inherent soul,
The sun that rises in my window now.
I did have will once; now it's just a hole -
It's pacified beneath my weary brow.

Roars
Of
Bliss
Intruded
Nightly,
When
I
Let
Loose;
Instead,
As
My
Soul
Rises,
It's
Pacified.


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903

Holocaust
by Barbara Sonek

We played, we laughed
we were loved.
We were ripped from the arms of our
parents and thrown into the fire.
We were nothing more than children.
We had a future. We were going to be
lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers. We
had dreams, then we had no hope. We were
taken away in the dead of night like cattle in cars, no air to breathe smothering, crying,
starving, dying. Separated from the world to
be no more. From the ashes, hear our plea.
This atrocity to mankind can not happen again.
Remember us, for we were the children whose
dreams and lives were stolen away.

Anagram by Snafu

WAR!
I'm a Palestinian girl with a brother.
My father and tender mother worked hard. They wanted prosperity for us.
WAR!
They're dead now.
What have we now? No home, no water, no future altogether.
WAR!
I'm a refugee, a godforsaken person, a ghost
I live to revenge them against the oppressor.
WAR!
Israelis bombed and killed babies and old people.
WAR!
How can they do this when they were victims of genocide once?
They bombed our school. We were innocent children.
WAR!
Where are the Western Powers when we need them?
WAR CRIMES!
Cite agreements
Arrest the fiends!
Allahu Akbar?