by Jerry Ratch
All were part of the household of Court Astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
who lost his nose in a duel as a student
and went through life thereafter wearing a gold prosthetic one instead
and who met and fell in love with a commoner who bore him eight children,
and whose tame elk eventually died by falling down the stairs after drinking too much
while Brahe himself subsequently died by suffering a burst bladder
after a boozy dinner at court, because he was apparently too polite
to leave the table to relieve himself.
These are my people. The Jester was undoubtedly related, and quite possibly
the tame Elk as well, as many of my ilk have fallen down the stairs of life.
The Clairvoyant Dwarf, now that got me wondering,
because roaming around inside my head has been a veritable stream
of little images all my life, and I'm guessing they are somehow related.
And I've always been trying to tame some sort of elk throughout my life,
though I was pretty sure it was the Wild Elk of Alcohol,
which probably lived in the forest right outside my family's castle
west of Prague. Take the train west one hour out of Prague
and you could find a sample of my genes there, if not my unwashed levis.
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with help from a Prague travel pamphlet
"elk" +"ilk"= brilliant. Great stuff, Jerry.
OK, I got up to relieve myself halfway thru this entertaining poem, Jerry, more from the power of suggestion than serious fear, mind you. Speaking of serious, the last stanza balanced well the earlier giggles. *
"Take the train west one hour out of Prague/
and you could find a sample of my genes there, if not my unwashed levis." ****
genes-levis and other slights of word. All delightful. *
I don't even care if this is true because I will henceforth repeat it as fact at appropriate faculty parties: "Brahe himself subsequently died by suffering a burst bladder after a boozy dinner at court, because he was apparently too polite to leave the table to relieve himself."*
Hysterical historical fiction. A great delight.
These are your people? (Amen to what Gary said.) *
"Hysterical fiction" nails it.
Great stuff.
*
* I need this one for my book, too. Hell, maybe I'll just do an anthology and pick up great stuff like this that would fit so well. Whaddaya think?