This is just to say...

August 26, 2012 12:37 PM

"Floss was OK with it?" An answer to the eternal question concerning the aftermath of the plums eaten that were being saved for breakfast. An entry in the Allen Ginsberg Project blog relates a conversation between Ginsberg and a student about William Carlos Williams' poem, Ginsberg's metaphysical critique and Floss's (the owner of the plums) feelings about the matter, at least as related from Williams to Ginsberg. "So you have their sexual relationship, actually, set up in that little thing."
posted by readery (19 comments total)

I have linked Allen Ginsberg beanplating
that poem you liked
that was so
simple

and which
you probably
wanted to leave
unexamined

Forgive me
I'm angling
for a best post contest
mention

(just kidding readery, it's an interesting find)
posted by nanojath at 1:00 PM on August 26, 2012 [9 favorites]

That was great. She censored "I kissed her while she pissed".
posted by bukvich at 1:03 PM on August 26, 2012

I have written
a poem
that will be
endlessly parodied

by internet
smart alecs
until the end
of time

forgive me
I just thought
it sounded
kinda neat
posted by yoink at 1:22 PM on August 26, 2012 [4 favorites]

Somehow I felt like it would be interesting if instead we had a whole meme where people parodied a poem called "I kissed her while she pissed."

And then I immediately regretted that idea, and realized it would be terrible.
posted by koeselitz at 1:35 PM on August 26, 2012 [2 favorites]

Floss is one of those names you simply don't see bandied about much these days, do you?
posted by disillusioned at 1:44 PM on August 26, 2012

i flagged it while it lagged
and then
moved on
posted by googly at 2:01 PM on August 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

That was great. She censored "I kissed her while she pissed".

Unsentimental Floss!
posted by chavenet at 2:41 PM on August 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

this is just to say
...neat post
posted by subbes at 3:21 PM on August 26, 2012

Floss is one of those names you simply don't see bandied about much these days, do you?

Well, Floss or Flossie was usually a nickname for women named Flora or Florence, so yeah, pretty rare nowadays. Ginsberg has a sensible take on this poem -- I always use it when I teach Imagism since it does silently speak volumes about the situation and relationship between the speaker and listener.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:13 PM on August 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

I kissed her while she pissed
I joshed her while she washed
I dissed her; that's the gist
And lost her while she flossed
posted by yoink at 5:03 PM on August 26, 2012 [4 favorites]

OK seriously I went through that Allen Ginsberg project for over an hour and it is a fantastic resource. Among the treasure linked there are transcripts for Ginsberg's classes at Naropa University, including this one on William Blake's Urizen.
posted by bukvich at 5:28 PM on August 26, 2012

Floss is one of those names you simply don't see bandied about much these days, do you?

No way, Floss is my favorite rapper.
posted by kenko at 5:54 PM on August 26, 2012

This Is Just to Say

I have published
the note
that I left on
the ice box

and that
probably belonged
in the dustbin.

Forgive me.
I was out of ideas
So blank
and so stumped.
posted by drlith at 6:01 PM on August 26, 2012 [4 favorites]

This is just to say I know a kid named Flossie.
posted by padraigin at 7:19 PM on August 26, 2012

This is just to say that for years I thought the chorus to "My Love Don't Cost A Thing" involved J. Lo bragging that she could buy her own dental necessities.

This was later cleared up by some novelty "Slang" flashcards my sister gave me as a joke. (I promised to send her nerd flashcards, to learn vocab like "non-trivial" and "nth") Imagine my chagrin when they proved to actually teach me something.
posted by maryr at 8:16 PM on August 26, 2012

AG: I'm sure. She allowed it in the Collected Poems (though she cut out (the poem (another poem) which included the line) "I kissed her while she pissed".

That's some straight-up parenthesoup, that is. It feels like at least some of these parentheses are standing in place of square brackets for some reason, but the rest... I don't know. Is this poetry?
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 9:08 PM on August 26, 2012

Funny, I was just writing a lecture on poetry that involves this work, which was probably on my mind to include mostly because I've been enjoying parodies of it for quite some time (unfortunately, my favourite seems to have been deleted from the writer's five-year-old blog post, so I'm guessing I shouldn't paste it here). I'm surprised the blog post didn't include Floss' "Reply":

"Reply (crumpled on her desk)

Dear Bill: I've made a
couple of sandwiches for you.
In the ice-box you'll find
blue-berries--a cup of grapefruit
a glass of cold coffee.

On the stove is the tea-pot
with enough tea leaves
for you to make tea if you
prefer—Just light the gas—
boil the water and put it in the tea

Plenty of bread in the bread-box
and butter and eggs-- I didn't know just what to
make for you. Several people
called up about office hours--

See you later. Love. Floss.

Please switch off the telephone."

Lots to be said about a couple of notes. I love poems that reply to and parody other poems; it's a nice reminder that poetry is alive.
posted by ilana at 12:41 AM on August 27, 2012

Almost four years ago I won about five milliseconds of internet fame for this "translation":

O Hai Just FYI

teh cookiez
i eated them
they was there
in ur kitchin

teh onez
u mebbe wanted
fur snackz

Very srry
they was delishus
srsly sweet
and so omnomnom.

I'm not sure what the "memeified for 2012" version would be. William Carlos Williams meets Call Me Maybe?
posted by bettafish at 1:30 PM on August 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

TL;DR

I CAN HAZ PLOMS
posted by chavenet at 2:02 PM on August 27, 2012 [2 favorites]