Bratislava

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bratislava

I'm big in Bratislava
Practically a star
When I drive my VW car
People wave and beg
'Never leave Slovakia!'
Hungary and Austria
Deserve me too though
So cross the river I'll go
Away from the pretty
Capital city

D. B. Cooper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper

Who am I? I'm pure style,
D.B. Cooper King of Guile.
If not dead, thus not insane,
This player jumped from a plane,
With a prize of two-kay-gees,
To woo loads of fine ladies.
Alive or dead, you'll never know,
That's the way mysteries go.

Oil shale

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale

When you need power without fail...Oil Shale! Oil Shale!
For fuel without delay, don't wait for Iran to send it your way!
Oil Shale!

*Warning: Oil Shale cannot be used to produce gasoline. Consult your geologist for potentially serious environmental consequences.

Troy McClure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_McClure

You might remember
him from the
Simpsons

F-4 Phantom II

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-4_Phantom_II

It boomed above
The Vietcong dived
To hide and pray
In the tall roadside grass
This time the boom was just it passing
Not a bomb as they feared
Too quick and high to see them
Or for them to see it

Nguyen Ngoc Tho

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguyen_Ngoc_Tho

We have that touchy-feely dealy with dictators
       It's the in-crowd kid's party
       paramount is getting invited, abyssal
morals be damned. So let's cozy,
forget about the beaten nerds,
and humor his humor. RSVPing soothes
the guilt, then we're inside
his parent's mansion,
       trashing everything.

Stanley Cup

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Cup

It has many names
added from games, writ
on it, of those who won
forever added on, decades
of hockey's accolades, passing
to winning team after team.

Lion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion

I almost made the mistake,
Of paying tribute to Blake.
Praise is due to great men,
More so though to the Lyen.

Yet I follow seven count,
Precisely William's amount,
Ignoring the title beast,
That stalks the gold grass to feast.

Inside each heart lurks a thing,
That would call the Lyen King,
To the fang wholly loyal
Offering flesh to the royal.

Could all the animals here,
Simply symbolize our fear?
Roar and pounce without a soul,
So poets may design a role.

I praise the cat and the pride
View myself as an aside,
The wild not symbolically,
It does not start or end with me.

Society of the Song Dynasty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_the_Song_Dynasty

Though merit deserves its praise
My eyes are opened by failure
Hundreds grind through their lives
Each year an attempt
They will never succeed
I grumble with them
We complain about the test
All of us have merit
Only one can pass
I would trade my worth for luck
Become helpless
A babe in the arms of fate

Edward Low

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Low

Snip snip goes your lip,
There goes your nose,
And the ears you've had for years,
in the water go.

Elderly Instruments

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elderly_Instruments

Pick me, says the red
I'll serve your fingers
Stroke my neck
I'll stoke the crowd
Play large and loud
Never fret, you'll be a star
Better yet, an artist
With songs that outlive you

Pick me, says the blue
I don't have much to offer
You won't be on radio
Who needs that though?
You'll play me well but small
And the songs will be themselves
Music makes a better complement
Don't choose it as existence

Sale, says the green
I'm on the sale
Marked down twenty percent
That's money well spent
For a guitar like me that's a steal
Future star or not, who cares
I'm on sale! Buy me!
Buy me!

Weymouth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weymouth

If you remember, hold dear
Anything you said to this man,
Remember the plan, return to me
I wait in Weymouth, by the sea.

Ships pass, before my eyes,
As years flit cross my heart,
Though apart, I feel our love,
Steady, as tide upon this cove.

You forgot, or take no care,
That my heart holds an ember,
If you remember, come south,
I wait forever, in Weymouth.

A Riddle:

If prodded I'll shout and spit,
But left alone quietly sit.
Another must strike 'fore I lay a blow,
And after I hit I'll back from my foe.
I travel on wheels across the seas,
To speak and trade with enemies.
My brothers also, they have much to say,
With nary a hand we all point the same way.
We'll quip the same jests, and with cunning disarm,
Any strangers that may wish us harm.

Coeliac disease

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeliac_disease

"You got the coeliac," doc said.
"You got it bad."
Told me to avoid glutens.
"But I love glutens!" I protested.
"Sorry chief," said doc.
"Them's the breaks."

Redwood National and State Parks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwood_National_and_State_Parks

Though I feel lasting
All I do, see, or believe
Is a tree's instant

Elagabalus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elagabalus

Few things flow off the tongue easily as Elagabalus,
except Heliogabalus,
who is also Elagabalus,
because Elagabalus,
was called by more names than any of us,
would think sane or just,
some of them multistage like Marcus Aurelius Antoninus,
and his birthname Varius Avitus Bassianus,
but Roman emperors always had a surplus,
of names and Elagabalus,
was much more excessive when he became a recreational prostitute.

Royal Blue (B&O train)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Blue_%28B%26O_train%29

Running fast on the rail,
bullets Royal Blue.
The sky fails to compare,
chalky blue and pale.
White clouds trail,
back along the track.
Baltimore and back,
storming forward without fail.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Smash_Bros._Melee

I feel like an hourglass
Sand pours to my feet
Making me bottom heavy
Slow to move
I am running out of time
Spent so much already
My past is meaningless
Stripped of reality
I have nothing

Nahuatl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahuatl

Read aloud as quickly as possible:

Nahuatl is natively natural
Nahuatl is natively natural
Nahuatl is natively natural
Nahuatl is natively natural
Nahuatl is natively natural

Arranging availability of avocados
Arranging availability of avocados
Arranging availability of avocados
Arranging availability of avocados
Arranging availability of avocados

Creating the cunning coyote
Creating the cunning coyote
Creating the cunning coyote
Creating the cunning coyote
Creating the cunning coyote

Cheering us with chili and chocolate
Cheering us with chili and chocolate
Cheering us with chili and chocolate
Cheering us with chili and chocolate
Cheering us with chili and chocolate

Still mouthed by many in Mexico
Still mouthed by many in Mexico
Still mouthed by many in Mexico
Still mouthed by many in Mexico
Still mouthed by many in Mexico

An enduring aspect of Aztec existence
An enduring aspect of Aztec existence
An enduring aspect of Aztec existence
An enduring aspect of Aztec existence
An enduring aspect of Aztec existence

Battlefield Earth (film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_Earth_%28film%29

LO, hear my tale-unhappened,
of Adam's seed enslaved in ages hence,
shackle burdened by stellar chains,
made man-animal by dreadlocked dreadnought!
Millennium ruled neath Psychlo boot,
third thousand AD dawned,
on broken-planet soon battle-fielded,
defiance flamed with human spark!
Wandering tribes hide from alien eye,
away from deep-drilling conquerers,
planet gashing for mineral riches;
stealing man's birthright!
Forth from Rocky Mountain fastness,
clambers Jonnie Goodboy Tyler,
risk-taker explorer; untested youth.
Seeking foreign tribes and enemy news,
downward walks from hidden passes,
to well-preserved Denver's ruin.
Early on, his journey bears fruit,
already ally-finding hunter Carlo,
grim wandering in harsh wilds.
Placing their fates together,
new friends approach Denver,
not wary of a lurking snare!
Ambush ready, true-proving fears,
wait the Psychlo foe,
slave catching tube breathing battalion!
Trap caught in alien pincers,
two explorers are captivity sent,
to domed city and vicious Terl!
Backwater exiled Psychlo leader,
Earth cursing his appointment,
Terl sees opportunity's approach in brung slaves,
to mine the Rocky's off-limit lucre,
stored invader-proof in radioactive stones.
Psychlo breathe-gas, alien needed on Earth
explodes under beta bombardment,
bars Terl's miners from approaching gold.
Humans need no blast-ready gas,
native born and oxygen breathing,
riches await a mining crew of man,
if a Psychlo loyal slave were to lead.
Terl fast tutors Jonnie with an education machine,
filling an ignorant explorer with alien lore,
assuming freedom's call would be forgotten.
Not so! Ancient wisdom long enshrined,
the Declaration of Independence waited,
found by Jonnie in Denver's library ruins,
once more inspires American rebellion!
Gathering a liberation army,
Jonnie passes Fort Knox's gold as miner's spoils,
to satiate Terl whilst the noose tighened!
An underground military base bestows a mighty weapon,
harrier jets and modern missiles,
dormant through the centuries,
but still fully-working and revolution ready!
Too late to act the Psychlos realize,
that man-animals have become man-men,
breaking their bonds and slaying oppressors!
Carlo sacrifices himself in battle,
to shatter the Psychlo Denver-dome,
asphyxiating the interred aliens!
A thousands year's vengeance comes to bear,
wroth-filled Jonnie teleports an atomic missive,
dispatched faster-than-light to Psychlo homeworld!
A chain-reaction blows up their atmosphere,
the planet-blast becoming a star,
genocide ending the Psychlo threat forever!
Praise the heroes yet unborn,
valiant descendants of our line,
Hubbard prophesized,
on tomorrow's Battlefield Earth!

History of Minnesota

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Minnesota

Flag of Germany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Germany

In so many words
Germany's current banner
Is an improvement

Glynn Lunney

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glynn_Lunney

Space
Exposphere
Thermosphere
Mesosphere
Stratosphere
Troposphere <-I watch from here

Israel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel

War will cease
Scattered humanity
Shall realize a source
They all share commonly
Together charting a new course
Towards peace

West Indian cricket team in England in 1988

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Indian_cricket_team_in_England_in_1988

Colonies become conquerers
There's no I in team
But there's a team in islands
In 1988 the sun set
On the British wicket

Battle of Blenheim

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blenheim

Before my great-grandfather
had a great-grandfather
Men killed another
At Blenheim together

The Duke of Marlborough
Hoped victory would be thorough
Risking all on one blow
Against the French foe

Duc de Tallard's forces
Had greater resources
Thousands more men and horses
Lacking just tactical recourses

Battalions placed in error
Within Blenheim's town center
Could do little to counter
English soldiers turning snarer

The French army slain in its place
Tallard surrendered in disgrace
And as credit to the British race
Marlborough received Blehnheim Palace

El Señor Presidente

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Se%C3%B1or_Presidente

On the shelves
Taped pages yellowing in libraries
Crisp white and paper-cut ready in stores
Wait books
Beyond counting
Beyond reading
Like passing strangers
Living lives you will never know

Huldrych Zwingli

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldrych_Zwingli

----------Zwingli----------
------Devout, Religious------
-Leading, Challenging, Reforming-
Marriage, Faith, Clergy, Fasting
-Ruling, Commanding, Mandating-
------Doctrinal, Codified------
----------Catholicism----------

The Third of May 1808

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_of_May_1808

Make a stand
Even if you perish
Defiance remains
Frozen in time

Satyajit Ray

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyajit_Ray

Kurosawa, your friend is dead
No more peering into India
through the eyes of Ray.
Filmmakers never die
Though he might not get released
On Bluray for a while

Discovery Expedition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Expedition

"A limerick is a five-line poem with a strict form, originally popularized in English by Edward Lear. Limericks are frequently witty or humorous, and sometimes obscene with humorous intent." -Wikipedia

Today's poem is a limerick, but I've written two versions. The first is a serious ode to the glory of exploration. The second is stupid, as a Limerick is meant to be. They also reflect two different views of the Discovery Expedition. One view is that they weren't very professional, did things a lot less competently than they should have, and their scientific method was on the whole shoddy. The other perspective is that they made great strides in exploring the Antarctic, and the lessons learned from their mistakes paved the way for future missions.

1. (serious)

The fiercest zones of the Earth
Are often thought without worth
But productive journeys
Can be ones where you freeze
And doing so to a new era give birth

2. (appropriately limericky)

Robert Falcon Scott decided his role
Was to explore the South Pole
But productive journeys
Are not ones where you freeze
And subsist on penguin casserole