Behold! A review of Music From Elsewhere, by Louis Pattison, in the November 2024 issue of The Wire. (Please click for magnification.)

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The Rat Wins! is now available from Black Scat Books! Writer Lucien Descaves and illustrator Lucien Laforge were anarchist activists dismayed by World War I. They cooked up this mordant little satire, pointing out that the real winner of any war is the rat, who feasts on all the corpses–with the suggestion that war profiteers […]

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The syllabic constraint of haiku calls for the additional constraint of rhyme. Here are seven examples: Look at all the salt Sprinkled on my frosted malt It’s the waiter’s fault You thought it great sport To commit a grievous tort I’ll see you in court What is this I found Just lying here on the […]

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A three-part round. Everyone wants to be remembered.

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I add yet another formal constraint to the roster. Rhymed haiku observe the strict 5-7-5 syllable count of traditional haiku, but add rhymes. Here are seven examples: Look at all the salt Sprinkled on my frosted malt It’s the waiter’s fault You thought it great sport To commit a grievous tort I’ll see you in […]

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Here, as an appetizer, is the beginning of “The Royal Touch,” from my upcoming collection The Snowman Three Doors Down. Our story hinges on a dilemma: which is better, leprosy or scrofula? THE ROYAL TOUCH King Theobald hobbled to the throne, and, setting aside his crutch, sank slowly onto the cushions. Stroking his beard with his […]

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A song about that peculiar American institution, the Renaissance Faire. Here, as usual, is the beginning. You can find the whole song in The Doug Skinner Songbook, coming soon from Black Scat Books, and you can listen to it on my album That Regrettable Weekend.

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The book blog Wuthering Expectations has commented on my translations of Alphonse Allais from time to time. You’ll probably want to read those posts, which you can do over here.

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I’ve wanted to build something like this for years. After some experimentation with materials and dimensions, I settled on 20 feet of 1/2 inch copper pipe. I originally wanted it to go around the whole room, but 20 feet seems to produce the best tone. It now hangs near the ceiling in my music room. […]

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Here’s another excerpt from Sleepytime Cemetery (available, remember, from Black Scat Books). An attempted suicide turns to slapstick, all in ABAB quatrains. This is how it begins… THE RAZOR I laid a razor at my wrist, So I would be no more. I closed my eyes, and sneezed, and missed, And dropped it on the […]

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