The 130th Bullet: Basic Symbolism

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As technology thrusts forward
and science penetrates the future,
remember that Progress
is our most symbolic phallus.

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Footnote

THE 130th BULLET
is the copyrighted property

of the Lewis Carroll School of Logic

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This Is NOT An Epitaph

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He was a team player

only when he could be

the team captain

or the team mascot.

Sometimes, he was both.
...

PAUL OLIVERIO

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Footnote

A TWO SENTENCE STORY

IN SEARCH OF A CLOSING PARAGRAPH

is the copyrighted property of LCSoL

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Revisiting A Siamese Cat Named Pythagorus

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Memories of my first cat

in California are vague and hazy:

befitting the image below

In December of 1984,

I was a marginally employed

mathematician immersed

in a research project based

on the Pythagorean Theorem

A friend gave me 

a furry, pre-named

Christmas gift

  

The research project morphed into
this published paper

My feline family morphed into
what was last seen
here

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Photo #377: Bravado On The Corkboard

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© Oliverio
Yogur T. Pretzellman

 

With my pretzel face
and childproof torso
I aim to please
more and than
more so

With wire twister arms
and raisin feet
I am so cute
so cool and
so neat

You've seen me before
this I know
on a page
also named
Photoverio

But I can't see you,
need I mention,
because this image
lacks a third dimension

On your parade
I mean not to rain
but being two-dimensional
I can feel no pain

No eyesight
no memory:
without third dimension
I am compromisingly free

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Footnote
BRAVADO ON THE CORKBOARD
is the copyrighted property of LCSoL
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The 129th Bullet: Pity The Child

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Pity the child who rebels against

hard-working, educated parents

by becoming neither.

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Footnote

THE 129th BULLET
is the copyrighted property

of the Lewis Carroll School of Logic

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Photoverio #376: Across From The Aquarium

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© Oliverio

Palmistree

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A Sho Time HELMET MOMENT Sponsored By State Farm

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This HELMET MOMENT
is dedicated to
Tyler Skaggs

Photographed by
John McCoy  

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Return Of DJ-Verio ... #285714 ... John Questions Vectors

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How can I go forward when

I don't know which way

I'm facing?

How can I go forward
when I don't know
which way to turn?

JOHN LENNON

How

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Footnotes
A fifteen second advert
precedes the song

The next GoFather/Beatles page

is there

The next DJ-verio page
(without DJ-verio in title)
is
 here  

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He Said ... She Said ...Then Along Came THE INSPECTOR

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"May I please speak with the Inspector?"

"One moment please."

"Thank you."

...

"Hello?"

"Yes, Inspector Kramer?"

"Speaking."

"This is Mr. Anonymouse,

from Verifiable Nonsense Consultants."

"Hmmmm.
What can I do for you, Mr. Anonymouse?"

"It has been brought to our attention

that in the execution of your duties,

you perform without the least bit

of humor or wit."

"That statement
is completely accurate, Sir."

"You do not dispute this claim?"

"Absolutely not because
there is nothing funny 
about being an inspector

when the sole purpose of my job

is to appease the King's appetite

for filling his prison.

"He claims

its construction was divinely inspired.

It was built by his three cousins:
Shem, Ham and Japheth."

"Like the three sons of Noah."

"Yes, but they bear

a closer resemblance

to the Three Stooges.
Anyway, The King believes

that which is divinely inspired
must be occupied."

"Then why doesn't the King

live there?"

"Because he feels he is unworthy."

"Unworthy!

Then tell me:

where does the King live?"

"In a Bronx tenement,

disguised as an auto mechanic."

"Bizarre."

"Yes, bizarre but logical:

like all people of noble origin,

the king was born with a silver spoon

in his mouth.
However, the spoon

was coated with silver spray paint

whose toxic ingredients
caused brain damage

at an early age."

"Really?"

"Yes, really and truly.
Will there be any further questions,
 Mr. Anonymouse?"

"No further questions, Inspector Kramer,

but promise me one thing."

"Which is?

"You never received this phone call."

"I haven't heard a word you said, Sir."

"Thank you."

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Footnotes

HE SAID ... SHE SAID...

THEN ALONG  CAME THE INSPECTOR

is the copyrighted property of LCSoL

Under the title, "The Inspector,"

this page was originally written

on January 2, 1978

It was dedicated to Maxim Gorky

and the Port Jefferson Slavic Center

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STREET ART UTOPIA #40: Creature From The Dunlop Lagoon

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SLINKACHU


The next page
in this series
is
here 
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Love And Death And Religion = THREE QUOTES

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Women are meant to be loved.

They are not meant to be understood.

OSCAR WILDE

:::

The boisterous laughter in the cars

coming from a cemetery

is a safety-valve action.

HERMAN WOUK

:::

Religion being the best of things,

its corruptions are likely

to be the worst.

JONATHAN SWIFT

:::

 

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What If A 7.1 Earthquake Went Through The Looking Glass ???

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 Maybe it would do less damage

than a 20-kegger frat party

© Oliverio
Opposite 444 Ocean

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Quoting Kafka For the Thirty-Seventh Time, Approximately

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Evil transforms itself into your own lips,

lets itself be gnawed by your own teeth

and with these new lips...

you utter the words of goodness

***

FRANZ KAFKA

Blue Octavo Notebooks 

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Wide-Eyed At The Wheel: Another Lower-Case Poem

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sleep was in the backseat

wide-eyed was behind the wheel

wide-eyed had a full deck to deal

guilt and shame were hitchhiking

(they were drunk)

wide-eyed hit the brake

he put them in the trunk

memory, against a lamp post

gave wide-eyed

reason to boast

about yesterday

and all its yesters

with a voice that pesters

all that's important

with memory in

the glove compartment

wide-eyed parks at a bus station,

destiny's destination

without hesitation

(and quick on his feet)

he says goodbye to all,

finding sleep in the backseat

***

PAUL OLIVERIO

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Footnotes

WOUND, WIRED AND WIDE-EYED

is the copyrighted property of LCSoL

Unlike the previous pages that were created

in the previous century, this poem

was created within the past ten minutes.

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The Difference Between Infancy And Adulthood Is Paper Thin

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A Baby Has To Poop

An infant learns to independently

relieve bodily excess without needing

Pampers to contain them.

Parents delight when their offspring

reach this stage of development.

It is called "Toilet-training"

when the infant can wipe clean

his/her own excrement.

They reward the infant with praise

and a bowl of his/her favorite pablum.

An Adult Has To Work

An adult learns to graciously accept

the disciplining excesses of those

who can boss him/her around.

Bosses are flattered when employees

follow their orders whether or not

those orders are reasonable.

Such obedience is called 

"toilet-paper-training"

when an employee figuratively

wipes clean anatomical parts

belonging to superiors.

An adult who is properly

toilet-paper-trained

will be duly rewarded

with the bosses' praise

and, figuratively,

a bowl of pablum

added to their paycheck.

***

PAUL OLIVERIO

(1979)

 

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Footnotes

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INFANCY

AND ADULTHOOD IS PAPER THIN

is the copyrighted property of LCSol

The original draft of this page

traveled from New York to Hollywood

to Virginia and then to Long Beach

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The Wet Look

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He suddenly cried

but these were not just any tears.

These were tears

that had been in waiting

for many years.

"Tears delayed for years,"

a poet might say.

He hadn't held a woman

in his arms for five years

and he felt more alienated

than an attic.

If loneliness had been a crime,

he would have been a felon.

No dollar in the history of money

had ever experienced
more than two hours

in his pocket.

Given the snowballing effect

of poverty, loneliness and alienation,

an avalanche of tears

cascaded from his face,

saturated his clothes,

and filled the furnished little room

that in his better moments,

he called "home."

He escaped the deluge

through a broken window

in the bathroom.

A neighborhood woman

whom he had long lusted after

but had never spoken with

(except through his mind's eye)

found a dripping wet heap

just outside her door.

Her name was

Good Sara Maritan.

She helped him dry out

and fed him.

The more food she fed him,

the more sympathy

poured from her heart.

A more central part of her anatomy

befriended him

and they became lovers.

Three days later,

he returned home

and found a few tears

on the sofa

which had yet to dry.

They made him laugh

and he never cried again.

***

PAUL OLIVERIO

(1981)  

  

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Footnotes

THE WET LOOK

is the copyrighted property

of LCSoL

The original text travelled from

Hollywood to Virginia

and then to Long Beach.  

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Muddy Waters Sang A Song About This Woman

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She ran off with the garbageman

left a Hefty Bag on the table

with a note that read

When you get lonely

visit your Aunt Mabel

Her absence in itself

is not what makes me bitter

I don't mind her taking the cat

but she could have
cleaned the litter

I checked the liquor cabinet

there was not a drop to drink

They had a glorious last supper:

all the evidence
was in the sink

There is no justice in this world

to you I must confess:

When your woman runs off

with a garbageman

and he doesn't even
clean the mess

***

PAUL OLIVERIO

(1977)

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Footnote
MUDDY WATERS SANG
A SONG ABOUT THIS WOMAN
is the copyrighted property of LCSoL

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The Return Of DJ-verio ... #142857 ... Sing Along With Ella

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Birds do it

Bees do it

Even bugs on a gate
do it

© Oliverio

LET'S DO IT

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Footnotes
These "I-beam" bugs
were mating
for at least four hours

And you may have to wait
for a six second advert
before Ella does it

This series continues
here 
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I Wanted To Write A Poem Today ... But ...

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I wanted to write a poem

but I could not think of a rhyme

then I finally found one

but ran out of time

***

PAUL OLIVERIO

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Footnote

I WANTED TO WRITE A POEM TODAY … BUT

is the copyrighted property of LCSoL

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How Are We Today ... The Doctor Said

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"How are we today?"
said the Doctor
To a man in a paper smock.

"That's the wrong question, Doctor,

You should be asking

Who are we today..."

"I know who I am"
said the doctor.

"Who are YOU today?"

"That depends..."

"On what?"

"On what you have to say
to me after this
paper smock probing."

"What if I say
You ARE NOT well?"

"I will not believe you."

"If I say you ARE well?"

"Then I will wear
my doubts on my sleeve."

"And if you get a spaghetti satin
on that sleeve?"

"It will add color
to my confusion."

"What if I say nothing
and do nothing."

"Then I will treat you
to Starbucks."

"Then I have nothing to say
other than I want a Frappucino."

***

PAUL OLIVERIO

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 Footnotes
HOW ARE WE TODAY...
THE DOCTOR SAID
is the copyrighted property
of LCSoL
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