Of a sudden, I remember, or seem to,
anyway, when mom and dad were doing
some community chorus thing together
through Bremerton’s Olympic College,
wherein they sang a lovely madrigal entitled:
“My Bonnie Lass, She Smelleth,”
being a Renaissance parody of a ballett
written by English composer Thomas Morley
back in 1595 (and who among us isn’t
a Morley fan?). Peter Schickele has died.
P.D.Q Bach, that most awesomely pretend
alter-ego, perishes alongside. In his book
(published in ‘77 as I finish high school),
The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach,
Professor Schickele introduced the concept
of — Originality Through Incompetence —
I like to think I lived those words with honor
in each of my own small creative endeavors.
As I texted, reminiscing, with my sister last night:
It’s going to get even worse when Weird Al goes.
Following a career as a U.S. Army musician, Gordon Kippola earned an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Tampa, and calls Bremerton, Washington home. His poetry has appeared in Rattle, Post Road Magazine, District Lit, The Main Street Rag, Southeast Missouri State University Press, and other splendid publications.