The creation of a New York journalist, Don Marquis, Archy the cockroach and Mehitabel the cat became such a part of my life that I can't imagine what life would be like without Archy's vers libre poetry. My children were brought up on it, and even today many years on, Sarah can still recite whole chunks of it by heart. I also corrupted a generation of schoolboys by getting them into poetry by way of Archy and Mehitabel. Here is how Archy first introduced himself to Don Marquis. (By the way, if you are wondering how Archy managed to type, he produced each letter by leaping into the air and coming down head first on to the relevant key. Of course, he couldn't do capitals or punctuation, but who needs them anyway?)
expression is the need of my soul
I was once a vers libre bard
but i died and my soul went into the body of a cockroach
it has given me a new outlook upon life
i see things from the under side now
thank you for the apple peelings in the wastepaper basket
but your paste is getting so stale i cant eat it
there is a cat here called mehitabel i wish you would have
removed she nearly ate me the other night why dont she
catch rats that is what she is supposed to be for
there is a rat here she should get without delay
most of these rats here are just rats
but this rat is like me he has a human soul in him
he used to be a poet himself
night after night i have written poetry for you
on your typewriter
and this big brute of a rat who used to be a poet
comes out of his hole when it is done
and reads it and sniffs at it
he is jealous of my poetry
he used to make fun of it when we were both human
he was a punk poet himself
and after he has read it he sneers
and then he eats it
i wish you would have mehitabel kill that rat
or get a cat that is onto her job
and i will write a series of poems showing how things look
to a cockroach
that rats name is freddy
the next time freddy dies i hope he wont be a rat
but something smaller i hope i will be a rat
in the next transmigration and freddy a cockroach
i will teach him to sneer at my poetry then
dont you ever eat any sandwiches in your office
i havent had a crumb of bread for i dont know how long
or a piece of ham or anything but apple parings
and paste leave a piece of paper in your machine
every night you can call me archy
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