I have mentioned this book a time or two before, but I thought I’d share another poem from Kathryn and Ross Petras’ book Very Bad Poetry, “being a compendium of the worst verse ever written in English–including such (mercifully) forgotten classics as The Stuttering Lover, Ode on the Mammoth Cheese, An Elegy to a Dissected Puppy, and the immortal The Dentologia–A Poem on the Diseases of the Teeth.”
The following is a poem written by James Henry Powell around 1850.
Lines Written for a Friend on the Death of His Brother, Caused by a Railway Train Running over Him Whilst He Was in a State of Inebriation
How oft alas my brother have I warned thee to beware
The horrid spells of guilt which led the drunkards’ life to care;
But no! you heeded not the warning words I spoke with pain,
Your wretched soul that once was pure was bound as in a chain;
At length, one cold October, when the night was late and dark,
The awful doom came on which sank thy life’s unsteady barque;
Thy mangled corpse upon the rails in frightful shape was found,
The ponderous train had killed thee as its heavy wheels went round.
What comforting words! Such elegant lines have scarce been penn’d. 
Current music: 
Heart of the Castle, by Kenny Kleinpeter
Na
