O my amies, elevens of dollars and dimes
when did we last have an oro to spend
for corrosion of chicks, come lemon and lime.
My manos and braces are eager to bend
to punch at the governing forces of bog
to line our lint with tomatoes and beans,
and fill our cabbage with lizards and bugs
O my amies let’s ball to the music of kitsch
let’s use our navas to punish and peel
collecting the wine, to be wizard and witch.
My sangy is boiling with irie and steal
let’s battle, elevens, for casas and callies
for corrosion and cold, let’s pretend we are allies.
Today I host dVerse live edition. Bring any poem link up and be live with us at 9 PM CET.
A while ago I reread a Clockwork Orange and was fascinated how I gradually started to understand the slang where Russian and English was mixed, this is a kind of gangster sonnet where I’ve been inventing my own slang by mixing some words inspired by Spanish with some invented rhyming cockney as well as some silliness, how much could you guess without the dictionary?
amies — friends (from amigos)
elevens — friends rhyming slang, friend rhymes with ten, in eleven and ten
oro — money (from oro)
dollars and dime, lemons and lime — crime (rhyming slang)
corrosion — heart (from corazon)
brace — arm (from brazo)
governing forces of bog — enemies
lint — pocket
tomatoes and beans — greens = money
cabbage — head (from cabeza)
lizards and bugs — drugs
the music of kitsch — streetfights (unclear origin)
navas — knife (from navaja)
peel — steal (rhyming)
collecting the wine — steal
wizard and witch — rich
sangy — blood (from sangre)
irie — anger (from ira)
casas and callie — neighborhood
cold — gold
February, 18, 2021
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Fun to decipher, Bjorn. Hoping you tape tonight’s live reading so I can hear you read it.
Gorgeous wordsmithing here, Bjorn! I especially enjoyed; “My sangy is boiling with irie and steal let’s battle, elevens, for casas and callies for corrosion and cold, let’s pretend we are allies.”💝💝
It’s like a magical incantation. (K)
Nicely done my fellow droog
Now that I’ve seen the decoder, I also want to hear you read it again.! I could never do this. Mind-blowing opus, Bjorn.
Poetic argot. A horror show, my droog!
Mind-blowing for sure. Listening to you read it was a treat. I once wrote some similar poems, using nonsense words, with good results–but readers became confused when a dictionary didn’t help
Great stuff, Bjorn, I’ll have to read Clockwork Orange again. A brilliant bit of poem craft, creating a language and a sonnet…hats off..JIM
It’s like you stepped through the looking glass and inhabited another person hearing you read it. A real delight to hear you read it.
I bet you had a lot of fun writing this poem, Björn, especially in sonnet form. it was fun to listen to and to read. I tried not to look up any meanings until after I’d finished the reading it, and some I was able to work out for myself. You kept me on my toes!
I really enjoyed this, Bjorn – such a fun poem and such an inventive idea! I know Spanish so I understood most of it in the reading, and I liked how you altered the Spanish words to sound more like cockney – very clever and reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange. I didn’t realise that slang was derived from Russian but now you say it it makes sense: isn’t milk ‘moloko’? Where we are it is ‘mleko.’
Quite a creative feat. I liked the way it sounded, and I sort of got the sense of it. It would have been fun to hear you read it.
Love this! It’s a journey to read through and it’s very innovative.
It takes some effort if not for the explanation at the bottom. Love this way out lingo. Once one understands them it is most enjoyable to reflect on the simplicity!
Hank
Well, this blew my mind! Congrats on accomplishing this task, it must’ve been a joyous moment when it all came together.
ps: I am making a note of reading Clockwork Orange.
I’m impressed. (as usual)