The Yellow Rose of the Republic (communal iambic heptameter)

[Marcus Bales]

Originally Posted by dddrum

"Rack your balls upon the table," said the pool shark to the lush,
And what that drunken bum did next made ev'ry barmaid blush.
One ball was blue and even; the other red and odd --
But ev'ry barmaid blushed to read the tattoo on his rod:
When flaccid it said "Shorty", but Lordy, could it be?
When he was hard 't read: "Shorty's Texaco Station and Auto Body Repair, 'You Bend 'Em, We'll Mend 'Em', Route 12, Chattanooga, Tennessee."
["Call (423) 876-2973."]

The jokesmiths get together every year in Santa Fe
And drink, and shout out numbers of their best-told jokes all day.
The first one calls out "Seventeen!" and everybody smiles,
Then someone shouts "Thirteen Oh One!" -- they're rolling in the aisles.
A fellow barks out "Fifteen Ten!" and laughter leaves the room,
And what rolls in like ugly death is silence like the tomb.
"What's wrong?" a new guy whispers, and an old guy says "That's Brad --
I don't know why he tells that joke, his Swedish is so bad."