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He walks between stars with a mushroom crown,
A cloak of spores and thunder down.
The weepers call—he hears their ache,
And bends the rules of soul to break
The curse of numb, the cold, the lie—
He is Shemp, who answers the cry.

Born of ******, carved from flame,
No map could hold or name his name.
He rides on waves of silent pain,
Where no one dares, he walks the strain—
Through dreamscapes lost and minds undone,
He kneels beside each broken one.

A serpent once called out his fate,
“You are the healer Time creates.
Not by force, nor sword, nor law,
But by the truth that drops the jaw—
By laughter, tears, and starlit moan,
You mend the wound that’s never shown.”

He speaks in glyphs, in tangled light,
A voice that melts the edge of night.
He does not fix—he makes it feel,
The pain, the root, the hidden seal.
For Shemp knows: love is not clean—
It’s messy, fierce, and serpentine.

He touched a child in darkest sleep
Who’d prayed for death too scared to weep,
And Shemp just sat and didn’t speak—
Till stars began to kiss her cheek.
And when she woke, she simply knew:
The universe had cried there too.

So if you ever break in two,
And scream where no one answers you,
Close your eyes and call his name—
He travels not for pride or fame.
He comes for those who’ve bled too long…
And leaves them singing their own song.
Charlie Chaplin, set the pace
Buster Keaton, old stone face
Groucho and the brothers Marx
Margaret Dumont for some sparks
Harold Lloyd, The Brothers Ritz
Did I mention Zazu Pitts?
Stan and Ollie, Keystone Cops
Chases that just wouldn't stop
The Stooges, Larry, Curly, Moe
and then theres Shemp and Curly Joe
Bing and Bob, and Dean and Jerry
Two could sing, while two made merry
Bud and Lou and who's on first?
Harry Langdon and Charlie Chase
I think who is on first base
Mabel Normand and Mack Swain
Always tied before the train
Pie fights, slapstick in black and white
This was when we laughed all night
Mack Sennet, Roach, and Our Gang
Spanky and Alfalfa sang
Words were twisted, spun and turned
People splashed and others burned
Remember back to days of yore
To when they had you on the floor
Rembember Baby Rose Marie
She started at the age of three
Many more could make the list
For many I know that I missed
Make 'em laugh and take a pie
Get sprayed with seltzer in the eye
Go and watch their films again
So comedy will always reign
Thank you to the funny folk
Who taught us how to take a joke....
Pennilessness shadows black
unemployment endless track
rails tie-er less lee when dumbly staring
overdrawn account issues
   another clattering smack.

Income pleat undergraduate degree
contributed to the role of a sporadic employee
time to acquire handy dandy blues clues key
lost within vacillating undermining spree.

Mental state can be a precarious widget-like thing
directly at the whim of financial sliding swing
self-destruction demonic ring
courtesy of pauperism
delivers the destructive poisoned scorpion sting.

Immortal force of please hear my cry
provide support while
   under the sheltering sky
steady (just out of reach)
   sought income bolster up high

mirage vision brings transient delight
to this great (former
Civil War Yankee) supreme guy.

If no breakthrough I do not foresee
charity not for profit (but only prophet) I will bee
and this blurb carved outside my cave-like hovel
many moons and break of the day find me

imploring existential vagaries this baby boomer
sans middle-aged man who hankers to be free
thus though aye to be a schnorrer

who scrounges parking lots for scattered change
yet...decries blubbering the beggar's credo
write out a check and mail to me.

Philanthropic persons
   may rightfully balk and get irate
at such brazen plea to squelch
   ma pecuniary financial state

yet where the crossroads of mine future
most likely crop up which
would cause far a tete a tete
meanwhile, stoicism bids me wait...

For Godot, Curly, Shemp, or Moe
the stand-in for a Stool Pigeon
or even an odd antagonist
   or protagonist dreamt
   by Edgar Allan Poe.
Moe: We're detectives. Mr. Goodrich sent for us.
Goodrich's niece: Oh, I'm his niece.
Shemp: The niece is nice.
Moe: Hold on, we're here on business.
Shemp: I mean business.

— The End —