Saturday, August 05, 2006

Surely canst go, girl

I was going through old e-mails and I found one with my old signature:
"Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke — banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, ’tis what it’s all about."

It is from a 2003 entry by Jeff Brechlin to the Washington Post Style Invitational (a weekly contest) where people were told to write directions for something banal in the style of a famous writer. If you haven't figured it out already it is the Hokey Pokey as if written by William Shakespeare. Here's the full text:

O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from Heaven’s yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke — banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, ’tis what it’s all about.

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