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Commentary on "Ogston Beauties"

Superficially, the construction of this vignette (6 + 9 + 1 + 9 + 12 + 7 + 1 + 3 + 5, plus a 13 line endpiece) hints at a deconstructed auto-Marriottan syllogism and phraseology. The rhyme scheme and scansion, however, are effective in conveying a very real disorientation, which may be enhanced by taking Acid. For example the lines in the couplet ‘In the depths of flat 24’ / ‘And is seen no more’ are separated by no fewer than forty-six lines. Of course, by this time the dramatic tension has built up so much that it is a wonder that one’s brain has not exploded (though if you are on acid then it may well have). Gregory-Smith has also subtly embedded a pair in blank verse: lines 43 and 62: ‘Tired with T.V. and antique typewriter’ / ‘By a passing Samurai warrior’.

So much for the structure; as for the content, until the current legislation about defamation is changed, it is safer for me not to comment at all (CH).