This short movie combines two poems, "Professor Twist" and "Professor Twist (Redux)", both written as a tribute to that master of light verse, Ogden Nash. These poems were published in my book, "Crocodiles Don't Wear Socks ". To create this movie, I ventured into the world of artificial intelligence using voices generated by Elevenlabs and images by MidJourney.
When I was a young boy, preteenager as they say, my older sister brought a book home from school with the title, "A Book of Poetry". The book was published in 1960 and was edited by Sister M. Teresa Clare. It is divided into several sections, one of which was titled, "Poems of Wit and Humor", and which contained the poem, "The Purist", by Odgen Nash. This is the first poem I have any memory of reading, is hilarious and was the spark the ingnited my love of humorous poetry. I can confidently say that it is the reason I began writing poetry at age 12 and the reason I still write light verse today. For me, the poem continues to hold a special place in my heart and for reasons I can't quite articulate, remains my favorite poem. "Professor Twist" is a retelling of this famous poem, and "Redux" is my continuation of this wonderful story. "The Purist" can be found on many public websites, so I've reproduced here.
The Purist
I give you now Professor Twist,A conscientious scientist.
Trustees exclaimed, “He never bungles!”
And sent him off to distant jungles.
Camped on a tropic riverside,
One day he missed his lovely bride.
She had, the guide informed him later,
Been eaten by an alligator.
Professor Twist could not but smile.
“You mean,” he said “a crocodile.”