My father is a good man
He owns stores
Of black objects and square things
He is prone to colds in the summer
On Sundays, with his friends
He plays games of rummy
They drink vermouth and beer
While talking about Mrs. Robert

And me, I am the awful Jojo
The insatiable drinker, the daredevil
I hang out with veterinarians
Who come from the city of Oslo
I disguise myself as a clergyman
Abominably bearded
To breed turtles
I board with an old lady

My brother does not like spinach
And it's fortunate for my brother, because
If he liked them, he would eat them
And he can't stand them
He is of a studious nature
Stubborn and meticulous
But he is not very interested
In the case of Mrs. Robert

And me, I am the awful Jojo
In charge of steam horses
From the Lower Normal School
Where I was a philosophy major
I read my newspaper on the tram
I find the subway detestable
I pilot airships
On the Abidjan-Sydney line

My grandmother is eighty years old
She likes to cultivate the earth
She cuts grass, she plants stakes
She is happy when it rains
Her brother-in-law had a cousin
Who knew an Austrian
Whose sister, a little seamstress
Had known Mrs. Robert

And me, I am the awful Jojo
I go out at night without a waterproof
I compose a comic opera
About the Battle of Waterloo
I collect conifers
Snails, umbrellas
Hindustani papyrus
And I know Mrs. Robert

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