Platitudes revisited 1: poem by Ernst Jandl

no contradiction

life
becomes longer
and longer
i.e. shorter
and shorter
it doesn't stretch

(translated without much effort from the German original contained in ernst jandl, der gelbe hund, 1982)

Note
For those of you who have never heard of Ernst Jandl: he was an Austrian poet who lived from 1925-2000 and was quite well-known for his humorous, partially experimental poems and linguistic artistry. He also created some funny neologisms.

Some of his poems, as the shining example above, are barely enough to elicit a half-chuckle and can be safely said to be padding material.