Page 61 - Lulu and Bob in Verbo City

Lulu showed him the text. They read it silently.

Once you can admit you have forgotten
Names you’ll be positive you’re knowing well,
Total concentration you realize
Often is no use for ringing the bell;

Picking brains and seeking help might succeed,
Or maybe browsing a reference book
For even the commonest idea
Of superior spots in which to look.

Let us be frank: further vain scrutiny
Doesn’t serve a purpose--energy drain
Saps the will to continue after we’ve
Made extensive efforts for tiny gain.

Our glassy eyes close, we doze and asleep
Know things bestowed in eerie pantomime;
Elephants cannot state they remember:
You may allege you knew it all the time!

Bob scratched his nose. “What is he trying to tell us? That we
already know where to look for the presents, but we’re trying too
hard and failing? All we’re trying to do is decipher this hateful thing.”
“Uncle Bunster is devious. Perhaps we must be metaphrastic and
look for some other sense. The poem has sixteen lines. Does that
suggest anything? No group of ‘sixteen’ objects in this room? How
about two to the fourth power? No, that’s really stretching it. Any of
the objects used as rebuses lying around in plain sight?”
“No,” said Bob. “But I see something hidden in these lines: an
acrostic.”
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