Carmen Possum is a popular 80-line macaronic poem written in a mix of Latin and English. Its author is unknown, but given its theme and language it can be surmised that he or she was from the United States, and either a teacher or a student of Latin.
The poem takes off from a play of words in the title: possum means "I can" in Latin, and "opossum" in colloquial English. Thus, while carmen possum sounds like valid Latin, it only makes sense when translated as "The Opossum's Song".
The poem can be used as a pedagogical device for elementary Latin teaching. The language mix includes vocabulary, morphology (turnus) and grammar (trunkum longum).
Carmen Possum is also an unpublished musical piece by Normand Lockwood.
Read more about Carmen Possum: The Poem