andymorley's pomes | INSULT TO INJURY...

 

 

There was a time, nineteen I was,
I gave a party just because...
That time of year, that certain day
When boys get drunk and have their way.

There came a guy from my old school,
His girlfriend found him most uncool.
As nom de plume, I'll call her 'Deb',
While my old chum was quite a Zeb.

Now most the guys came from my town,
Thought they were studs of high renown,
One of them was 'Evel Kneivel',
The other, I'll call Pip the Weasel.

And what 'Deb' thought, I'll only guess,
But something must have caused that mess,
Did Zeb not know what it was for..?
That floppy thing inside his drawers...

'Tis very sad for Grammar boys,
They have the most expensive toys,
'Cept for that toy they get from God,
They only use it on their tod.

So kindly Pip the local stud,
Thought to help out this Grammar dud,
He led Deb down the lane called "Spink's"
They had their way, then forty winks.

Ungrateful Zeb, with his pen-knife,
Vowed to find and end Pip's life,
But 'Evel' said "Man, don't get mad
Get even, let's go find Pip's pad."

So Pip's off one way, shagging Deb,
In quite another way goes Zeb,
Said Evel, "you'll give him a fright,
If you climb through that high sky-light..."

"Into his bedroom, round the back,
You'll give old Pip a heart attack,
Just Promise, and we'll make the trip,
That you won't puncture poor old Pip."

So up Pip's drain-pipe Zebedee goes,
Where Pip and 'Deb' are, goodness knows,
But Zeb is drunk, and so slips back,
The pipe gives way with quite a crack.

The broken drain pipe cost a bit,
But Pip dun't heed to all that squit,
A quid or two he don't much mind,
That jus work out ten bob a grind.

And if my language does offend,
This pome is nearly at its end,
But still, avoid Zeb's fate for sure,
Make sure you know what things are for.

Andy Morley January 31st 2004

 

This poem portrays one of my biggest poetic influences: Geoffrey Chaucer. You could say that it's modelled on the Miller's Tale or the Reeve's Tale from The Canterbury Tales... Only it's a lot shorter.

I went to a small country grammar school - boys only, though there was a girls' school opposite. All the other guys were either Reg's or Zebedees. These days, a Reg would wear a cardigan and carpet slippers and live in a bungalow. He would work in an office, but not that posh an office. Maybe down the local builders' merchant, or maybe for an insurance company. He'd have a bald head, and maybe even did when he was 16... Zebedees would be into Bob Dylan and would play guitar. These days, you might bump into a Zeb at the Rural Life Museum at Gressenhall (I think that's where it is) and not be quite sure whether he was a visitor, or one of the exhibits. That's a quote by the way, from one of the guys from my home town who figures in the pome.

And yes, there really is a 'Spinks Lane' near my parents' old house.

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Cormorants by John Althouse

The common cormorant or shag
Lays eggs inside a paper bag,
The reason you will see no doubt
It is to keep the lightning out.

(Christopher Isherwood)

Border Image (celtic) from Dover Books

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