Ukulele!

UKULELE !

He played a ukulele and he cracked improper jokes;

He was one of those cabaret artists that appear as knockabout blokes.

I doubt if his name is even known outside his own U.K.

But there he was a top-notch star, a household name, in his day.

He trained to be a jockey but then he grew too tall,

So he followed his father on the stage, as a comic, after all.

His buck-teeth were a trade-mark; he had a very toothy grin,

And his voice was not melodious; it would seem he couldn't win.

But the public took him to their hearts and he topped many a bill,

Singing rather suggestive songs and  singing them with a will.

'When I'm Cleaning Windows' was a favourite with the throng;

He sang about the 'sights' he saw in this silly little song.

'Leaning on a Lampost' was another famous ditty;

Not so suggestive this time and really rather pretty.

Hollywood beckoned in the war, but he turned the offer down,

Preferring to sing for British troops and support the British crown.

He appeared as rather an idiot and yet he was very astute;

Amassing a lot of money and property to boot.

Outside his own country he had only limited fame,

But his voice was part of my childhood.

George Formby was his name.

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BENEATH THE SURFACE

Whenever I gaze out at this view,

Which is very close at hand,

I'm fascinated by the world

Existing so near land.

All I see is the surface,

The film of watery sea,

Chopped about by advancing waves

Rolling in front of me.

I realise a billion creatures

Swim below these waves!

Beyond my view lies teeming life

In subterranean caves.

And are the sharks and whales and crabs

As unaware of me

As I of them in their watery world

Out there beneath the sea?

Parallel universes these

Linked by a shifting tide.

Strangers to each other

Yet living side by side.

*

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PS

Things are hotting-up Melodrama-wise as we approach Xmas. Today four of us went into the Hunter Valley to a town called Maitland, where we performed 'Unhand Me' with Xmas tunes. (Not carols.) It wasn't the easiest of venues as it was a very large hall, and we are not used to acting with microphones. There were 98 people in the audience so our voices had to carry. In the end I rushed around holding the  single mike up to various actors. There were only two of them but they took five parts! So I was rushing backwards and forwards between the tape-deck and the mike. Still, it all went well. The hats on the floor belong to 'dead bodies' by the way!We were given a tasty light lunch, but I'm fasting ready for what is politely called 'a procedure', so I couldn't eat anything!