WE WRITE POEMS
asks us to relate something that happens in an instant
INSTANT RECOGNITION
Swift turn of the head in the Plaza!
It's Margie! Goodness me!
I haven't seen old Margie
Since 1983!
Since 1983!
'Hallo Margie!' I shout out, loudly,
Right across the mall.
Right across the mall.
'Oh! How terribly embarrassing!
It isn't her at all!
*
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ORPHREY NICE!
Centuries old, this chasuble displays an orphrey cross.
The meaning wasn't clear at first; I was really at a loss.
But now I know that orphrey is religious decoration
It's embroidery of a certain type, as in the illustration.
Think of the Parish women, working night and day
To make sure that the local Priest was dressed a certain way!
Think of the gold and silver, and all that warp and weft!
Think of the needles flashing; those old hands swift and deft!
What was the purpose of it ? I think I understand......
Expensive ornamentation made the cleric appear more grand.
Was it all 'For the Glory of God' or for something far, far less,
Something nearer humanity.....something far from holiness?
I speak of self-aggrandisemen. I speak of human pride.
I speak of human-nature, which cannot be denied.
No doubt the Church gave rise to beauty which we cherish now;
Glorious Cathedrals..... that I will allow.
But I think of the embroiderers, the stone-masons, the poor,
Who had such lives of poverty, and brevity, what's more.
Read the description which follows...... the lavishness will amaze!
And ask yourself, when you've read it 'Were they really
The Good Old Days?'
*
Description of the above work.
"Orphrey Cross: linen, plain weave; embroidered with silk floss and gilt- and-silvered-animal-substrate-wrapped linen in bullion, outline, satin, and split stitches; laid work, couching and padded couching; orphrey braid: silk and silver-gilt strip wound around silk fiber core, plain weave, open work with weft deviations; fringe: silk and gold-gilt-strip wound around silk fiber core, warp-faced plain weave with extended ground weft and supplementary patterning weft uncut fringe off one edge."
3 comments:
The first one is hilarious! I hate when that happens!
How many of us have done this? Me! And recently too. Thanks for that poetic smile.
Very funny! And embarassing..
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