MELLOW YELLOW MONDAY
GOTT IM HIMMEL!
I saw this book in a book-store;
I wondered if I should try it.
Should I lay good money out
And actually go and buy it?
The yellow colour was cheery,
The print was just the right size;
In fact, I felt, if I bought it,
I would appear quite wise.
I can't speak a word of German!
I've only been there once.
In fact, when it comes to the Fatherland,
I am an absolute dunce.
But, as a coffee-table volume,
I felt it might very well work;
My visitors would be impressed;
(They consider me a jerk!)
I tried to learn German, once, at school
But I simply couldn't cope;
The way they joined words together
Made me quickly give up hope.
And there was that word 'conjugated!
Making me feel uneasy;
If I'm going to cope with something new
I need to feel bright and breezy.
So I didn't buy this useful book;
It's still lying there, brand new.
It'll come in handy for someone;
Maybe that someone's YOU!
*
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JUST BLOCKS
I wonder where we draw the line
Between the humdrum and divine.
These blocks are in an open space,
Not organised for style and grace,
But just for children to step and climb
Having a childish carefree time.
'King of the Castle' hear them cry
As they stand up top and feel so high.
But when the shadows play their part
These blocks become a work of art.
There's symmetry, there's balance too;
There's even character; they're not new.
Yet some workman, I'll be bound,
Merely placed them on the ground.
They should be in a gallery,
Entitled 'Crass Epitome'
Or something else that has an air
Of creativity rich and rare.
I now nothing of art it's true
So this is a brash untutored view.
I only know they gave me pleasure
Whether they were trash or treasure!
*
1 comment:
Your German experience made me laugh, Brenda. My youngest brother grew up fluent in Spanish as well as English, because Mom and Dad retired as soon as the next-youngest, my sister, got married. Rob was then four, so he retired with Mom and Dad, and started kindergarten in Mexico.
When he was almost 25, he got a job working on an animated movie in Germany, so I told him the language-learning part of his brain would still be open to learning another language (he aced French in his Canadian high school because he knew Spanish).
But I forgot to tell him to look for similarities between German and English, so there he was, trying to compare German with Romance languages. NO connection, of course.
We phoned him on his 25th birthday and I asked him how he was doing, learning German. He growled at me and said, "The language from hell." I realized then I had forgotten part of the instructions.
That was nearly 20 years ago, so I think he has forgiven me, as long as I don't remind him.
K
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