Monday, December 26, 2011

Ennui



ENNUI

My Mother had a little saying
Which I heard throughout my youth.
'The Lord Mayor's Show, and then the dust-cart'
And I've learned that it's the truth.
'It'll end in tears' was another one
With which she oft regaled me;
That's one I've often used myself
When wittier words have failed me.
'What goes up must come down!'
Another cheerful saying,
Said when I was 'above myself'
Showing-off when I was playing.
But the 'lord mayor's show' and the 'dustcart'
Was the saying that impressed,
It painted a vivid picture
Much more so than the rest.
And today, my friends, is 'dustcart day'.
All over the Universe,
People are suffering ennui
And is there anything worse?
'It's better to travel than arrive'
How absolutely true.
We built up and built up to Christmas
And now we're feeling blue.
As Peggy Lee cleverly put it
'So is that all there is?'
We're back to damp squibs once again
After all the froth and fizz.
The tree's already shabby,
The left-overs look quite drab,
We've eaten far and away too much....
See our post-party flab!
There's nothing to look forward to...........
But, hey, look at the date!
New Year's Eve is upon us
And we can hardly wait!
*

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PICNIC PERFECTION

A loaf of bread , a flask of wine;
Come share this country find of mine.
A picnic table tucked away,
Where eucalyptus branches sway,
And leafy shadows move and spread,
Echoing greenery overhead.
The curving path, gently inclined,
Leads to this spot, a magical find.
Here, you and I can reminisce,
Thankful life has come to this.
*
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PS
It's usually  the devil of a job to get my family to pose for a family photograph. As soon as they see my camera they run away. But the Christmas Season seems to make them mellow and they posed for this first one on the stairs, after our typically Aussie brunch of prawns, savoury croissants and fruit salad.


Harry is at 'that age' and loves making faces!
Greg and Michelle are on the left and Brian and Rebecca on the right.


With the Wrinklies.
Harry still reacting and his little brother admiring him!

4 comments:

Kay L. Davies said...

Wonderful, Brenda.
The day will come when Harry will hate to see these photos, won't he?
You would love the book I got for Christmas. In fact, I think I'm going to post about it. My best friend moved to England so now she has a whole new range of books to send me for my birthday and Christmas.
You might already have it, or you may have seen the TV show, if you get BBC.
All the best for the coming year,
K

Scarlet said...

"Dustcart day"...I never thought of it. I feel like we are shopping for more here on Boxing day ~

Wonderful family pictures...I like seeing family get togethers ~

Ostensible Truth said...

I really like the fast and fun limerick-like first one, so playful and well constructed, the art in such pieces is keeping it light whilst picking perfectly complementary words to pull the melody along - I think you achieved that well here! nice job!

Mary ann Potter said...

Great pictures, wonderful poem. "Dust cart." That evokes a powerful image.