Busby

PINK SATURDAY

BUSBY

Remember Busby Berkeley? No of course you don't!
He was famous much too long ago.
He lived in an era even earlier than mine
And he could really put on a quite a show.
He used human bodies filmed from up above
At a time when film was in it's infancy.
Tricks were quite surprising, no one was blasé:
Everyone gasped at things that they could see.
If they saw massed bodies they knew that they were there
It wasn't case of multiplying one.
A hundred dancers dancing was exactly what it seemed.......
A hundred dancers dancing. What great fun!
So what does Busby have to do with the flowers up above?
Look closely at the petals there displayed.
See the faces? See the bodies and how cleverly they pose.
Marvel at how cleverly they're made.


From the 1930s
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EBB AND FLOW

(After Patience Strong)

The tides of life must ebb and flow;

In they come, then out they go.

One day we are full of cheer; 

The next day we feel more austere.

Happiness may sometimes surge;

Sometimes sadness sings a dirge.

But as the rhythm of the sea

Repeats with regularity,

So do our moods swing back and forth,

Sometimes South and sometimes North.

The secret is to stand aside

And view the ever-changing tide

As something passing, either way;

Good or bad will never stay.

When in luck don't stand and crow

On the highest hill for all to know.

When down don't wallow in despair

Moaning that life just isn't fair.

Remember that our lives are strange,

Always influenced by change.

Today you may feel pain and sorrow,

But you will jump for joy tomorrow.

If you are ebbing, at least you know

Tomorrow you'll leap into the flow.

*

Magic

MAGIC

Do I believe in magic?'

Certainly I do!

For magic is all around us,

Constantly in view.

I don't believe in 'numbers';

Or even 'horoscopes'

And I think those that do believe 

Are merely gullible dopes.

I don't believe in 'tea-leaves' 

Or even 'rabbit's feet';

And I think that Fortune Tellers

Are inclined to lie and cheat.

But I do believe in the magic

Of the atom and the cell;

And I do believe it's magic

 When a pearl grows in a shell.

I think the fact that I'm alive

Is magic undeniable;

And I think of magic when the sun comes up,

Daily and so reliable.

What need is there of Fairies,

Or Angels, come to that,

When we are floating in a magic

That's like some Magnificat?

*

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SHAME

You ask us to write about Shame

And my mind is blank!

Have I led a blameless

As opposed to a shameless,

Life?

No!

I can recall moments of 

Stupidity,

Brashness,

Thoughtlessness,

And, even, Unkindness.

But the memories

Are softened by time.

I'm sure I wasn't that bad after all!

At night I enjoy a dream-free sleep,

The sure sign of a clear conscience.

How is it then

That when I rest on the settee

For half an hour

In the afternoon,

And I doze,

Every stupid action surges back?

Frequently,

I'm jolted back to wakefulness

By the reliving

Of each miserable act!

I wake feeling I have only just committed it!

It is

 So fresh,

So bald,

So appalling,

So humiliating

That the thought kills all slumber.

*

Of course,

I can't recount my sins to you

Because I am wide awake.

Pity about that!

*

Reality

                     Margaret Gosden

SKYWATCH

http://skyley.blogspot.com.au/

REALITY

Some lunar photos that we see

Really defy reality.

They show the moon filling-up the sky,

A great monstrosity way up high,

Beautiful but quite unreal,

With no veracity appeal.

The moon takes up such little space;

It's often hard to see the 'face'.

The vastness of the universe

Makes the moon look the reverse......

A tiny circle of glorious white

In the black enormous night.

But, here, it is perfect and serene,

The little lamp we all have seen,

With the sky, still blue, and clouds surrounding,

Small, but delicious and astounding.

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DEPRIVED CHILDHOOD!

I never had a Shirley Temple Doll!

That's why I'm such a crazy mixed-up pensioner!

Shirley Temple was the icon to extol.

I still go weak if anyone should mention her!

For she was such a perfect little girl,

With her dimples and her pretty curly hair!

She could tap-dance, she could curtsy, she could twirl!

All in all I felt that life was hardly fair!

But if I had had a Shirley Temple toy,

Some of the magic might have come my way.

And so I tried out every female ploy

Nagging my parents each and every day!

'All the other little girls I know have one! It's true!

I'm the only one without one that's for sure!

If I don't get one I don't know what I'll do!'

On and on I'd go with many an encore!

*

So my Mother bought a 'Shirley Temple' dress!

It said it on the label at the store.

So, in a way, I had a small success.

Though it never really evened up the score.

My life has been deprived, as you can see,

And I very nearly turned to alcohol!

Are there any others out there just like me

Who were denied a Shirley Temple Doll?

Here is THE dress!

(My small success!) 

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