Sunday, October 17, 2010

Vacant: To Let


CARRY ON TUESDAY

http://carryontuesdayprompt.blogspot.com/

The words in blue are from the film 'The Italian Job'.

VACANT: TO LET
Look, if there's one thing that I've learned
 It's that I am an ignoramus!
It's been an in-tray out-tray life,
Nothing brilliant or famous.
Knowledge has gone in one ear
And then in a very short time
It's flowed away out of the other.
It's been tantamount to a crime!
Consider, first, my schooldays,
Which weren't on the whole too stressful.
I pegged-away at learning things
And often I was successful.
But let us consider algebra!
I coped in a passable way,
But no-one must ask about algebra
If they meet with me today!
The same thing applies to Latin!
I managed to conjugate,
But all the Latin's oozed away,
Completely gone, of late!
Now things are getting worse, I fear!
Of course, nobody blames
Funny old ladies such as me
If they forget peoples' names!
But I try to learn the difference
Between persons A and B
I even think-up mnemonics
Hoping they'll benefit me!
'Mary's got the big ears',
'Alice has got a squint'
I aim for a mental picture
That might give me a hint.
But still the names elude me;
I forget again and again.
Look, if there's one thing that I've learned
It's that I need a brand new brain!
*
----------------------------------------------------------------------


BEIGE BEAUTY

Sometimes colour overwhelms us;
It dazzles and explodes!
Our senses reel with brilliance;
Colour strains and overloads.
It's just like someone shouting
Or a clarion-call that's brash.
'Look at me!' it bellows,
'I can sparkle! I can flash!'
'I'm RED!' you'll hear it jangle;
'I'm ORANGE!' hear it yell.
Yet we sometimes yearn for shades
As soft as those inside a shell.
This beautiful mosaic
Is gentle on the mind.
We can quietly peruse it
And see what we can find.
It's very beige is soothing;
It's texture finger-felt.
We enjoy the shapes and shadings
That mix and meld and melt.
Can you find the pieces
Of the pottery and tile?
The oyster shells and pearls
That once grew closely for a while?
The crystal and the marble
Now so smoothly intertwined?
White turquoise? There's a wonder
That's very hard to find.
And there's something called a microbead
Nestling in this scene;
Something small and round and bright
And neat and beige and clean.
This is a tactile picture.
Were it in vivid hues
We might gain in intensity
But, oh, what we would lose!
*

6 comments:

Aoife.Troxel said...

Both these poems are simply brilliant! The first has such nice rhythm and humour, and the second is soothing and the colours and sentiments fit so well together.

George S Batty said...

Old Grizz also liked them. I do think your poem about knowing is much better than mine but we both have discovered the same thing and are willing to let it all hang out. That is one of the nice things about getting older.

gautami tripathy said...

Sometimes not knowing is best!

sombre sobriquets

nimaruichi said...

Algebra!
Don't even remind me of that!

Kerry O'Connor said...

You are the master of comic verse. I really enjoy your sharp wit, despite what you may have claimed about needing a new brain.

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

lovely play on your own wit.
beautiful poem.