Monday, February 20, 2012

Wit


SUNDAY SCRIBBLINGS
http://sundayscribblings.blogspot.com.au
chose the topic


WIT


Wit is not the same as humour, though they overlap a bit;
Humour can be formulaic, which cannot be said of wit.
Sitcom writers view their public; after that they sit and write.
Then they aim their brand of humour at the 'seats' to get it right.
Humorous writers, of the print type, labour hard and labour long
Making just the right impression, for they dare not get it wrong.
Stand-up comics have their writers, matched to their stand-up persona;
Jokes may seem to be impromptu, but the joker's not the owner.
*
Wit is quite a different creature; wit is quick and off the cuff;
It's a ricochet performance, made of incandescent stuff.
Someone speaks, and, in a second, comes the sizzling reply;
Words bounce back,  a bit like lightning, crackling in a stormy sky.
All of us have thought 'If only I'd said this or I'd said that';
That's too late, a witty riposte, has to be swift and off pat.
Churchill, though a stolid bulldog, was considered quite a wit.
Here are two of his responses, you'll think both of them a hit.
*
  • Lady Nancy Astor: Winston, if I were your wife, I’d poison your tea.
    Churchill: Nancy, if I were your husband, I’d drink it.

  • Bessie Braddock: Sir, you are drunk.
    Churchill: And you, madam, are ugly. But in the morning, I shall be sober.
    *
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  

EPIPHANY

Only one Epiphany in a long life.
I exited a certain door
And I never looked back.
*
It happened sixty-six years ago
And it changed my life.
*
It began with boredom.
Every Sunday was boring,
But one saw it as a sort of punishment
For ones sins.
Doubt?
What was doubt?
*
The pillar of the ancient church
Was next to my pew.
I stroked the thousand year block
Out of boredom.
I know its roughness reminded me
Of a cat's tongue.
*
And, suddenly, out of nowhere,
For I had never heard of disbelief,
Came the thought.
'It's just an ordinary stone.'
*
For most of my fourteen years
Everything pertaining to the Church
Had been Holy.
*
The idea had been instilled in me
By my Preacher father.
And I had believed.
*
Now, suddenly,
In a flash,
I didn't!
*
Instantaneously
I was an Agnostic!
Not that I knew the word.
*
And now that I am old
I still feel exactly the same way.
*
The word 'Epiphany'
Has a religious ring to it.
But not in my case.
*

7 comments:

Kat said...

You are very talented and 'wit' is born with you..!!!

Madeleine Begun Kane said...

Witty and wonderful!

Old Egg said...

I can remember Bessie Braddock, she was a Labour MP for Liverpool Docks I think; a big woman even in austerity Britain! I am sure she was unfazed by his remark. Great poem to trigger the memory.

keiths ramblings said...

Two brilliant pieces! You are indeed the mistress of wit!

Jenny said...

Ahhhh...you tricked me!

Your week 92 SC link is broken so I was scanning back and saw the peas!

Hi!

Tix said...

amazing! i loved the witty notes :) most favorite line 'Jokes may seem to be impromptu, but the joker's not the owner.'!

beeguiler said...

excellent take on the prompts!

cheers,
deborah