Steam Dream

                               Brenda Bryant

WEEKEND IN BLACK AND WHITE

STEAM DREAM

Grown men dream

Of the age of steam;

They tend to get romantic

About the hiss 

Of a beast like this,

Overpowering and gigantic.

But I recall

When I was small

And travelling by train

That cinders flew

And foul smoke blew

And soot fell down like rain.

With windows closed

We weren't disposed

To enjoy the passing view!

You may have and hold

And revere the old.

As for me, I'll take the new.

*

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SQUEAMISH

I'm glad I live in modern times;

I can't take too much pain.

If I'm asked to grit my teeth

It goes against the grain.

Approach me with a needle

And I go slightly pale

As though I'm being threatened

With a vicious rusty nail!

I demand to be unconscious

When nasty things are done,

And I've a strong suspicion

That I'm not the only one.

How awful to have lived in times

When pain was just the norm,

Only partially deadened

By a whiff of chloroform!

Imagine all the terror,

All the anguish and the fear,

As the surgeon in his white coat

Decided to appear!

Imagine how he'd pierce you,

And how the blood would flow.

Imagine yourself screaming

'No, no, no, no, no, no!'

He might dose you up with whiskey,

But would that be successful?

The ghastly operation

Would have been so very stressful!

So, next time you're complaining

About the sins of modernity,

Remember how science saves us

From old fashioned surgery.

*