Carbuncle/Those Hooded Eyes

(For ABC Wednesday)

CARBUNCLE

Carbuncle.......not a  pretty word,

But rather fascinating.

We know it as a hideous boil,

Which is rather nauseating.

That meaning comes, in a curious way,

From the garnet, a precious gem.

It's fiery red and burning bright

In any diadem.

But that's not all! In architecture

A carbuncle is a mess,

A building which spoils the landscape

With harsh untidiness.

So carbuncle's a little word

Whose meanings we can guess;

Sometimes pretty, rich and red,

But sometimes just a mess.

*

----------------------------------------------------

Seen in a gift shop in Stroud NSW

THOSE HOODED EYES

You're not one to show your feelings;

No-one can guess your pain.

You're in a little gift-shop

And there you will remain

Till someone shows some pity

And takes you off the wall,

And hangs you in her town-house,

Maybe in her entrance-hall.

No doubt she'll be Caucasian,

Seeing you as perfect proof

Of the fact that she has artistic 'stuff'

Beneath her very roof!

You'll be part of a 'collection',

And you'll, maybe, gather dust,

Alongside the Japanese fan she bought

And the neat little Mozart bust.

But I know you yearn for Bali,

Or some other Eastern land.

When I look into those hooded eyes,

Then I understand.