RUBY TUESDAY
http://rubytuesday2.blogspot.com.au/
THE RED KERCHIEF
I wanted an excuse to use this photo;
Ruby Tuesday seemed the time and seemed the place.
So I chose the name Red Kerchief for the toddler
With the rosy, ruddy, happy little face.
I don't know where she's from (maybe Mongolia)
But it's camel-country so that must be sand!
Children and animals, intermixed with laughter
Are things the whole wide world can understand.
*
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NEMESIS
It had happened so long ago,
When we were lads in school.
You and I, together,
Had broken a Golden Rule.
The rule itself escapes me;
A misdemeanour, nothing more,
But we stood in the office together
And the Principal closed the door.
'It was him, sir' I said so glibly;
'I was only passing by'.
It was remarkably easy
To tell a bare-faced lie.
I was an angel-faced youngster,
You hadn't got much charm;
You viewed my lack of loyalty
With horror and alarm.
After you'd had the caning,
We met in the passage-way.
"Sorry, old chap' I said to you;
That was the least I could say.
It was then you fixed me with a gaze
That I will never forget
Saying 'You are going to be sorry
That you and I ever met.
For I'll be tracking you down, my friend;
And one day we will meet
As adults in an adult world,
Just walking down the street.
And you will know that I've found you;
And that retribution's nigh.
Very soon, you will realise
That you are about to die.'
And there you are, behind me;
I feel the proximity;
The age-old look is in your eyes,
A look meant just for me.
Suddenly I am immobile,
Transfixed by awful dread.
Ten years may have passed us by
But you meant just what you said.
*
